Dubai vs Madrid - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dubai	Madrid
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2379	$1781
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5357	$4027
🏠 One person rent	$1601	$1048
🏘️ Family rent	$2918	$1736
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$445
🚐 Transport expenses	$186	$163
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3975	$2294
😷 Air quality	Bad	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	65	98
😀 Quality of life	87	90
🏙️ Population	3.33M	3.42M

The cost of living in Dubai is 34% more expensive than in Madrid. Cities ranked 989th and 2443rd ($2379 vs $1781) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 5th in the United Arab Emirates and Spain, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Spain comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 1.3 months in Madrid. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Madrid ranked 1st in Spain, while ranked 288th and 151st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dubai vs Madrid infographic

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Prices in Dubai vs Madrid

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

	Dubai	Madrid
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$14.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$58.4	$57
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.28	$10.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$12.6	$4.36
☕ Cappuccino	$6.1	$2.92
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$2.77
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1909	$1203
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1243	$853
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3782	$2092
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2332	$1428
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$134	$94
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$205	$145
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$91.5	$30.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.45%	3.59%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6638	$6884
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3507	$3988
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$1.56
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.2	$32.4
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$15.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$1.74
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$1.11
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$1.31
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$1.31
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.22	$3.12
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$13.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.52	$8.12
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$14.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$2.31
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$1.91
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$2.13
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$2.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$1.78
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$1.77
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.17	$2.02
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.1	$6.89
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.76	$1.21
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.03	$6.25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.1	$11.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.68	$3.96
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.63	$2.62
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.41	$2.99
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.1	$45
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.4	$10.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$77.2	$58.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.79	$15.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.6	$80.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$90.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$903	$576
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13241	$10042

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Dubai

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8 mi	Sharjah	$1494
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2240
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1239
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1844
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$967
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$780
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$1779
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1090
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1709
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$547
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$548
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$518
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$514
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1280
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1223
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1243
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$515
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$1068
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$585
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1056
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$589
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$897
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$563
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$605
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$464
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$901
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$546
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$557
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$551
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$529
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$829
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$573
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$536

Cities near Madrid

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Pozuelo de Alarcon	$1565
11 km or 6.7 mi	Coslada	$1530
14 km or 8.5 mi	Alcobendas	$1433
18 km or 11 mi	Mostoles	$1573
18 km or 11 mi	Fuenlabrada	$1389
18 km or 11 mi	Torrejon de Ardoz	$1387
21 km or 13 mi	Tres Cantos	$1309
29 km or 18 mi	Alcala de Henares	$1293
50 km or 31 mi	Guadalajara	$1056
68 km or 42 mi	Toledo	$1204
69 km or 43 mi	Segovia	$1285
138 km or 86 mi	Cuenca	$1084
155 km or 97 mi	Laguna de Duero	$1201
158 km or 98 mi	Villarrobledo	$1235
162 km or 101 mi	Valladolid	$1212
177 km or 110 mi	Salamanca	$1086
196 km or 122 mi	Puertollano	$812
208 km or 129 mi	Plasencia	$1098
211 km or 131 mi	Zamora	$1286
215 km or 133 mi	Burgos	$1107
223 km or 139 mi	Albacete	$1209
242 km or 150 mi	Villanueva de la Serena	$1157
244 km or 151 mi	Requena	$1261
250 km or 156 mi	Logrono	$983
251 km or 156 mi	Caceres	$947
253 km or 157 mi	Tudela	$1241
258 km or 160 mi	Linares	$1220
269 km or 167 mi	Ubeda	$1316
272 km or 169 mi	Zaragoza	$1101
281 km or 175 mi	Merida	$1126
283 km or 176 mi	Vitoria-Gasteiz	$1532
288 km or 179 mi	Leon	$1241
295 km or 183 mi	Jaen	$930
296 km or 184 mi	Jumilla	$1241
297 km or 184 mi	Cordoba	$1100
298 km or 185 mi	Yecla	$1324
299 km or 186 mi	Braganca	$806
301 km or 187 mi	Martos	$1204
302 km or 187 mi	Caravaca de la Cruz	$1221
302 km or 188 mi	Valencia	$1522