Kabul vs Mashhad - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Kabul	Mashhad
🚶 Cost of living one person	$458	$503
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1016	$1312
🏠 One person rent	$195	$172
🏘️ Family rent	$267	$293
🍽️ Food expenses	$153	$170
🚐 Transport expenses	$76.9	$43
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$104	$250
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	30	46
😀 Quality of life	33	57
🏙️ Population	4.27M	3M

The cost of living in Kabul is 9% less expensive than in Mashhad. Cities ranked 8842nd and 8663rd ($458 vs $503) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 66th in Afghanistan and Iran, respectively. Check Afghanistan vs Iran comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Kabul compared to 0.5 months in Mashhad. Kabul ranked 1st best city to live in Afghanistan vs Mashhad ranked 3rd in Iran, while ranked 8609th and 6167th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kabul vs Mashhad infographic

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Prices in Kabul vs Mashhad

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

	Kabul	Mashhad
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.45	$3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.2	$19.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.48	$4.98
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.4	$0.5
☕ Cappuccino	$1.19	$1.07
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.36	$0.42
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$93.7	$194
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$62.8	$136
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$172	$348
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$111	$244
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.9	$8.48
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$48.1	$12.9
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$95.2	$15.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.06%	20.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$505	$1174
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$260	$736
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.22	$0.33
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.6	$4.33
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.78	$4.38
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.02	$0.8
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$0.55
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.22	$0.26
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.78
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.47	$1.02
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$2.22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$2.47
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.13	$10.2
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.54	$0.85
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$0.77
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$0.57
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.45	$0.46
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$0.48
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.24	$0.18
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.98	$3.71
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$1.81	$0.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.75	$0.78
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.72	$2.69
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.3	$5.27
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.88	$5.29
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$1.78
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.52	$2.43
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$10.2	$19.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.23	$2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.4	$94.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.1	$28.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$18	$21.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$34.6	$93.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$19.7	$45.9
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1486	$623

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Kabul

Distance	City	Cost of living
105 km or 65 mi	Gardez	$401
119 km or 74 mi	Jalalabad	$354
129 km or 80 mi	Ghazni	$396
150 km or 93 mi	Khost	$393
163 km or 101 mi	Puli Khumri	$404
223 km or 138 mi	Peshawar	$334
235 km or 146 mi	Kohat	$364
246 km or 153 mi	Kunduz	$428
266 km or 166 mi	Mardan	$354
293 km or 182 mi	Mingora	$351
304 km or 189 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$470
336 km or 209 mi	Wah	$344
368 km or 229 mi	Islamabad	$443
369 km or 229 mi	Qurghonteppa	$684
374 km or 232 mi	Rawalpindi	$416
389 km or 242 mi	Sheberghan	$432
425 km or 264 mi	Sargodha	$376
450 km or 280 mi	Tursunzoda	$680
451 km or 280 mi	Dushanbe	$712
451 km or 280 mi	Mirpur	$277
456 km or 284 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$326
458 km or 285 mi	Kandahar	$436
467 km or 290 mi	Jhang	$294
474 km or 294 mi	Chiniot	$372
476 km or 296 mi	Baramulla	$265
499 km or 310 mi	Gojra	$351
501 km or 312 mi	Hafizabad	$363
503 km or 313 mi	Faisalabad	$333
505 km or 314 mi	Gujrat	$320
517 km or 321 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$254
520 km or 323 mi	Srinagar	$340
523 km or 325 mi	Quetta	$291
526 km or 327 mi	Multan	$403
534 km or 332 mi	Sahiwal	$303
536 km or 333 mi	Gujranwala	$302
538 km or 334 mi	Khanewal	$362
546 km or 340 mi	Sialkot	$311
549 km or 341 mi	Sheikhupura	$368
550 km or 342 mi	Kamoke	$316
553 km or 344 mi	Lashkargah	$439

Cities near Mashhad

Distance	City	Cost of living
73 km or 45 mi	Nishapur	$496
120 km or 75 mi	Torbat-e Heydarieh	$502
132 km or 82 mi	Quchan	$500
150 km or 93 mi	Torbat-e Jam	$493
157 km or 98 mi	Kashmar	$506
174 km or 108 mi	Sabzevar	$512
202 km or 126 mi	Anau	$1774
212 km or 132 mi	Ashgabat	$1833
240 km or 149 mi	Bojnord	$489
245 km or 152 mi	Mary	$1654
304 km or 189 mi	Baherden	$1796
317 km or 197 mi	Herat	$509
384 km or 239 mi	Birjand	$588
409 km or 254 mi	Gonbad-e Kavus	$467
411 km or 255 mi	Shahrud	$564
461 km or 287 mi	Gorgan	$658
467 km or 290 mi	Turkmenabat	$1716
551 km or 342 mi	Sheberghan	$432
566 km or 351 mi	Semnan	$542
572 km or 355 mi	Bukhara	$433
586 km or 364 mi	Sari	$643
604 km or 375 mi	Qaem Shahr	$501
612 km or 380 mi	Zabol	$558
614 km or 381 mi	Dasoguz	$1770
615 km or 382 mi	Qarshi	$512
620 km or 385 mi	Babol	$372
649 km or 403 mi	Amol	$530
673 km or 418 mi	Mazar-i-Sharif	$470
684 km or 425 mi	Lashkargah	$439
685 km or 425 mi	Nukus	$477
687 km or 427 mi	Yazd	$545
703 km or 437 mi	Pardis	$598
710 km or 441 mi	Kerman	$761
719 km or 447 mi	Pakdasht	$604
726 km or 451 mi	Varamin	$588
730 km or 454 mi	Qarchak	$607
733 km or 456 mi	Golestan	$628
737 km or 458 mi	Rafsanjan	$604
738 km or 459 mi	Ray	$622
739 km or 459 mi	Tehran	$684