Cost of living comparison

Saudi Arabia

compared to

United States

Los Angeles vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Los Angeles is 2.1 times more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 3.1 times more in Los Angeles
Groceries: pay 82.4% more in Los Angeles
Transportation: pay 82.9% more in Los Angeles
Housing: pay 2.4 times more in Los Angeles
Childcare: pay 3.2 times more in Los Angeles
Entertainment and Sports: pay 54.8% more in Los Angeles
Clothing: pay 43.5% more in Los Angeles

The cost of childcare, restaurants, housing, transportation, groceries, and entertainment and sports in Los Angeles are more expensive than in Riyadh. Notably, childcare, restaurants, and housing are significantly more expensive in Los Angeles.

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Los Angeles vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Los Angeles instead of Riyadh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 3.1 times more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Los Angeles
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.99 SAR29.99	$26.50	+231.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.99 SAR29.99	$15.00	+87.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$3.72	+325.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.31 SAR1.18	$2.72	+768.3%
Average			+206.7%

Riyadh vs. Los Angeles - Cost of restaurants

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pay 82.4% more for groceries

	Riyadh	Los Angeles
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 SAR4.83	$4.81	+273.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.27 SAR19.77	$5.75	+9.0%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.76 SAR25.38	$4.95	-26.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$3.08 SAR11.57	$5.99	+94.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 SAR16.27	$7.26	+67.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 SAR4.88	$2.32	+78.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 SAR3.28	$1.03	+17.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.13 SAR4.23	$2.16	+91.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.80 SAR2.99	$2.57	+223.3%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.54 SAR2.04	$1.46	+168.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.59 SAR2.21	$1.30	+119.9%
Average			+82.4%

Riyadh vs. Los Angeles - Cost of groceries

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pay 82.9% more for transportation

	Riyadh	Los Angeles
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.35 SAR8.81	$5.97	+154.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.31 SAR139.97	$105.00	+181.4%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$34,642.08 SAR130K	$36,998.00	+6.8%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.12 SAR67.99	$17.91	-1.1%
Average			+82.9%

Riyadh vs. Los Angeles - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.4 times more for housing

	Riyadh	Los Angeles
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$71.73 SAR269.13	$80.07	+11.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,186.87 SAR4,453.00	$2,544.44	+114.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$833.69 SAR3,127.91	$2,413.33	+189.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$81.86 SAR307.12	$217.11	+165.2%
Average			+141.6%

Riyadh vs. Los Angeles - Cost of housing

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pay 3.2 times more for childcare

	Riyadh	Los Angeles
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$530.73 SAR1,991.25	$1,676.09	+215.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$10,105.80 SAR37,915.67	$32,155.00	+218.2%
Average			+217.0%

Riyadh vs. Los Angeles - Cost of childcare

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pay 54.8% more for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Los Angeles
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.13 SAR8.00	$8.00	+275.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.28 SAR16.06	$5.95	+38.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.73 SAR28.99	$13.00	+68.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$89.94 SAR337.43	$75.47	-16.1%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.32 SAR49.99	$19.75	+48.2%
Average			+54.8%

Riyadh vs. Los Angeles - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 43.5% more for clothing

	Riyadh	Los Angeles
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$58.30 SAR218.72	$89.92	+54.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$54.26 SAR203.59	$64.92	+19.6%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.59 SAR384.92	$119.25	+16.2%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$103.93 SAR389.92	$205.45	+97.7%
Average			+43.5%

Riyadh vs. Los Angeles - 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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