Dubai vs Singapore City - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Dubai	Singapore City
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2470	$3105
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5467	$7072
🏠 One person rent	$1665	$2101
🏘️ Family rent	$2923	$3780
🍽️ Food expenses	$473	$567
🚐 Transport expenses	$186	$284
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4153	$4276
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	7 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	66	89
😀 Quality of life	90	97
🏙️ Population	3.94M	5.87M

The cost of living in Dubai is 20% less expensive than in Singapore City. Cities ranked 947th and 165th ($2470 vs $3105) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore, respectively. Check the United Arab Emirates vs Singapore comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Dubai compared to 1.4 months in Singapore City. Dubai ranked 1st best city to live in the United Arab Emirates vs Singapore City ranked 1st in Singapore, while ranked 184th and 8th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in Dubai vs Singapore City

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

	Dubai	Singapore City
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$11.9	$10.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.6	$54.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.74	$7.78
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$13.5	$8.25
☕ Cappuccino	$6.41	$5.19
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$1.48	$1.84
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2083	$2576
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1266	$1821
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3820	$4755
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2306	$3306
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$143	$101
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$222	$157
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$92.6	$27.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	4.56%	2.46%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7283	$23858
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4305	$7397
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.63	$1.57
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.5	$94.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$10.1	$15.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.83	$2.36
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$2.99
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.43	$2.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$2.35
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.62	$3.65
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$12	$22.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.4	$10.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$26.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$4.17
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$3.16
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.84	$4.67
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.47	$2.47
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.09	$2.45
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.97	$2.28
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.43	$0.97
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$1.92	$2.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$29.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.94	$4.56
🚬 Cigarette pack	$6.13	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.07	$11.6
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.99	$10.3
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.4	$2.76
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.1	$4.28
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$82.8	$109
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$11.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$75.6	$45.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$10.3	$28.1
👖 Brand Jeans	$73.7	$78.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$102	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$870	$1438
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17401	$27027

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 Singapore City

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.3 km or 2.1 mi	Bukit Merah	$2823
18 km or 11 mi	Johor Bahru	$843
35 km or 22 mi	Batam	$501
84 km or 52 mi	Tanjung Pinang	$477
98 km or 61 mi	Kluang	$717
114 km or 71 mi	Batu Pahat	$737
161 km or 100 mi	Muar	$759
199 km or 123 mi	Malacca	$707
261 km or 162 mi	Seremban	$617
264 km or 164 mi	Dumai	$488
275 km or 171 mi	Pekanbaru	$466
285 km or 177 mi	Kuantan	$576
296 km or 184 mi	Putrajaya	$610
299 km or 186 mi	Cyberjaya	$654
311 km or 193 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$992
314 km or 195 mi	Subang Jaya	$798
316 km or 196 mi	Petaling Jaya	$783
321 km or 199 mi	Shah Alam	$741
322 km or 200 mi	Jambi	$417
325 km or 202 mi	Klang	$743
328 km or 204 mi	Chukai	$621
434 km or 269 mi	Teluk Intan	$678
454 km or 282 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$550
457 km or 284 mi	Padang	$794
476 km or 296 mi	Ipoh	$677
482 km or 299 mi	Tanjungbalai	$470
488 km or 303 mi	Palembang	$371
504 km or 313 mi	Padangsidempuan	$530
521 km or 324 mi	Taiping	$555
522 km or 324 mi	Lubuklinggau	$422
528 km or 328 mi	Prabumulih	$393
558 km or 347 mi	Pematangsiantar	$459
562 km or 349 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$449
564 km or 351 mi	Kota Bharu	$531
578 km or 359 mi	Singkawang	$422
592 km or 368 mi	Bengkulu	$438
594 km or 369 mi	Butterworth	$720
595 km or 370 mi	Pagar Alam	$428
598 km or 372 mi	George Town	$762
608 km or 378 mi	Sungai Petani	$637