Cost of living comparison

Iran

compared to

Saudi Arabia

Mecca vs. Tehran Cost of Living Summary

Mecca is 86.7% more expensive than Tehran.

Restaurants: pay 11.9% more in Mecca
Groceries: pay 77.2% more in Mecca
Transportation: pay 3.1 times more in Mecca
Housing: pay 64.6% more in Mecca
Childcare: pay 6.7 times more in Mecca
Entertainment and Sports: pay 3.1 times more in Mecca
Clothing: pay 34.5% less in Mecca

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

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Mecca vs. Tehran Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Mecca instead of Tehran, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.9% more for restaurants

	Tehran	Mecca
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$3.75 IRR5M	$4.53 SAR17.00	+20.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.00 IRR5M	$6.93 SAR26.00	+73.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.51 IRR706K	$0.69 SAR2.60	+35.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.69 IRR2M	$0.24 SAR0.90	-85.8%
Average			+11.9%

Tehran vs. Mecca - Cost of restaurants

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pay 77.2% more for groceries

	Tehran	Mecca
Bread 1 loaf	$0.59 IRR816K	$0.98 SAR3.67	+64.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$2.21 IRR3M	$2.98 SAR11.17	+34.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$2.57 IRR4M	$6.49 SAR24.37	+153.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.25 IRR2M	$2.46 SAR9.23	+96.7%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$1.53 IRR2M	$3.71 SAR13.92	+142.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.62 IRR848K	$0.93 SAR3.48	+50.2%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.86 IRR1M	$0.73 SAR2.72	-15.7%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.53 IRR726K	$0.71 SAR2.67	+34.8%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$0.30 IRR414K	$0.68 SAR2.57	+127.2%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.26 IRR357K	$0.52 SAR1.95	+99.9%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.22 IRR304K	$0.58 SAR2.17	+161.1%
Average			+77.2%

Tehran vs. Mecca - Cost of groceries

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pay 3.1 times more for transportation

	Tehran	Mecca
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$0.34 IRR462K	$2.35 SAR8.82	+599.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$5.50 IRR8M	??
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$50,000.00 IRR69B	$47,965.95 SAR180K	-4.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$2.90 IRR4M	$16.26 SAR61.00	+460.5%
Average			+206.7%

Tehran vs. Mecca - Cost of transportation

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pay 64.6% more for housing

	Tehran	Mecca
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$3.70 IRR5M	$62.84 SAR235.84	+1598.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$425.52 IRR585M	$524.96 SAR1,970.09	+23.4%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$266.92 IRR367M	$286.20 SAR1,074.05	+7.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$9.95 IRR14M	$50.94 SAR191.19	+411.9%
Average			+64.6%

Tehran vs. Mecca - Cost of housing

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pay 6.7 times more for childcare

	Tehran	Mecca
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$107.76 IRR148M	$760.49 SAR2,854.01	+605.7%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$2,581.80 IRR4B	$16,442.55 SAR61,706.21	+536.9%
Average			+570.4%

Tehran vs. Mecca - Cost of childcare

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pay 3.1 times more for entertainment and sports

	Tehran	Mecca
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$0.70 IRR962K	$1.53 SAR5.75	+118.9%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$1.36 IRR2M	$2.60 SAR9.74	+91.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$2.50 IRR3M	$6.66 SAR25.00	+166.5%
Monthly membership at local gym	$24.59 IRR34M	$81.01 SAR304.01	+229.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$2.00 IRR3M	$11.99 SAR45.00	+499.6%
Average			+209.7%

Tehran vs. Mecca - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 34.5% less for clothing

	Tehran	Mecca
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$26.60 IRR37M	$13.32 SAR50.00	-49.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$37.78 IRR52M	$57.02 SAR214.00	+50.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$116.55 IRR160M	$39.97 SAR150.01	-65.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$75.17 IRR103M	$53.30 SAR200.01	-29.1%
Average			-34.5%

Tehran vs. Mecca - 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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