Riyadh vs Sharjah - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Riyadh	Sharjah
🚶 Cost of living one person	$1637	$1494
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$3629	$3243
🏠 One person rent	$944	$958
🏘️ Family rent	$1530	$1655
🍽️ Food expenses	$375	$325
🚐 Transport expenses	$183	$103
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$2731	$2174
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Bad
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	72	65
😀 Quality of life	78	83
🏙️ Population	7.01M	1.25M

The cost of living in Riyadh is 10% more expensive than in Sharjah. Cities ranked 2911th and 3460th ($1637 vs $1494) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 7th in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, respectively. Check Saudi Arabia vs the United Arab Emirates comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Riyadh compared to 1.5 months in Sharjah. Riyadh ranked 1st best city to live in Saudi Arabia vs Sharjah ranked 2nd in the United Arab Emirates, while ranked 733rd and 412th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Riyadh vs Sharjah infographic

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Prices in Riyadh vs Sharjah

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

	Riyadh	Sharjah
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$9.31	$5.42
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$53.6	$26.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$8.02	$9.21
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.88	$9.45
☕ Cappuccino	$4.16	$4.93
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$0.76	$0.92
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1001	$802
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$748	$704
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2174	$1595
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1140	$1285
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$69.4	$132
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$107	$206
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$75.4	$103
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.42%	4.54%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2485	$6652
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$1703	$4560
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.07	$2.18
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$37.2	$48.1
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.4	$9.15
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.61	$0.79
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.71	$1.78
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$1.28	$1.24
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$1.77
🥚 Eggs, x12	$2.75	$2.82
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.14	$9.05
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.75	$6.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.5	$8.03
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.3	$1.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.7	$1.52
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.86	$1.57
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.58	$1.25
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.36	$1.02
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$1.09
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.37	$0.38
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.14	$2.17
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$8.71	$6.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$1.72	$2.07
🚬 Cigarette pack	$7.19	$6.68
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$2.8	$6.4
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.03	$4.63
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.23	$2.47
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$5.22	$2.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$102	$59.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16	$12.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.2	$45.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$7.23	$4.67
👖 Brand Jeans	$55.2	$60.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$86.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$404	$271
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$10598	$7169

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

$349

$907

$6.64K

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Riyadh

Distance	City	Cost of living
310 km or 193 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
316 km or 196 mi	Unaizah	$969
350 km or 217 mi	Ar Rass	$861
389 km or 242 mi	Dhahran	$1068
394 km or 245 mi	Dammam	$1056
395 km or 245 mi	Jubail	$901
417 km or 259 mi	Qatif	$897
420 km or 261 mi	Riffa	$1223
421 km or 262 mi	Isa Town	$1243
426 km or 265 mi	Manama	$1280
460 km or 286 mi	Al Wafrah	$1210
480 km or 298 mi	As Sulayyil	$1041
491 km or 305 mi	Doha	$1779
496 km or 308 mi	Al Khor	$1709
540 km or 336 mi	Kuwait City	$1393
595 km or 369 mi	Ha'il	$846
611 km or 379 mi	Umm Qasr	$740
618 km or 384 mi	Al-Faw	$736
631 km or 392 mi	Bushehr	$551
646 km or 401 mi	Az Zubayr	$723
652 km or 405 mi	Abadan	$547
658 km or 409 mi	Basra	$904
659 km or 410 mi	Khorramshahr	$544
668 km or 415 mi	Bisha	$905
680 km or 423 mi	Borazjan	$546
701 km or 436 mi	Bandar-e Mahshahr	$548
713 km or 443 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
714 km or 443 mi	Nasiriyah	$672
719 km or 447 mi	Medina	$1215
737 km or 458 mi	Kazerun	$557
747 km or 464 mi	Behbahan	$536
754 km or 469 mi	Samawah	$582
766 km or 476 mi	Ahvaz	$597
775 km or 481 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
790 km or 491 mi	Mecca	$979
798 km or 496 mi	Shiraz	$589
800 km or 497 mi	Amarah	$683
804 km or 499 mi	Bareq	$902
804 km or 500 mi	Jahrom	$547
823 km or 511 mi	Yasuj	$529

Cities near Sharjah

Distance	City	Cost of living
10 km or 6.2 mi	Ajman	$2240
13 km or 8 mi	Dubai	$2379
28 km or 17 mi	Umm al-Quwain	$1196
95 km or 59 mi	Ras al-Khaimah	$1540
98 km or 61 mi	Fujairah	$1239
133 km or 82 mi	Al Ain	$1844
142 km or 88 mi	Abu Dhabi	$1828
222 km or 138 mi	Bandar Abbas	$634
259 km or 161 mi	Madinat Zayed	$1721
337 km or 210 mi	Seeb	$967
346 km or 215 mi	Nizwa	$780
377 km or 235 mi	Muscat	$1090
388 km or 241 mi	Doha	$1779
392 km or 243 mi	Al Khor	$1709
394 km or 245 mi	Jahrom	$547
434 km or 270 mi	Fasa	$548
436 km or 271 mi	Jiroft	$518
456 km or 283 mi	Sirjan	$514
491 km or 305 mi	Manama	$1280
492 km or 306 mi	Riffa	$1223
493 km or 307 mi	Isa Town	$1243
510 km or 317 mi	Bam	$515
526 km or 327 mi	Chabahar	$585
534 km or 332 mi	Dhahran	$1068
543 km or 337 mi	Dammam	$1056
550 km or 342 mi	Shiraz	$589
563 km or 350 mi	Marvdasht	$563
564 km or 350 mi	Rafsanjan	$507
564 km or 351 mi	Qatif	$897
566 km or 352 mi	Iranshahr	$605
572 km or 355 mi	Kerman	$464
575 km or 358 mi	Al-Mubarraz	$804
599 km or 372 mi	Borazjan	$546
600 km or 373 mi	Jubail	$901
600 km or 373 mi	Kazerun	$557
604 km or 375 mi	Bushehr	$551
699 km or 434 mi	Yasuj	$529
709 km or 440 mi	Zahedan	$829
734 km or 456 mi	Yazd	$573
771 km or 479 mi	Behbahan	$536