Kabul vs Rawalpindi - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Kabul	Rawalpindi
🚶 Cost of living one person	$458	$416
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$1016	$962
🏠 One person rent	$195	$164
🏘️ Family rent	$267	$264
🍽️ Food expenses	$153	$160
🚐 Transport expenses	$76.9	$42.8
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$104	$156
😷 Air quality	Unhealthy	Unhealthy
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	23 km
🎓 Higher education	30	68
😀 Quality of life	33	50
🏙️ Population	4.27M	2.1M

The cost of living in Kabul is 10% more expensive than in Rawalpindi. Cities ranked 8842nd and 8945th ($458 vs $416) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 4th in Afghanistan and Pakistan, respectively. Check Afghanistan vs Pakistan comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 0.2 months in Kabul compared to 0.4 months in Rawalpindi. Kabul ranked 1st best city to live in Afghanistan vs Rawalpindi ranked 2nd in Pakistan, while ranked 8609th and 6592nd among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Kabul vs Rawalpindi infographic

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Prices in Kabul vs Rawalpindi

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

	Kabul	Rawalpindi
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$2.45	$1.77
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$11.2	$15
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$4.48	$5.24
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.4	$1.78
☕ Cappuccino	$1.19	$1.79
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.36	$0.36
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$93.7	$138
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$62.8	$63.9
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$172	$249
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$111	$114
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$30.9	$68
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$48.1	$105
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$95.2	$17.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	12.06%	21.72%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$505	$960
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$260	$464
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.22	$0.18
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$10.6	$9.74
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$7.78	$3.67
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.02	$0.93
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.8	$0.86
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$0.22	$0.53
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.9	$1.26
🥚 Eggs, x12	$1.47	$1.16
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.11	$6.21
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$3.34
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.13	$4.67
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.54	$1
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.8	$0.66
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.83	$0.95
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.46	$0.54
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.45	$0.36
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$0.43	$0.51
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.24	$0.26
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$0.98	$0.76
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$1.81	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$0.75	$1.11
🚬 Cigarette pack	$2.72	$1.96
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$3.3	$0.94
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.88	$1.24
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.12	$0.77
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$1.52	$0.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$10.2	$8.86
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$2.23	$3.86
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$15.4	$11.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$3.1	$2.11
👖 Brand Jeans	$18	$12.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$34.6	$90.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$19.7	$43.5
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$1486	$764

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 Rawalpindi

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 7 mi	Islamabad	$443
40 km or 25 mi	Wah	$344
82 km or 51 mi	Mirpur	$277
116 km or 72 mi	Mardan	$354
120 km or 75 mi	Mandi Bahauddin	$326
135 km or 84 mi	Baramulla	$265
146 km or 90 mi	Mingora	$351
148 km or 92 mi	Gujrat	$320
151 km or 94 mi	Kohat	$364
152 km or 94 mi	Peshawar	$334
170 km or 105 mi	Srinagar	$340
173 km or 107 mi	Sargodha	$376
180 km or 112 mi	Hafizabad	$363
183 km or 114 mi	Sialkot	$311
192 km or 119 mi	Jammu	$284
192 km or 119 mi	Gujranwala	$302
210 km or 130 mi	Chiniot	$372
211 km or 131 mi	Kamoke	$316
228 km or 142 mi	Sheikhupura	$368
243 km or 151 mi	Faisalabad	$333
257 km or 160 mi	Lahore	$427
258 km or 160 mi	Jalalabad	$354
269 km or 167 mi	Jhang	$294
275 km or 171 mi	Gojra	$351
276 km or 172 mi	Sahiwal	$303
277 km or 172 mi	Amritsar	$380
283 km or 176 mi	Pathankot	$350
294 km or 183 mi	Khost	$393
312 km or 194 mi	Okara	$291
346 km or 215 mi	Jalandhar	$337
355 km or 221 mi	Gardez	$401
374 km or 232 mi	Kabul	$458
382 km or 238 mi	Khanewal	$362
385 km or 239 mi	Burewala	$347
397 km or 247 mi	Ludhiana	$421
409 km or 254 mi	Multan	$403
430 km or 267 mi	Ghazni	$396
457 km or 284 mi	Dera Ghazi Khan	$254
474 km or 294 mi	Chandigarh	$373
475 km or 295 mi	Shimla	$270