Dubai vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Dubai	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2420	$1311
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5315	$2822
🏠 One person rent	$1634	$805
🏘️ Family rent	$2835	$1397
🍽️ Food expenses	$459	$373
🚐 Transport expenses	$182	$44.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4093	$866
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	66	8
😀 Quality of life	90	64
🏙️ Population	3.94M	133K

The cost of living in Dubai is 85% more expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 1039th and 4552nd ($2420 vs $1311) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in the United Arab Emirates and Maldives, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 0.7 months in Male. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 203rd and 5347th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/dubai/male.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Dubai vs Male infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/dubai/male" target="_blank">Dubai vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Dubai vs Male

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

	Dubai	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.2	$6.02
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.2	$34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.33	$9.65
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$4.66
☕ Cappuccino	$6.31	$2.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.3	$1.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1988	$810
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1244	$620
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3617	$1472
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2237	$1144
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$148	$74.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$227	$116
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$94	$72.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.46%	14.01%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7290	$2247
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4052	$1903
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.64	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$83	$32.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.52	$17.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.75	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.89	$1.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.39	$1.56
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.08	$1.38
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.73	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.2	$7.64
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.09	$6.21
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.6	$9.49
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.52	$4.08
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.85	$3.53
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.83	$4.3
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.49	$2.86
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.14	$1.76
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.07	$1.42
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.4	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.86	$1.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18	$10.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.57	$2.71
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.2	$14.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.2	$5.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.05	$3.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3	$3.15
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.08	$1.82
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$72.5	$75.3
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.1	$9.78
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.5	$22.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.2	$4.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$72.2	$41
👟 Brand Sneakers	$106	$85.6
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$829	$193
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$16876	$3300

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	$1473
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2183
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1148
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1214
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1373
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1457
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2070
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$635
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1710
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1080
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$796
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$2014
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1135
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1923
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$545
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$541
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$575
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$545
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1309
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1109
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1192
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$563
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$931
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$575
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1037
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$565
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$823
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$793
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$547
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$613
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$627
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$761
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$928
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$489
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$523
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$465
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$487
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$813
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$565
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$492

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1379
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$348
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$303
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$275
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$251
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$269
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$299
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$387
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$350
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$293
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$609
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$676
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$349
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$627
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$518
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$487
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$414
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$499
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$271
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$348
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$316
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$299
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$331
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$447
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$320
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$554
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$344
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$285
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$303
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$285
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$349
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$297
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$389
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$544
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$273
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$523
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$306
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$332
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$335
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327