Cost of living comparison

compared to

Cairo vs. Karbala Cost of Living Summary

Cairo is 30.2% more expensive than Karbala.

Restaurants: pay 19.8% less in Cairo
Groceries: pay 15.9% less in Cairo
Transportation: pay 48.2% more in Cairo
Housing: pay 40.0% less in Cairo
Childcare: pay 79.0% more in Cairo
Entertainment and Sports: pay 15.6% less in Cairo
Clothing: pay 2.8 times more in Cairo

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

Cairo vs. Karbala Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 19.8% less for restaurants

	Karbala	Cairo
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$4.96 IQD6,504	$4.16 EGP216.96	-16.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.69 IQD7,451	$5.19 EGP271.20	-8.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.38 IQD497	$0.38 EGP19.89	+0.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.32 IQD416	$0.14 EGP7.50	-54.7%
Average			-19.8%

Karbala vs. Cairo - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.9% less for groceries

	Karbala	Cairo
Bread 1 loaf	$0.65 IQD847	$0.60 EGP31.28	-7.3%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.75 IQD3,604	$1.88 EGP97.94	-31.8%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.34 IQD5,684	$3.73 EGP194.65	-14.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.73 IQD2,264	$1.45 EGP75.55	-16.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.16 IQD2,827	$2.06 EGP107.78	-4.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.44 IQD579	$0.74 EGP38.82	+68.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.48 IQD635	$0.34 EGP17.50	-30.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.42 IQD555	$0.28 EGP14.85	-32.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.31 IQD401	$0.13 EGP6.59	-58.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.28 IQD362	$0.19 EGP9.83	-31.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 IQD287	$0.19 EGP9.73	-14.9%
Average			-15.9%

Karbala vs. Cairo - Cost of groceries

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pay 48.2% more for transportation

	Karbala	Cairo
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$1.87 IQD2,445	$1.36 EGP71.11	-27.0%
Monthly public transit pass	??	$6.44 EGP336.29
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$10,618.32 IQD14M	$37,398.47 EGP2M	+252.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$13.65 IQD17,883	$2.66 EGP138.86	-80.5%
Average			+48.2%

Karbala vs. Cairo - Cost of transportation

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pay 40.0% less for housing

	Karbala	Cairo
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$48.85 IQD63,987	$12.92 EGP674.35	-73.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$251.69 IQD330K	$213.48 EGP11,146.27	-15.2%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$146.54 IQD192K	$137.13 EGP7,159.77	-6.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.49 IQD71,377	$19.12 EGP998.55	-64.9%
Average			-40.0%

Karbala vs. Cairo - Cost of housing

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pay 79.0% more for childcare

	Karbala	Cairo
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$124.83 IQD164K	$92.85 EGP4,847.76	-25.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$779.23 IQD1M	$2,210.79 EGP115K	+183.7%
Average			+79.0%

Karbala vs. Cairo - Cost of childcare

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pay 15.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Karbala	Cairo
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.52 IQD1,987	$1.45 EGP75.94	-4.1%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.62 IQD2,125	$1.62 EGP84.36	-0.4%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.90 IQD2,484	$2.08 EGP108.48	+9.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$23.32 IQD30,541	$17.31 EGP903.99	-25.7%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$8.79 IQD11,517	$3.74 EGP195.27	-57.5%
Average			-15.6%

Karbala vs. Cairo - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.8 times more for clothing

	Karbala	Cairo
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$17.02 IQD22,298	$33.96 EGP1,772.99	+99.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$13.90 IQD18,214	$45.38 EGP2,369.64	+226.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$30.34 IQD39,740	$117.30 EGP6,124.26	+286.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$32.49 IQD42,564	$61.59 EGP3,215.70	+89.5%
Average			+175.5%

Karbala vs. Cairo - 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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