Cost of living comparison

Mexico

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Al Ain vs. Monterrey Cost of Living Summary

Al Ain is 11.3% cheaper than Monterrey.

Restaurants: pay 40.9% less in Al Ain
Groceries: pay 23.8% less in Al Ain
Transportation: pay 19.0% less in Al Ain
Housing: pay 1.0% less in Al Ain
Childcare: pay 27.0% less in Al Ain
Entertainment and Sports: pay 99.4% more in Al Ain
Clothing: pay 22.3% less in Al Ain

Expenses including restaurants, childcare, groceries, clothing, transportation, and housing are lower in Al Ain. Notably, entertainment and sports is significantly more expensive in Al Ain.

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Al Ain vs. Monterrey Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Al Ain instead of Monterrey, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 40.9% less for restaurants

	Monterrey	Al Ain
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$13.91 MX$257.20	$8.17 AED30.00	-41.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.13 MX$205.76	$8.58 AED31.50	-22.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.68 MX$30.99	$0.72 AED2.65	-56.9%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.03 MX$19.03	$0.34 AED1.25	-66.9%
Average			-40.9%

Monterrey vs. Al Ain - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.8% less for groceries

	Monterrey	Al Ain
Bread 1 loaf	$2.95 MX$54.63	$1.62 AED5.94	-45.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.13 MX$113.44	$4.76 AED17.50	-22.3%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.20 MX$133.19	$6.79 AED24.92	-5.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.56 MX$47.39	$2.83 AED10.39	+10.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.28 MX$79.19	$4.40 AED16.16	+2.8%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.52 MX$28.05	$1.12 AED4.13	-25.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.71 MX$13.19	$0.92 AED3.38	+29.0%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.98 MX$18.19	$0.84 AED3.09	-14.5%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.12 MX$20.72	$0.71 AED2.60	-36.9%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.06 MX$19.52	$0.52 AED1.93	-50.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.23 MX$22.77	$0.53 AED1.96	-56.7%
Average			-23.8%

Monterrey vs. Al Ain - Cost of groceries

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pay 19.0% less for transportation

	Monterrey	Al Ain
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.91 MX$109.36	$3.37 AED12.37	-43.0%
Monthly public transit pass	$32.04 MX$592.58	$24.50 AED89.99	-23.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$21,528.95 MX$398K	$29,949.09 AED110K	+39.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.57 MX$195.47	$6.67 AED24.50	-36.9%
Average			-19.0%

Monterrey vs. Al Ain - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.0% less for housing

	Monterrey	Al Ain
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$26.79 MX$495.42	$88.30 AED324.28	+229.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$981.90 MX$18,158.20	$707.89 AED2,599.72	-27.9%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$685.94 MX$12,685.02	$816.48 AED2,998.51	+19.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$91.91 MX$1,699.66	$86.71 AED318.46	-5.7%
Average			-1.0%

Monterrey vs. Al Ain - Cost of housing

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pay 27.0% less for childcare

	Monterrey	Al Ain
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$703.26 MX$13,005.38	$571.30 AED2,098.11	-18.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$11,496.80 MX$213K	$7,532.65 AED27,663.65	-34.5%
Average			-27.0%

Monterrey vs. Al Ain - Cost of childcare

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pay 99.4% more for entertainment and sports

	Monterrey	Al Ain
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MX$43.72	$8.17 AED30.00	+245.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.04 MX$74.68	$4.67 AED17.16	+15.7%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$4.90 MX$90.53	$6.26 AED23.00	+27.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$31.22 MX$577.27	$57.29 AED210.39	+83.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$5.29 MX$97.74	$13.61 AED49.99	+157.6%
Average			+99.4%

Monterrey vs. Al Ain - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.3% less for clothing

	Monterrey	Al Ain
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$73.56 MX$1,360.29	$44.24 AED162.48	-39.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$42.76 MX$790.75	$49.09 AED180.30	+14.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$112.51 MX$2,080.57	$70.11 AED257.47	-37.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$120.67 MX$2,231.48	$102.10 AED374.96	-15.4%
Average			-22.3%

Monterrey vs. Al Ain - Cost of clothing

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

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