Cost of living comparison

Tajikistan

compared to

Mongolia

Ulaanbaatar vs. Dushanbe Cost of Living Summary

Ulaanbaatar is 25.4% more expensive than Dushanbe.

Restaurants: pay 16.7% more in Ulaanbaatar
Groceries: pay 41.6% more in Ulaanbaatar
Transportation: pay 0.8% more in Ulaanbaatar
Housing: pay 5.0% more in Ulaanbaatar
Childcare: pay 3.8 times more in Ulaanbaatar
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.1% more in Ulaanbaatar
Clothing: pay 89.0% more in Ulaanbaatar

The cost of childcare, clothing, groceries, restaurants, entertainment and sports, and housing in Ulaanbaatar are more expensive than in Dushanbe. Notably, childcare and clothing are significantly more expensive in Ulaanbaatar.

Planning a move to Mongolia? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Ulaanbaatar vs. Dushanbe Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Ulaanbaatar instead of Dushanbe, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 16.7% more for restaurants

	Dushanbe	Ulaanbaatar
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.88 TJS45.06	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	+14.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.42 TJS50.07	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	+2.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 TJS5.58	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	+41.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.35 TJS3.25	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	+67.7%
Average			+16.7%

Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 41.6% more for groceries

	Dushanbe	Ulaanbaatar
Bread 1 loaf	$0.62 TJS5.70	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	+61.6%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.53 TJS51.07	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	+11.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.10 TJS37.91	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	+33.9%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.81 TJS16.70	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	+16.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.96 TJS18.09	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	+13.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.85 TJS7.87	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	+63.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.29 TJS11.89	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	-15.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.20 TJS11.13	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	+40.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.57 TJS5.22	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	+143.1%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 TJS2.56	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	+19.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.19 TJS1.74	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	+155.2%
Average			+41.6%

Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 0.8% more for transportation

	Dushanbe	Ulaanbaatar
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.37 TJS40.44	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	-1.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.50 TJS300.43	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	-48.7%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$16,250.83 TJS150K	$26,896.36 MNT97M	+65.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$3.68 TJS34.05	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	+32.0%
Average			+0.8%

Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 5.0% more for housing

	Dushanbe	Ulaanbaatar
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$17.18 TJS158.80	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	-20.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$628.00 TJS5,804.92	$569.30 MNT2M	-9.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$352.75 TJS3,260.64	$444.50 MNT2M	+26.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$51.70 TJS477.86	$54.38 MNT196K	+5.2%
Average			+5.0%

Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.8 times more for childcare

	Dushanbe	Ulaanbaatar
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$83.42 TJS771.10	$817.79 MNT3M	+880.3%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$5,679.67 TJS52,499.67	$8,262.71 MNT30M	+45.5%
Average			+277.6%

Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.1% more for entertainment and sports

	Dushanbe	Ulaanbaatar
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.19 TJS11.02	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	+98.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.79 TJS16.52	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	+35.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.79 TJS35.05	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	-55.7%
Monthly membership at local gym	$45.50 TJS420.60	$67.73 MNT244K	+48.8%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.42 TJS50.07	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	-23.1%
Average			+16.1%

Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 89.0% more for clothing

	Dushanbe	Ulaanbaatar
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$24.38 TJS225.32	$81.73 MNT294K	+235.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$52.65 TJS486.69	$45.38 MNT163K	-13.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$77.64 TJS717.69	$102.93 MNT370K	+32.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$56.34 TJS520.74	$187.55 MNT675K	+232.9%
Average			+89.0%

Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated November 2026). How we calculate this

Compare further: Dushanbe vs. Ulaanbaatar

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Ulaanbaatar?

More cost comparisons

Dushanbe vs.

Lima

Dushanbe vs.

Moscow

Dushanbe vs.

Rome

Dushanbe vs.

Sydney

Dushanbe vs.

Berlin

Dushanbe vs.

Shanghai

Dushanbe vs.

New York City

Dushanbe vs.

London

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Tajikistan vs. Mongolia. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Tajikistan and Mongolia.

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Add prices for Dushanbe

Add prices for Ulaanbaatar

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Ulaanbaatar or Dushanbe. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.