Cost of living comparison

Mongolia

compared to

Kazakhstan

Astana vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost of Living Summary

Astana is 4.9% cheaper than Ulaanbaatar.

Restaurants: pay 58.9% more in Astana
Groceries: pay 21.1% less in Astana
Transportation: pay 12.2% less in Astana
Housing: pay 3.5% less in Astana
Childcare: pay 19.0% less in Astana
Clothing: pay 9.3% less in Astana

Expenses including groceries, childcare, transportation, clothing, housing, and entertainment and sports are lower in Astana.

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Astana vs. Ulaanbaatar Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Astana instead of Ulaanbaatar, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 58.9% more for restaurants

	Ulaanbaatar	Astana
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$11.00 KZT4,935.31	+97.9%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$5.56 MNT20,000.00	$7.83 KZT3,512.89	+40.9%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$0.86 MNT3,083.33	$1.10 KZT494.27	+28.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.59 MNT2,125.00	$0.66 KZT295.08	+11.4%
Average			+58.9%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Astana - Cost of restaurants

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pay 21.1% less for groceries

	Ulaanbaatar	Astana
Bread 1 loaf	$1.00 MNT3,588.33	$0.63 KZT281.03	-37.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.18 MNT22,248.75	$6.10 KZT2,735.04	-1.4%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.49 MNT19,758.34	$4.93 KZT2,210.11	-10.3%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.10 MNT7,573.96	$2.23 KZT999.54	+5.9%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.22 MNT7,975.68	$2.69 KZT1,207.33	+21.4%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.39 MNT5,003.76	$0.82 KZT366.20	-41.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.09 MNT3,926.41	$1.06 KZT477.66	-2.4%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.69 MNT6,091.75	$1.03 KZT464.16	-38.9%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.37 MNT4,944.16	$1.01 KZT452.36	-26.6%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.33 MNT1,188.41	$0.31 KZT140.01	-5.5%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.48 MNT1,730.24	$0.20 KZT91.05	-57.8%
Average			-21.1%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Astana - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.2% less for transportation

	Ulaanbaatar	Astana
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.32 MNT15,549.41	$2.53 KZT1,133.61	-41.5%
Monthly public transit pass	$16.67 MNT60,000.00	$16.78 KZT7,527.63	+0.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$26,896.36 MNT97M	$24,607.50 KZT11M	-8.5%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$4.86 MNT17,500.00	$11.19 KZT5,018.42	+130.0%
Average			-12.2%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Astana - Cost of transportation

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pay 3.5% less for housing

	Ulaanbaatar	Astana
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$13.63 MNT49,062.50	$17.96 KZT8,057.81	+31.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$569.30 MNT2M	$575.82 KZT258K	+1.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$444.50 MNT2M	$394.61 KZT177K	-11.2%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$54.38 MNT196K	$52.26 KZT23,447.42	-3.9%
Average			-3.5%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Astana - Cost of housing

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pay 19.0% less for childcare

	Ulaanbaatar	Astana
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$817.79 MNT3M	$374.89 KZT168K	-54.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$8,262.71 MNT30M	$11,828.93 KZT5M	+43.2%
Average			-19.0%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Astana - Cost of childcare

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pay about the same for entertainment and sports

	Ulaanbaatar	Astana
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.36 MNT8,500.00	$1.34 KZT602.21	-43.2%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.42 MNT8,692.31	$2.59 KZT1,162.60	+7.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$1.68 MNT6,044.89	$2.24 KZT1,003.68	+33.2%
Monthly membership at local gym	$67.73 MNT244K	$57.61 KZT25,849.76	-14.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$4.17 MNT15,000.00	$6.49 KZT2,910.68	+55.7%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Astana - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 9.3% less for clothing

	Ulaanbaatar	Astana
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.73 MNT294K	$66.09 KZT29,654.29	-19.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$45.38 MNT163K	$46.98 KZT21,077.36	+3.5%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$102.93 MNT370K	$120.13 KZT53,897.81	+16.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$187.55 MNT675K	$129.87 KZT58,269.41	-30.8%
Average			-9.3%

Ulaanbaatar vs. Astana - 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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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