Dhaka vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dhaka	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$464	$466
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1123	$1207
🏠 One person rent	$141	$186
🏘️ Family rent	$240	$296
🍽️ Food expenses	$202	$170
🚐 Transport expenses	$80.7	$35.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$181	$223
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	73	55
😀 Quality of life	57	62
🏙️ Population	16.8M	2.11M

The cost of living in Dhaka is 0.3% less expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 8829th and 8825th ($464 vs $466) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 48th in Bangladesh and Indonesia, respectively. Check Bangladesh vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.4 months in Dhaka compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Dhaka ranked 1st best city to live in Bangladesh vs Medan ranked 7th in Indonesia, while ranked 6151st and 5663rd 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	$2.14	$1.81
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$12.2	$10.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.03	$3.14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.09	$1.51
☕ Cappuccino	$2.34	$1.73
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.37	$0.41
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$149	$172
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$95.5	$86.9
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$274	$312
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$172	$156
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$22.7	$48.9
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$35.1	$75.4
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$12.5	$32.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	11.01%	9.2%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$939	$1333
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$535	$604
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.41	$0.3
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$22.3	$9.61
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.36	$2.24
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$0.82
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.78	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.6	$1.12
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.64	$0.83
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.2	$1.5
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.02	$9.38
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.38	$3.74
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.6	$6.83
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$2.23
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.08	$1.01
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$1.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.71	$0.89
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.35	$0.7
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.49	$1.25
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.19	$0.31
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.13	$1.12
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$10.6	$6.66
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$3.92	$1.34
🚬 Cigarette pack	$3.15	$2.39
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.3	$1.98
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.47	$2.35
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$0.88	$0.81
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.88	$0.76
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$19.7	$22.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.04	$3.44
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$14
💇 Haircut, simple	$2.15	$2.72
👖 Brand Jeans	$18.7	$64.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$46.2	$114
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$57.7	$124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1844	$10637

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dhaka

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.5 mi	Narayanganj	$348
38 km or 24 mi	Narsingdi	$352
77 km or 48 mi	Brahmanbaria	$332
90 km or 56 mi	Agartala	$362
113 km or 70 mi	Barisal	$312
115 km or 71 mi	Mymensingh	$282
132 km or 82 mi	Khulna	$301
135 km or 84 mi	Jessore	$300
164 km or 102 mi	Bogra	$287
196 km or 122 mi	Rajshahi	$274
196 km or 122 mi	Krishnanagar	$272
199 km or 124 mi	Sylhet	$321
207 km or 129 mi	Shantipur	$286
213 km or 132 mi	Chittagong	$358
221 km or 137 mi	Naihati	$313
222 km or 138 mi	Berhampore	$294
223 km or 139 mi	Bhatpara	$320
224 km or 139 mi	Hugli-Chuchura	$312
226 km or 141 mi	Chandannagar	$313
228 km or 142 mi	Rajarhat	$328
229 km or 142 mi	Madhyamgram	$317
234 km or 145 mi	Barrackpore	$315
234 km or 146 mi	North Dumdum	$320
235 km or 146 mi	Balurghat	$297
236 km or 147 mi	Serampore	$315
236 km or 147 mi	Aizawl	$456
236 km or 147 mi	Panihati	$324
238 km or 148 mi	Kamarhati	$320
238 km or 148 mi	South Dumdum	$327
238 km or 148 mi	Bidhannagar	$335
239 km or 149 mi	Baranagar	$318
239 km or 149 mi	Uttarpara	$312
241 km or 150 mi	Bally	$318
247 km or 154 mi	Howrah	$323
248 km or 154 mi	Kolkata	$366
248 km or 154 mi	Rajpur Sonarpur	$332
254 km or 158 mi	Rangpur	$308
255 km or 159 mi	Shillong	$354
259 km or 161 mi	Barasat	$333
265 km or 165 mi	Bardhaman	$302

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$460
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$461
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$472
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$449
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$488
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$423
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$654
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$552
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$563
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$754
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$701
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$657
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$653
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$554
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$704
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$756
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$592
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$681
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$509
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$789
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$731
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$866
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$609
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$584
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$570
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$643
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$519
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$592
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$386
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$689
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$807
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$503
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$771
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1014
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$517
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$773
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$854
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$788
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$552
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$534