Islamabad vs Male - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Islamabad	Male
🚶 Cost of living one person	$443	$1320
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1034	$2817
🏠 One person rent	$199	$818
🏘️ Family rent	$328	$1403
🍽️ Food expenses	$158	$368
🚐 Transport expenses	$35.5	$43.1
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$155	$988
😷 Air quality	Bad	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	26 km	3 km
🎓 Higher education	69	7
😀 Quality of life	50	66
🏙️ Population	1.01M	133K

The cost of living in Islamabad is 66% less expensive than in Male. Cities ranked 8887th and 4439th ($443 vs $1320) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 2nd in Pakistan and Maldives, respectively. Check Pakistan vs Maldives comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.3 months in Islamabad compared to 0.7 months in Male. Islamabad ranked 3rd best city to live in Pakistan vs Male ranked 1st in Maldives, while ranked 6597th and 5057th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Islamabad vs Male infographic

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Prices in Islamabad vs Male

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

	Islamabad	Male
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.83	$5.55
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$14.2	$29.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$5.15	$9.82
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.36	$4.77
☕ Cappuccino	$2.02	$3.29
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.38	$1.45
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$187	$870
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$98.8	$609
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$338	$1575
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$178	$1116
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$65.4	$75
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$101	$114
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$17.5	$81.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	18.73%	14%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1311	$2585
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$775	$1897
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.18	$0.65
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$9.39	$29.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$4.05	$17.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.93	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.96	$1.85
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.69	$1.59
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.26	$1.34
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.22	$1.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.37	$9.08
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.1	$6.15
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.46	$8.98
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.05	$4.03
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.82	$3.83
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.91	$4.35
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.53	$3.26
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.38	$1.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.54	$1.22
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.26	$0.35
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.76	$1.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$1.75	$8.87
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.72	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.13	$13
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$1.17	$5.39
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$1.64	$3.83
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.15	$3.18
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$0.69	$1.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$20.4	$80.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$4.22	$9.82
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$11	$23.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$1.86	$4.39
👖 Brand Jeans	$21.6	$42.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$80.7	$90.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$61.1	$166
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$2738	$3575

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Islamabad

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Rawalpindi	$416
33 km or 20 mi	Wah	$344
91 km or 57 mi	Mirpur	$277
108 km or 67 mi	Mardan	$354
131 km or 82 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$326
132 km or 82 mi	Baramulla	$265
135 km or 84 mi	Mingora	$351
146 km or 91 mi	Peshawar	$334
148 km or 92 mi	Kohat	$364
158 km or 98 mi	Gujrat	$320
169 km or 105 mi	Srinagar	$340
183 km or 114 mi	Sargodha	$376
191 km or 119 mi	Hafizabad	$363
193 km or 120 mi	Sialkot	$311
200 km or 124 mi	Jammu	$284
203 km or 126 mi	Gujranwala	$302
220 km or 137 mi	Chiniot	$372
222 km or 138 mi	Kamoke	$316
239 km or 148 mi	Sheikhupura	$368
252 km or 156 mi	Jalalabad	$354
254 km or 158 mi	Faisalabad	$333
268 km or 167 mi	Lahore	$427
279 km or 173 mi	Jhang	$294
285 km or 177 mi	Gojra	$351
287 km or 178 mi	Amritsar	$380
287 km or 179 mi	Sahiwal	$303
291 km or 181 mi	Pathankot	$350
292 km or 182 mi	Khost	$393
324 km or 201 mi	Okara	$291
353 km or 219 mi	Gardez	$401
356 km or 221 mi	Jalandhar	$337
368 km or 229 mi	Kabul	$458
392 km or 244 mi	Khanewal	$362
396 km or 246 mi	Burewala	$347
408 km or 253 mi	Ludhiana	$421
418 km or 260 mi	Multan	$403
427 km or 266 mi	Ghazni	$396
465 km or 289 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$254
468 km or 291 mi	Puli Khumri	$404
483 km or 300 mi	Chandigarh	$373

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