Dubai vs San Antonio - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Dubai	San Antonio
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2470	$2071
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5467	$4674
🏠 One person rent	$1665	$1211
🏘️ Family rent	$2923	$1801
🍽️ Food expenses	$473	$582
🚐 Transport expenses	$186	$126
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4153	$4112
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	66	81
😀 Quality of life	90	91
🏙️ Population	3.94M	1.43M

The cost of living in Dubai is 19% more expensive than in San Antonio. Cities ranked 947th and 1833rd ($2470 vs $2071) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1452nd in the United Arab Emirates and the United States, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 2 months in San Antonio. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs San Antonio ranked 39th in the United States, while ranked 184th and 156th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Dubai vs San Antonio

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

	Dubai	San Antonio
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$17.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$60.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.74	$11.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$6.15
☕ Cappuccino	$6.41	$5.22
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.48	$2.47
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2083	$1312
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1266	$901
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3820	$1860
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2306	$1400
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$152
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$222	$233
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$92.6	$75.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.56%	6.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7283	$4488
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4305	$1816
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$1.29
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.5	$37.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.1	$17.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$0.83
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.08
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$2.89
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$3.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.62	$5.36
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$11.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.4	$11.2
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$17.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$4.15
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.66
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$4.26
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$3.59
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.18
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$2.87
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$1.44
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.92	$2.54
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.94	$3.14
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.13	$9.22
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$6.64
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$7.01
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.4	$4.33
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.1	$2.04
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$82.8	$45.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$14.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.6	$95.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$73.7	$51.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$115
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$870	$1365
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17401	$19123

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	$1543
22 km or 14 mi	Ajman	$2356
41 km or 25 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1170
104 km or 65 mi	Fujairah	$1173
108 km or 67 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1355
126 km or 78 mi	Al Ain	$1455
129 km or 80 mi	Abu Dhabi	$2133
234 km or 146 mi	Bandar Abbas	$620
246 km or 153 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1791
339 km or 211 mi	Seeb	$1082
344 km or 214 mi	Nizwa	$797
380 km or 236 mi	Doha	$2100
380 km or 236 mi	Muscat	$1193
385 km or 239 mi	Al Khor	$2015
399 km or 248 mi	Jahrom	$494
440 km or 273 mi	Fasa	$497
449 km or 279 mi	Jiroft	$526
466 km or 290 mi	Sirjan	$521
485 km or 301 mi	Manama	$1340
486 km or 302 mi	Riffa	$1062
487 km or 303 mi	Isa Town	$1218
523 km or 325 mi	Bam	$514
528 km or 328 mi	Dhahran	$965
534 km or 332 mi	Chabahar	$530
537 km or 334 mi	Dammam	$1059
554 km or 345 mi	Shiraz	$505
560 km or 348 mi	Qatif	$778
568 km or 353 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$821
568 km or 353 mi	Marvdasht	$485
574 km or 357 mi	Rafsanjan	$558
578 km or 359 mi	Iranshahr	$559
584 km or 363 mi	Kerman	$700
595 km or 370 mi	Jubail	$917
601 km or 373 mi	Borazjan	$457
603 km or 375 mi	Kazerun	$471
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$454
703 km or 437 mi	Yasuj	$459
721 km or 448 mi	Zahedan	$717
743 km or 461 mi	Yazd	$517
773 km or 481 mi	Behbahan	$469

Cities near San Antonio

Distance	City	Cost of living
27 km or 17 mi	Schertz	$2093
30 km or 18 mi	Cibolo	$2105
48 km or 30 mi	New Braunfels	$2123
54 km or 33 mi	Seguin	$2120
74 km or 46 mi	San Marcos	$2125
87 km or 54 mi	Kyle	$2168
93 km or 58 mi	Kerrville	$1944
122 km or 76 mi	Austin	$2475
136 km or 85 mi	Cedar Park	$2151
140 km or 87 mi	Leander	$2149
141 km or 88 mi	Pflugerville	$2141
145 km or 90 mi	Round Rock	$2058
157 km or 98 mi	Georgetown	$2110
161 km or 100 mi	Victoria	$2003
197 km or 122 mi	Copperas Cove	$1963
200 km or 124 mi	Harker Heights	$1937
201 km or 125 mi	Killeen	$1857
210 km or 130 mi	Eagle Pass	$1903
213 km or 132 mi	Piedras Negras	$1005
215 km or 134 mi	Corpus Christi	$1722
216 km or 134 mi	Temple	$2070
221 km or 137 mi	Kingsville	$1855
233 km or 145 mi	Del Rio	$1897
235 km or 146 mi	Laredo	$1708
236 km or 147 mi	Ciudad Acuna	$1010
237 km or 147 mi	Nuevo Laredo	$796
247 km or 153 mi	Bryan	$1950
247 km or 154 mi	College Station	$1843
261 km or 162 mi	Rosenberg	$2096
269 km or 167 mi	Waco	$2066
279 km or 174 mi	Sugar Land	$2011
286 km or 178 mi	Missouri	$2093
293 km or 182 mi	San Angelo	$2519
300 km or 186 mi	Lake Jackson	$2033
300 km or 187 mi	The Woodlands	$2754
303 km or 188 mi	Houston	$2261
308 km or 191 mi	Spring	$2107
309 km or 192 mi	Conroe	$1860
310 km or 193 mi	Pearland	$2064
312 km or 194 mi	Stephenville	$2093