Cost of living comparison

compared to

Karbala vs. Cairo Cost of Living Summary

Karbala is 39.4% more expensive than Cairo.

Restaurants: pay 37.4% more in Karbala
Groceries: pay 32.3% more in Karbala
Transportation: pay 2.3 times more in Karbala
Housing: pay 2.2 times more in Karbala
Childcare: pay 15.2% less in Karbala
Entertainment and Sports: pay 33.2% more in Karbala
Clothing: pay 60.1% less in Karbala

The cost of transportation, housing, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and groceries in Karbala are more expensive than in Cairo. Expenses including clothing and childcare are lower in Karbala. Notably, transportation and housing are significantly more expensive in Karbala.

Karbala vs. Cairo Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Karbala instead of Cairo, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 37.4% more for restaurants

	Cairo	Karbala
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.16 EGP216.96	$4.96 IQD6,504	+19.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.19 EGP271.20	$5.69 IQD7,451	+9.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 EGP19.89	$0.38 IQD497	-0.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.14 EGP7.50	$0.32 IQD416	+120.8%
Average			+37.4%

Cairo vs. Karbala - Cost of restaurants

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pay 32.3% more for groceries

	Cairo	Karbala
Bread 1 loaf	$0.60 EGP31.28	$0.65 IQD847	+7.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$1.88 EGP97.94	$2.75 IQD3,604	+46.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$3.73 EGP194.65	$4.34 IQD5,684	+16.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.45 EGP75.55	$1.73 IQD2,264	+19.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.06 EGP107.78	$2.16 IQD2,827	+4.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.74 EGP38.82	$0.44 IQD579	-40.6%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.34 EGP17.50	$0.48 IQD635	+44.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.28 EGP14.85	$0.42 IQD555	+49.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.13 EGP6.59	$0.31 IQD401	+142.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.19 EGP9.83	$0.28 IQD362	+46.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.19 EGP9.73	$0.22 IQD287	+17.5%
Average			+32.3%

Cairo vs. Karbala - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.3 times more for transportation

	Cairo	Karbala
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.36 EGP71.11	$1.87 IQD2,445	+37.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$6.44 EGP336.29	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$37,398.47 EGP2M	$10,618.32 IQD14M	-71.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.66 EGP138.86	$13.65 IQD17,883	+413.3%
Average			+126.2%

Cairo vs. Karbala - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.2 times more for housing

	Cairo	Karbala
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$12.92 EGP674.35	$48.85 IQD63,987	+278.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$213.48 EGP11,146.27	$251.69 IQD330K	+17.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$137.13 EGP7,159.77	$146.54 IQD192K	+6.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$19.12 EGP998.55	$54.49 IQD71,377	+184.9%
Average			+122.0%

Cairo vs. Karbala - Cost of housing

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pay 15.2% less for childcare

	Cairo	Karbala
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$92.85 EGP4,847.76	$124.83 IQD164K	+34.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,210.79 EGP115K	$779.23 IQD1M	-64.8%
Average			-15.2%

Cairo vs. Karbala - Cost of childcare

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pay 33.2% more for entertainment and sports

	Cairo	Karbala
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.45 EGP75.94	$1.52 IQD1,987	+4.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.62 EGP84.36	$1.62 IQD2,125	+0.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.08 EGP108.48	$1.90 IQD2,484	-8.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$17.31 EGP903.99	$23.32 IQD30,541	+34.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$3.74 EGP195.27	$8.79 IQD11,517	+135.1%
Average			+33.2%

Cairo vs. Karbala - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 60.1% less for clothing

	Cairo	Karbala
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$33.96 EGP1,772.99	$17.02 IQD22,298	-49.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 EGP2,369.64	$13.90 IQD18,214	-69.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$117.30 EGP6,124.26	$30.34 IQD39,740	-74.1%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$61.59 EGP3,215.70	$32.49 IQD42,564	-47.2%
Average			-60.1%

Cairo vs. Karbala - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: March 2026

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