Last update: Nov 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Dubai and Cox's Bazar

For one person, living is cheaper in Cox’s Bazar: $347 a month against $2,889 in Dubai, rent and utilities included – about $30,500 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh
Dubai
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
$2,889
/mo nomad
Cox's Bazar
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
$347
/mo nomad
Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Dubai and in Cox's Bazar

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Dubai and in Cox's Bazar actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,889 in Dubai versus $347 in Cox’s Bazar.

  • Dubai $2,889
  • Cox's Bazar $347

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,444 in Dubai versus $558 in Cox’s Bazar.

  • Dubai $4,444
  • Cox's Bazar $558

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,999 in Dubai versus $768 in Cox’s Bazar.

  • Dubai $5,999
  • Cox's Bazar $768

Living in Dubai is roughly 732% more expensive than in Cox’s Bazar, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Dubai is 114% above, Cox’s Bazar is 74% below.

Currency
🍽 Eating Out
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
Meal at Budget Restaurant
$12.94 AED 47.54
$1.57 ৳196
724.20%
Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range
$83.2 AED 306
$12.19 ৳1,522
582.69%
Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)
$9.35 AED 34.32
$3.02 ৳377
209.60%
Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter draught)
-
$2.64 ৳329
-
Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)
-
$2.35 ৳294
-
Cappuccino
$5.88 AED 21.60
$1.90 ৳237
209.47%
Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)
$1.57 AED 5.77
$0.36 ৳44.79
336.11%
Water (0.33 liter bottle)
$0.94 AED 3.47
$0.11 ৳14.14
754.55%
Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)
$13.44 AED 49.38
-
-
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)
$13.57 AED 49.84
-
-
🛒 Groceries & Markets
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
Milk (1 liter)
$1.86 AED 6.83
$0.75 ৳93.5
148.00%
White Bread (500g)
$1.56 AED 5.73
$0.49 ৳61.3
218.37%
Rice (white) (1kg)
$2.64 AED 9.68
$0.67 ৳83.5
294.03%
Eggs
$3.53 AED 12.96
$0.99 ৳124
256.57%
Local Cheese (1kg)
$12.97 AED 47.62
$7.40 ৳924
75.27%
Chicken Fillets (1kg)
$9.94 AED 36.51
$2.05 ৳256
384.88%
Beef Round Steak (1kg)
$12.92 AED 47.45
$7.32 ৳913
76.50%
Apples (1kg)
$2.55 AED 9.36
$2.31 ৳289
10.39%
Banana (1kg)
$2.05 AED 7.54
$0.90 ৳112
127.78%
Oranges (1kg)
$1.84 AED 6.77
$1.59 ৳198
15.72%
Tomato (1kg)
$1.54 AED 5.64
$0.56 ৳69.9
175.00%
Potato (1kg)
$1.17 AED 4.31
$0.43 ৳53.6
172.09%
Onion (1kg)
$1.02 AED 3.76
$0.62 ৳77.5
64.52%
Lettuce (1 head)
$1.57 AED 5.75
$0.46 ৳57.2
241.30%
Water (1.5 liter bottle)
$0.67 AED 2.46
$0.30 ৳37.34
123.33%
Bottle of Non-Alcoholic Wine (Mid-Range)
-
$7.85 ৳980
-
Local Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.5 liter bottle)
-
$2.59 ৳323
-
Imported Non-Alcoholic Beer (0.33 liter bottle)
-
$4.50 ৳562
-
Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)
$6.31 AED 23.17
$1.90 ৳237
232.11%
Wine (Bottle)
$16.16 AED 59.4
-
-
Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)
$2.58 AED 9.48
-
-
Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)
$2.89 AED 10.60
-
-
🚌 Getting Around
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
One-way Ticket (Public Transport)
$1.40 AED 5.15
-
-
Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)
$82.4 AED 303
-
-
Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)
$3.29 AED 12.07
$0.27 ৳33.30
1118.52%
Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)
$0.65 AED 2.40
$0.34 ৳42.86
91.18%
Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)
$8.13 AED 29.84
$4.10 ৳512
98.29%
Gasoline (1 liter)
$1.00 AED 3.68
$1.18 ৳147
-15.25%
Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)
$26.3K AED 96.6K
$32.4K ৳4.0M
-18.77%
Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)
$22.0K AED 81.0K
$33.7K ৳4.2M
-34.61%
🧾 Monthly Utilities & Internet
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)
$239 AED 877
$11.88 ৳1,483
1910.61%
SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)
$56.9 AED 209
$2.58 ৳322
2104.65%
Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)
$93.9 AED 345
$11.10 ৳1,386
745.86%
🎉 Sport & Entertainment
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
Gym Membership (Monthly)
$90.8 AED 334
$15.89 ৳1,983
471.68%
Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)
$46.38 AED 170
$3.98 ৳497
1065.33%
Cinema Ticket
$16.24 AED 59.6
$2.40 ৳300
576.67%
🧸 Childcare & Education
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)
$934 AED 3,429
$24.11 ৳3,010
3772.54%
International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)
$20.9K AED 76.8K
$1,426 ৳177.9K
1367.25%
👕👟 Clothing & Footwear
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)
$70.7 AED 260
$22.75 ৳2,840
210.73%
Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)
$61.3 AED 225
$17.80 ৳2,221
244.61%
Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)
$103 AED 377
$32.80 ৳4,094
213.14%
Men's Leather Business Shoes
$116 AED 426
$35.11 ৳4,382
230.68%
🏠 Accommodation & Living
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)
$2,487 AED 9,134
$161 ৳20.0K
1448.23%
1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)
$1,520 AED 5,581
$96.5 ৳12.0K
1474.27%
3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)
$5,234 AED 19.2K
$299 ৳37.3K
1649.56%
3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)
$3,028 AED 11.1K
$164 ৳20.4K
1748.57%
Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)
$6,982 AED 25.6K
$347 ৳43.3K
1913.24%
Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)
$4,433 AED 16.3K
$257 ৳32.1K
1625.77%
💵 Salaries & Financials
Dubai
Cox's Bazar
Difference
Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)
$3,553 AED 13.0K
$280 ৳34.9K
1170.80%
20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)
4.57
11.5
-60.26%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Dubai: November 2, 2026

Last update for Cox's Bazar: November 1, 2026

Monthly budget structure
Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.
Accommodation & Living
Dubai
$1.5K
Cox's Bazar
$97 93.6% $1.4K
Monthly Utilities & Internet
Dubai
$390
Cox's Bazar
$26 93.4% $364
Eating Out
Dubai
$307
Cox's Bazar
$46 84.9% $260
Groceries & Markets
Dubai
$297
Cox's Bazar
$108 63.8% $190
Clothing & Footwear
Dubai
$158
Cox's Bazar
$49 69.1% $109
Sport & Entertainment
Dubai
$123
Cox's Bazar
$21 83.2% $103
Getting Around
Dubai
$95
Cox's Bazar
$2 * 97.9% $93

Categories marked with * are only partly priced – their share counts the items that do have prices.

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $2,487 in Dubai and $161 in Cox’s Bazar. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dubai pays about 13 times more on average. How far that income stretches comes down to housing choices and lifestyle.

Dining out: $83 in Dubai vs $12 in Cox’s Bazar for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $297 vs $107 per month, with Cox’s Bazar cheaper across the board.

Good to know
🇦🇪 Dubai
🇧🇩 Cox's Bazar
🕒 Local time
00:15 12:15 AM
02:15 2:15 AM
2 h ahead of Dubai
🌤 Weather
👥 Population
3,790,000
223,522
💱 Currency
UAE Dirham AED د.إ
Exchange rates and currency converter

BDT, USD, EUR to AED – UAE Dirham Converter

UAE Dirham exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 3.67 AED (1 AED = 0.272 USD). 1 EUR = 4.1 AED (1 AED = 0.244 EUR).

Bangladeshi Taka exchange rates as of November 6, 2026: 1 USD = 125 BDT (1,000 BDT = 8.01 USD). 1 EUR = 139 BDT (1,000 BDT = 7.17 EUR).

On the map
Between locations
  • Dubai Cox's Bazar 3,770 km ≈ 5 h nonstop flight
From you
  • Dubai
  • Cox's Bazar

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.
Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index
Dubai vs Cox's Bazar: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions
What is the total cost difference between living in Dubai and in Cox’s Bazar?
Total monthly costs including rent come to $2,889 in Dubai and $347 in Cox’s Bazar, so Cox’s Bazar is about 88% cheaper – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.
Which city pays better: Dubai or Cox’s Bazar?
Average pay in Dubai is about 13 times higher, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.
How do apartment prices compare in Dubai and in Cox’s Bazar?
Rent for a central apartment: $2,487 in Dubai versus $161 in Cox’s Bazar. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.
Which city has cheaper grocery shopping?
Supermarket bills run roughly 177% higher in Dubai. For households that cook at home regularly, that difference adds up over a month.
Which city is more expensive overall: Dubai or Cox’s Bazar?
All in, you’ll spend $2,889 per month in Dubai versus $347 in Cox’s Bazar – Cox’s Bazar is about 88% cheaper, which adds up to real savings over time.
Which city is more doable on $1,200 per month?
At $347 in Cox’s Bazar versus $2,889 in Dubai, a $1,200 budget is realistic in Cox’s Bazar but tight or insufficient in Dubai. The gap between the two cities makes Cox’s Bazar the clear choice for anyone on this budget.
How does quality of life compare between Dubai and Cox’s Bazar?
Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.
How do I decide between Dubai and Cox’s Bazar?
It comes down to priorities – Cox’s Bazar wins on affordability, Dubai on earning potential. Factor in climate, language, visa rules, and proximity to places that matter to you before deciding.

Dubai vs other spots: cost of living compared

Similar cities

Show times on the 12-hour clock, temperatures in °F and distances in miles?