Cost of living comparison
compared to
Abu Dhabi vs. Des Moines Cost of Living Summary
Abu Dhabi is 3.8% cheaper than Des Moines.
Abu Dhabi vs. Des Moines Cost Breakdown
If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of Des Moines, you would:
pay 46.6% less for restaurants
|
Des Moines
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.00
|
$10.89
AED40.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$12.00
|
$9.53
AED35.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$2.61
|
$1.29
AED4.74
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.15
|
$0.44
AED1.61
|
|
Des Moines vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants
pay 12.6% less for groceries
|
Des Moines
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$3.03
|
$1.60
AED5.89
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$6.36
|
$5.28
AED19.39
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$3.56
|
$7.50
AED27.54
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$3.61
|
$3.64
AED13.37
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$3.67
|
$4.12
AED15.11
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.77
|
$1.15
AED4.21
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$0.65
|
$0.82
AED3.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.66
|
$0.83
AED3.05
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$1.59
|
$0.67
AED2.46
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$0.75
|
$0.53
AED1.96
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.36
|
$0.65
AED2.39
|
|
Des Moines vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries
pay 4.9% less for transportation
|
Des Moines
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$2.93
|
$2.94
AED10.80
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass |
$58.00
|
$25.87
AED95.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$26,000.00
|
$44,639.07
AED164K
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$11.94
|
$7.62
AED28.00
|
|
Des Moines vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation
pay 31.4% more for housing
|
Des Moines
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$57.86
|
$100.96
AED370.79
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,214.00
|
$1,490.68
AED5,474.52
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$912.50
|
$1,109.19
AED4,073.48
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$108.83
|
$115.93
AED425.75
|
|
Des Moines vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing
pay 23.0% less for childcare
|
Des Moines
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$1,369.17
|
$625.43
AED2,296.88
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$11,812.00
|
$12,786.81
AED46,959.57
|
|
Des Moines vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare
pay 19.5% more for entertainment and sports
|
Des Moines
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$5.00
|
$11.29
AED41.45
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$5.47
|
$5.77
AED21.18
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$7.14
|
$6.26
AED23.00
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$71.67
|
$62.90
AED230.98
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$15.00
|
$13.61
AED50.00
|
|
Des Moines vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 9.4% more for clothing
|
Des Moines
|
Abu Dhabi
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$56.67
|
$60.62
AED222.62
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$41.00
|
$51.93
AED190.71
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$73.00
|
$98.09
AED360.23
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$138.33
|
$96.21
AED353.33
|
|
Des Moines vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of clothing
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: August 2026
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