Dubai vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Dubai	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2379	$2194
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5357	$5150
🏠 One person rent	$1601	$1216
🏘️ Family rent	$2918	$1971
🍽️ Food expenses	$453	$541
🚐 Transport expenses	$186	$296
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3975	$3902
😷 Air quality	Bad	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	65	100
😀 Quality of life	87	100
🏙️ Population	3.33M	5.03M

The cost of living in Dubai is 8% more expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 989th and 1365th ($2379 vs $2194) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 4th in the United Arab Emirates and Australia, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 288th and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Dubai vs Melbourne infographic

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Prices in Dubai vs Melbourne

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

	Dubai	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$10.9	$14.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$58.4	$67.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.28	$9.78
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$12.6	$8.09
☕ Cappuccino	$6.1	$3.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.2	$2.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1909	$1287
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1243	$1014
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3782	$2611
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2332	$1561
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$134	$98.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$205	$150
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$91.5	$49.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.45%	6.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6638	$6900
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3507	$5335
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$3.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.2	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.8	$15.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.79	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.83	$1.39
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.41	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.12	$2.2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.22	$4.68
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11	$9.78
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.52	$9.79
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12.3	$14.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.44	$3.2
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.87	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.05	$2.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.64	$3.93
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.23	$2.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.42	$2.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.42	$0.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.17	$2.59
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.1	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.76	$4.57
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.03	$29
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.1	$5.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.68	$7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.63	$3.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.41	$3.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$77.1	$47.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.4	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$77.2	$52.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$8.79	$22.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.6	$70.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$104	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$903	$1683
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13241	$19705

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 Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1620
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1625
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1645
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1691
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1669
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1671
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1643
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1654
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$1981
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1390
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1291
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1727
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1601
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1631
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1701
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1768
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1619
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1651
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2023
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1691
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1616
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2106
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1511
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1538
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1416
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$1978
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1584
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1702
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2252
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1824
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2539
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2099
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1448
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$1795
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1185
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963