Islamabad vs Kabul - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Islamabad	Kabul
🚶 Cost of living one person	$442	$474
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1170	$1052
🏠 One person rent	$199	$203
🏘️ Family rent	$457	$302
🍽️ Food expenses	$156	$158
🚐 Transport expenses	$34.9	$81.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$261	$218
😷 Air quality	Bad	Unhealthy
✈️ Airport proximity	26 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	69	30
😀 Quality of life	49	14
🏙️ Population	1.01M	4.27M

The cost of living in Islamabad is 7% less expensive than in Kabul. Cities ranked 8870th and 8769th ($442 vs $474) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 3rd in Pakistan and Afghanistan, respectively. Check Pakistan vs Afghanistan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.6 months in Islamabad compared to 0.5 months in Kabul. Islamabad ranked 2nd best city to live in Pakistan vs Kabul ranked 1st in Afghanistan, while ranked 6313th and 9071st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Islamabad vs Kabul infographic

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Prices in Islamabad vs Kabul

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

	Islamabad	Kabul
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.13	$2.38
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$17.7	$9.34
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.22	$4.64
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.79	$3.11
☕ Cappuccino	$2.08	$1.53
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.39	$0.32
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$173	$140
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$94.4	$90
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$514	$312
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$283	$141
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$69.9	$43.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$109	$66.8
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$18.9	$59.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	20.86%	18.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1142	$404
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$682	$202
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.18	$0.2
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$6.78	$18.8
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.25	$7.27
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1	$0.88
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.93	$0.8
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.67	$0.27
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.33	$1.18
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.28	$1.39
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.57	$4.36
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.52	$3.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.39	$5.88
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1	$0.71
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.81	$0.77
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.88	$0.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.62	$0.55
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.44	$0.39
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.59	$0.41
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.27	$0.2
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.8	$0.88
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$2.56	$8.12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.59	$1.49
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.13	$2.38
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$0.9	$2.97
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.59	$3.48
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.1	$1.01
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.68	$1.37
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$21.2	$12.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.31	$2.15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$12.1	$13.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$1.71	$2.79
👖 Brand Jeans	$19.4	$16.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$85.1	$34.4
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$64.6	$17.2
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2961	$1356

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Islamabad

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Rawalpindi	$401
33 km or 20 mi	Wah	$382
91 km or 57 mi	Mirpur	$354
108 km or 67 mi	Mardan	$366
131 km or 82 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$355
132 km or 82 mi	Baramulla	$273
135 km or 84 mi	Mingora	$364
146 km or 91 mi	Peshawar	$346
148 km or 92 mi	Kohat	$379
158 km or 98 mi	Gujrat	$373
169 km or 105 mi	Srinagar	$354
183 km or 114 mi	Sargodha	$458
191 km or 119 mi	Hafizabad	$380
193 km or 120 mi	Sialkot	$281
200 km or 124 mi	Jammu	$287
203 km or 126 mi	Gujranwala	$308
220 km or 137 mi	Chiniot	$389
222 km or 138 mi	Kamoke	$321
239 km or 148 mi	Sheikhupura	$374
252 km or 156 mi	Jalalabad	$303
254 km or 158 mi	Faisalabad	$306
268 km or 167 mi	Lahore	$411
279 km or 173 mi	Jhang	$292
285 km or 177 mi	Gojra	$342
287 km or 178 mi	Amritsar	$383
287 km or 179 mi	Sahiwal	$305
291 km or 181 mi	Pathankot	$355
292 km or 182 mi	Khost	$366
324 km or 201 mi	Okara	$300
353 km or 219 mi	Gardez	$386
356 km or 221 mi	Jalandhar	$358
368 km or 229 mi	Kabul	$474
392 km or 244 mi	Khanewal	$361
396 km or 246 mi	Burewala	$356
408 km or 253 mi	Ludhiana	$441
418 km or 260 mi	Multan	$392
427 km or 266 mi	Ghazni	$389
465 km or 289 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$297
468 km or 291 mi	Puli Khumri	$381
483 km or 300 mi	Chandigarh	$369

Cities near Kabul

Distance	City	Cost of living
105 km or 65 mi	Gardez	$386
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$303
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$389
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$366
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$381
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$346
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$379
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$394
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$366
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$364
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$408
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$382
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$442
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$596
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$401
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$414
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$458
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$593
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$605
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$354
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$355
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$468
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$292
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$389
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$273
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$342
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$380
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$306
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$373
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$297
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$354
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$266
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$392
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$305
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$308
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$361
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$281
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$374
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$321
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$476