Cost of living comparison

Puerto Rico

compared to

United Arab Emirates

Abu Dhabi vs. San Juan Cost of Living Summary

Abu Dhabi is 10.6% cheaper than San Juan.

Restaurants: pay 42.0% less in Abu Dhabi
Groceries: pay 47.6% less in Abu Dhabi
Transportation: pay 23.3% less in Abu Dhabi
Housing: pay 19.2% more in Abu Dhabi
Childcare: pay 6.8% more in Abu Dhabi
Entertainment and Sports: pay 84.3% more in Abu Dhabi
Clothing: pay 3.4% less in Abu Dhabi

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

Planning a move to United Arab Emirates? Get up to 5 free, no-obligation quotes from vetted international movers. Get free quotes →

Abu Dhabi vs. San Juan Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Abu Dhabi instead of San Juan, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 42.0% less for restaurants

	San Juan	Abu Dhabi
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$19.13	$8.17 AED30.00	-57.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.19	$9.53 AED35.00	+3.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.87	$1.15 AED4.24	-38.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.48	$0.42 AED1.53	-71.8%
Average			-42.0%

San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of restaurants

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 47.6% less for groceries

	San Juan	Abu Dhabi
Bread 1 loaf	$3.63	$1.62 AED5.94	-55.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.27	$5.81 AED21.35	-7.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$8.20	$7.38 AED27.10	-10.0%
Eggs 1 dozen	$7.41	$3.49 AED12.81	-52.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.37	$4.40 AED16.16	+0.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$2.30	$1.12 AED4.13	-51.0%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.18	$0.95 AED3.48	-19.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.20	$0.84 AED3.09	-61.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.18	$0.71 AED2.60	-67.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.71	$0.55 AED2.03	-67.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.79	$0.53 AED1.96	-70.3%
Average			-47.6%

San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of groceries

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 23.3% less for transportation

	San Juan	Abu Dhabi
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.60	$3.63 AED13.32	-21.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$30.00	$26.55 AED97.49	-11.5%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$40,000.00	$29,949.09 AED110K	-25.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$14.50	$7.62 AED28.00	-47.4%
Average			-23.3%

San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of transportation

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 19.2% more for housing

	San Juan	Abu Dhabi
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$69.79	$88.30 AED324.28	+26.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,813.12	$1,966.33 AED7,221.36	+8.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$834.00	$1,399.56 AED5,139.88	+67.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$245.59	$148.00 AED543.52	-39.7%
Average			+19.2%

San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of housing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 6.8% more for childcare

	San Juan	Abu Dhabi
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$821.00	$790.93 AED2,904.68	-3.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$12,527.31	$14,819.26 AED54,423.74	+18.3%
Average			+6.8%

San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of childcare

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 84.3% more for entertainment and sports

	San Juan	Abu Dhabi
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$3.00	$11.57 AED42.50	+285.7%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.60	$5.96 AED21.87	+65.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$12.00	$6.67 AED24.50	-44.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$40.99	$95.29 AED349.96	+132.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$10.50	$14.97 AED54.99	+42.6%
Average			+84.3%

San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of entertainment and sports

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

pay 3.4% less for clothing

	San Juan	Abu Dhabi
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$56.25	$61.46 AED225.73	+9.3%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.25	$49.09 AED180.30	-19.8%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$108.75	$111.63 AED409.96	+2.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$113.75	$110.14 AED404.50	-3.2%
Average			-3.4%

San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi - Cost of clothing

Improve prices · Change currency (USD)

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

Compare further: San Juan vs. Abu Dhabi

Salary Calculator · Free tool

What salary would you need in Abu Dhabi?

More cost comparisons

San Juan vs.

Quito

San Juan vs.

Warsaw

San Juan vs.

Bangkok

San Juan vs.

London

San Juan vs.

Toronto

San Juan vs.

Cairo

San Juan vs.

Sydney

San Juan vs.

Paris

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Puerto Rico vs. United Arab Emirates. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Puerto Rico and United Arab Emirates.

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 San Juan

Add prices for Abu Dhabi

Ask the Elsewhere Community

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