Dhaka vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dhaka	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$430	$481
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1093	$1335
🏠 One person rent	$118	$187
🏘️ Family rent	$238	$394
🍽️ Food expenses	$194	$189
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.1	$35.6
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$274	$262
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	72	53
😀 Quality of life	54	44
🏙️ Population	16.8M	2.11M

The cost of living in Dhaka is 11% less expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 8899th and 8745th ($430 vs $481) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 47th in Bangladesh and Indonesia, respectively. Check Bangladesh vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Dhaka compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Dhaka ranked 1st best city to live in Bangladesh vs Medan ranked 14th in Indonesia, while ranked 5971st and 6633rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dhaka vs Medan infographic

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Prices in Dhaka vs Medan

Prices for goods and services in Dhaka and Medan are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Dhaka	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$1.89	$1.97
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.4	$12.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.54	$3.31
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.23	$2.39
☕ Cappuccino	$2.06	$2.24
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.31	$0.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$123	$174
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$73.8	$107
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$290	$469
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$168	$265
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$21.6	$40.4
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$33.3	$62.2
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$26.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	10.62%	9.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$963	$1337
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$528	$614
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$0.31
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$21.5	$8.02
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.43	$2.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.01	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.77	$1.37
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.66	$1.14
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.62	$0.98
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.3	$1.55
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$7.37	$8.21
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.32	$3.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.55	$6.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.57	$2.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$1.5
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.87	$0.84
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.51	$0.75
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.92	$1.29
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.14	$1.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$9.86	$15.6
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.46	$1.68
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.86	$2.26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.55	$2.01
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.89	$2.41
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.78	$0.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.66	$0.77
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$17.3	$23
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.04	$3.48
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$11.9	$15.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.37	$2.73
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.5	$55.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$40.3	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$47.4	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1681	$10763

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dhaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.5 mi	Narayanganj	$309
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$295
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$297
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$367
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$287
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$264
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$303
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$289
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$280
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$274
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$281
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$305
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$294
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$351
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$328
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$304
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$337
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$327
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$327
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$347
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$334
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$329
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$337
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$307
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$330
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$478
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$338
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$336
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$345
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$355
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$333
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$327
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$331
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$332
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$404
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$354
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$296
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$408
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$350
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$314

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$470
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$474
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$486
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$461
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$503
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$435
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$631
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$695
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$582
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$620
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$619
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$628
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$605
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$571
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$670
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$719
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$560
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$645
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$490
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$714
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$701
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$810
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$585
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$532
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$536
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$604
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$543
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$570
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$398
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$669
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$772
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$542
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$682
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$940
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$485
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$792
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$782
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$703
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$529
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$501