Cost of living comparison

compared to

United Arab Emirates vs. New York Cost of Living Summary

United Arab Emirates is 23.5% cheaper than New York.

Restaurants: pay 54.5% less in United Arab Emirates
Groceries: pay 41.1% less in United Arab Emirates
Transportation: pay 23.5% less in United Arab Emirates
Housing: pay 4.3% less in United Arab Emirates
Childcare: pay 69.8% less in United Arab Emirates
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.9% more in United Arab Emirates
Clothing: pay 25.7% more in United Arab Emirates

The cost of clothing and entertainment and sports in United Arab Emirates are more expensive than in New York. Expenses including childcare, restaurants, groceries, transportation, and housing are lower in United Arab Emirates.

United Arab Emirates vs. New York Cost Breakdown

If you lived in United Arab Emirates instead of New York, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 54.5% less for restaurants

	New York	United Arab Emirates
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$20.39	$7.91 AED29.06	-61.2%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.80	$8.65 AED31.75	-26.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.45	$1.04 AED3.83	-57.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.86	$0.50 AED1.85	-72.8%
Average			-54.5%

New York vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of restaurants

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pay 41.1% less for groceries

	New York	United Arab Emirates
Bread 1 loaf	$3.78	$1.47 AED5.39	-61.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.84	$5.36 AED19.68	-31.7%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.25	$6.96 AED25.56	+63.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$4.76	$2.81 AED10.34	-40.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$5.49	$3.68 AED13.51	-33.0%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.39	$0.98 AED3.59	-59.1%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.88	$0.75 AED2.75	-14.5%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.16	$0.73 AED2.69	-66.1%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.38	$0.59 AED2.15	-75.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.43	$0.48 AED1.76	-66.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.63	$0.53 AED1.93	-67.6%
Average			-41.1%

New York vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of groceries

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pay 23.5% less for transportation

	New York	United Arab Emirates
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.32	$2.91 AED10.69	-12.3%
Monthly public transit pass	$95.86	$53.10 AED195.00	-44.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,821.80	$40,680.12 AED149,397.75	+20.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$19.88	$8.50 AED31.21	-57.2%
Average			-23.5%

New York vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of transportation

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pay 4.3% less for housing

	New York	United Arab Emirates
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$65.63	$101.41 AED372.42	+54.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,876.02	$1,438.18 AED5,281.71	-23.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,567.68	$990.79 AED3,638.67	-36.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$139.14	$122.67 AED450.49	-11.8%
Average			-4.3%

New York vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of housing

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pay 69.8% less for childcare

	New York	United Arab Emirates
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,788.00	$497.28 AED1,826.25	-72.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$24,966.76	$8,164.49 AED29,984.10	-67.3%
Average			-69.8%

New York vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.9% more for entertainment and sports

	New York	United Arab Emirates
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.28	$10.43 AED38.31	+66.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.14	$4.99 AED18.32	-2.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$14.22	$6.23 AED22.88	-56.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$63.27	$75.55 AED277.45	+19.4%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.99	$13.19 AED48.44	-12.0%
Average			+2.9%

New York vs. United Arab Emirates - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 25.7% more for clothing

	New York	United Arab Emirates
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$49.49	$75.04 AED275.58	+51.6%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$44.18	$59.50 AED218.51	+34.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$85.00	$105.66 AED388.03	+24.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$115.57	$106.53 AED391.23	-7.8%
Average			+25.7%

New York vs. United Arab Emirates - 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: December 2025

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