Dubai vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Dubai	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2514	$1320
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5509	$2817
🏠 One person rent	$1723	$818
🏘️ Family rent	$3020	$1403
🍽️ Food expenses	$455	$368
🚐 Transport expenses	$184	$43.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4067	$988
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	65	7
😀 Quality of life	91	66
🏙️ Population	3.94M	133K

The cost of living in Dubai is 90% more expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 848th and 4439th ($2514 vs $1320) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd 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 1.6 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 158th and 5057th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dubai vs Male infographic

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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	$10.3	$5.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.2	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.32	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$12.9	$4.77
☕ Cappuccino	$5.8	$3.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.14	$1.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2095	$870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1336	$609
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3716	$1575
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2461	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$211	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$96.1	$81.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.52%	14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7516	$2585
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3977	$1897
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.62	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.3	$29.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$9.15	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.77	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.92	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.47	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$9.08
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.16	$6.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.2	$8.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.38	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$3.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.73	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$3.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.2	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.11	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.44	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.94	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.4	$8.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.62	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.12	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.15	$5.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.73	$3.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.6	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.44	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$81.6	$80.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.6	$9.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$77.7	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.82	$4.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$78.3	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$122	$90.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$857	$166
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15029	$3575

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	$1419
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2521
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1183
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1228
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1398
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1449
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1942
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$632
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1730
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1078
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$792
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$1849
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1081
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$1770
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$530
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$529
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$568
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$534
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1237
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1201
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1230
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$557
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$908
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$573
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1008
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$553
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$873
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$806
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$530
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$624
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$761
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$930
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$477
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$503
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$453
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$463
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$808
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$545
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$483

Cities near Male

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.4 km or 3.4 mi	Hulhumale	$1445
610 km or 379 mi	Thiruvananthapuram	$344
618 km or 384 mi	Varkala	$308
621 km or 386 mi	Nagercoil	$279
624 km or 388 mi	Kollam	$253
687 km or 427 mi	Tirunelveli	$270
688 km or 428 mi	Kottayam	$300
713 km or 443 mi	Kochi	$382
714 km or 444 mi	Ernakulam	$351
724 km or 450 mi	Thoothukudi	$296
761 km or 473 mi	Beruwala	$590
763 km or 474 mi	Colombo	$646
766 km or 476 mi	Thrissur	$356
771 km or 479 mi	Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte	$626
772 km or 479 mi	Galle	$512
777 km or 483 mi	Negombo	$469
788 km or 490 mi	Gampaha	$420
803 km or 499 mi	Matara	$479
814 km or 506 mi	Malappuram	$286
817 km or 507 mi	Madurai	$347
825 km or 513 mi	Kozhikode	$321
843 km or 524 mi	Dindigul	$310
849 km or 528 mi	Coimbatore	$326
862 km or 535 mi	Kandy	$440
879 km or 546 mi	Kannur	$317
892 km or 554 mi	Anuradhapura	$535
899 km or 559 mi	Tiruppur	$347
922 km or 573 mi	Erode	$286
935 km or 581 mi	Tiruchirappalli	$300
964 km or 599 mi	Thanjavur	$275
968 km or 602 mi	Mysore	$346
977 km or 607 mi	Salem	$295
979 km or 608 mi	Mangalore	$400
983 km or 611 mi	Trincomalee	$530
1027 km or 638 mi	Udupi	$283
1076 km or 669 mi	Bangalore	$524
1087 km or 675 mi	Cuddalore	$300
1093 km or 679 mi	Tumkur	$355
1106 km or 688 mi	Shimoga	$340
1108 km or 688 mi	Pondicherry	$327