Cost of living comparison

compared to

Muscat vs. Riyadh Cost of Living Summary

Muscat is 4.7% more expensive than Riyadh.

Restaurants: pay 6.0% more in Muscat
Groceries: pay 10.5% less in Muscat
Transportation: pay 1.6% less in Muscat
Housing: pay 25.7% less in Muscat
Childcare: pay 22.6% less in Muscat
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.0 times more in Muscat
Clothing: pay 16.3% less in Muscat

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

Muscat vs. Riyadh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Muscat instead of Riyadh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 6.0% more for restaurants

	Riyadh	Muscat
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$8.00 SAR30.00	$5.20 OMR2.000	-35.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.00 SAR30.00	$7.80 OMR3.000	-2.5%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.75 SAR2.82	$1.15 OMR0.440	+52.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.29 SAR1.10	$0.32 OMR0.120	+9.3%
Average			+6.0%

Riyadh vs. Muscat - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 10.5% less for groceries

	Riyadh	Muscat
Bread 1 loaf	$1.31 SAR4.91	$1.24 OMR0.480	-5.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.27 SAR16.00	$1.93 OMR0.740	-54.9%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.23 SAR23.37	$7.45 OMR2.860	+19.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.81 SAR10.53	$2.60 OMR1.000	-7.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.67 SAR17.52	$2.65 OMR1.020	-43.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.03 SAR3.85	$1.26 OMR0.490	+22.8%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.76 SAR2.87	$0.79 OMR0.300	+3.8%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.82 SAR3.07	$0.91 OMR0.350	+11.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.70 SAR2.63	$0.54 OMR0.210	-22.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.58 SAR2.17	$0.47 OMR0.180	-19.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.66 SAR2.48	$0.53 OMR0.200	-19.8%
Average			-10.5%

Riyadh vs. Muscat - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 1.6% less for transportation

	Riyadh	Muscat
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$2.31 SAR8.65	$2.34 OMR0.900	+1.6%
Monthly public transit pass	$37.33 SAR140.01	$65.02 OMR25.000	+74.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$33,328.67 SAR125,009.97	$22,757.06 OMR8,750.090	-31.7%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$18.40 SAR69.01	$9.10 OMR3.500	-50.5%
Average			-1.6%

Riyadh vs. Muscat - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 25.7% less for housing

	Riyadh	Muscat
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$74.49 SAR279.42	$68.79 OMR26.450	-7.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,119.84 SAR4,200.33	$612.96 OMR235.680	-45.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$846.11 SAR3,173.60	$395.21 OMR151.960	-53.3%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$82.07 SAR307.85	$84.88 OMR32.640	+3.4%
Average			-25.7%

Riyadh vs. Muscat - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 22.6% less for childcare

	Riyadh	Muscat
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$461.83 SAR1,732.23	$198.66 OMR76.390	-57.0%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$9,810.75 SAR36,798.39	$10,973.98 OMR4,219.490	+11.9%
Average			-22.6%

Riyadh vs. Muscat - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 2.0 times more for entertainment and sports

	Riyadh	Muscat
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$1.87 SAR7.00	$13.00 OMR5.000	+596.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$4.10 SAR15.39	$4.77 OMR1.840	+16.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$7.33 SAR27.50	$6.50 OMR2.500	-11.3%
Monthly membership at local gym	$104.43 SAR391.70	$51.56 OMR19.820	-50.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$15.33 SAR57.50	$10.40 OMR4.000	-32.1%
Average			+103.8%

Riyadh vs. Muscat - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 16.3% less for clothing

	Riyadh	Muscat
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$59.01 SAR221.34	$59.30 OMR22.800	+0.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$64.27 SAR241.07	$41.90 OMR16.110	-34.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$110.52 SAR414.53	$82.36 OMR31.670	-25.5%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$98.25 SAR368.53	$93.05 OMR35.780	-5.3%
Average			-16.3%

Riyadh vs. Muscat - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

More cost comparisons

Riyadh vs.

Berlin

Riyadh vs.

Mexico City

Riyadh vs.

Canberra

Riyadh vs.

Madrid

Riyadh vs.

Phnom Penh

Riyadh vs.

Vienna

Riyadh vs.

Ottawa

Riyadh vs.

Wellington

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Saudi Arabia vs. Oman. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Saudi Arabia and Oman.

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 Riyadh

Add prices for Muscat

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

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