Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Dubai and El Faiyum

For one person, living is cheaper in El Faiyum: $451 a month against $2,854 in Dubai, rent and utilities included – about $28,800 less a year. Rent and utilities account for most of the difference.

139

Cost of Living Index in Dubai
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Dubai Living Index
22

Cost of Living Index in El Faiyum
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El Faiyum Living Index

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Dubai

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

$2,854

/mo nomad

El Faiyum

🇪🇬 Egypt

$451

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Dubai and in El Faiyum

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 El Faiyum actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,854 in Dubai versus $451 in El Faiyum.

Dubai $2,854
El Faiyum $451

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,321 in Dubai versus $716 in El Faiyum.

Dubai $4,321
El Faiyum $716

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,788 in Dubai versus $982 in El Faiyum.

Dubai $5,788
El Faiyum $982

Living in Dubai is roughly 533% more expensive than in El Faiyum, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

The two cities straddle the global median: Dubai is 113% above, El Faiyum is 66% below.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$13.04 AED 47.89

$2.24 E£117

482.14%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$81.4 AED 299

$13.21 E£691

516.12%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$9.32 AED 34.25

$3.35 E£175

178.21%

Cappuccino

$5.97 AED 21.93

$1.23 E£64.3

385.37%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$1.63 AED 5.98

$0.28 E£14.47

482.14%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$0.81 AED 2.99

$0.09 E£4.62

800.00%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$13.65 AED 50.1

$0.92 E£48.18

1383.70%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$13.38 AED 49.15

$2.25 E£118

494.67%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.81 AED 6.64

$0.76 E£40.00

138.16%

White Bread (500g)

$1.57 AED 5.78

$0.67 E£35.23

134.33%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.49 AED 9.16

$0.58 E£30.26

329.31%

Eggs

$3.28 AED 12.04

$1.19 E£62.3

175.63%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$12.67 AED 46.53

$3.12 E£163

306.09%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.75 AED 35.80

$4.26 E£223

128.87%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$13.18 AED 48.40

$6.74 E£352

95.55%

Apples (1kg)

$2.61 AED 9.57

$1.49 E£77.9

75.17%

Banana (1kg)

$1.93 AED 7.09

$0.62 E£32.33

211.29%

Oranges (1kg)

$1.92 AED 7.05

$0.52 E£27.44

269.23%

Tomato (1kg)

$1.36 AED 5.00

$0.33 E£17.15

312.12%

Potato (1kg)

$1.17 AED 4.29

$0.24 E£12.49

387.50%

Onion (1kg)

$1.01 AED 3.71

$0.32 E£16.96

215.63%

Lettuce (1 head)

$1.51 AED 5.56

$0.27 E£14.27

459.26%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$0.62 AED 2.29

$0.20 E£10.36

210.00%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$5.85 AED 21.50

$1.76 E£92.1

232.39%

Wine (Bottle)

$16.14 AED 59.3

$5.81 E£304

177.80%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$2.65 AED 9.74

$1.25 E£65.5

112.00%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.95 AED 10.82

$2.03 E£106

45.32%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$1.64 AED 6.03

$0.06 E£3.06

2633.33%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$73.6 AED 270

$5.62 E£294

1209.79%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$3.17 AED 11.66

$0.39 E£20.52

712.82%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$0.71 AED 2.63

$0.30 E£15.90

136.67%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$7.96 AED 29.23

$1.28 E£66.7

521.88%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$0.99 AED 3.64

$0.44 E£23.27

125.00%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$27.4K AED 100.5K

$32.0K E£1.7M

-14.50%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$22.5K AED 82.8K

$26.9K E£1.4M

-16.21%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$250 AED 920

$14.10 E£738

1675.89%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$54.2 AED 199

$7.04 E£368

670.45%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$91.8 AED 337

$13.45 E£703

582.45%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$98.6 AED 362

$28.17 E£1,474

250.12%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$42.61 AED 156

Cinema Ticket

$16.03 AED 58.9

$2.30 E£120

596.96%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$843 AED 3,098

$23.39 E£1,224

3506.07%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$18.3K AED 67.1K

$870 E£45.5K

1999.14%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$68.0 AED 250

$34.39 E£1,799

97.59%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$57.9 AED 213

$45.13 E£2,361

28.21%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$101 AED 370

$131 E£6,837

-22.95%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$101 AED 371

$56.6 E£2,964

78.41%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$2,380 AED 8,741

$171 E£8,934

1293.83%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,506 AED 5,531

$82.5 E£4,317

1724.84%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$4,437 AED 16.3K

$269 E£14.1K

1547.91%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$3,010 AED 11.1K

$158 E£8,281

1801.74%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,121 AED 26.2K

$442 E£23.1K

1510.36%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$4,135 AED 15.2K

$233 E£12.2K

1672.30%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$3,391 AED 12.5K

$70.3 E£3,679

4721.56%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

4.54

-24.33%

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

Last update for Dubai: October 5, 2026

Last update for El Faiyum: October 5, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Dubai

$1.5K 52.5%

El Faiyum

$83 18.5% 94.5% $1.4K

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Dubai

$396 13.8%

El Faiyum

$35 7.8% 91.3% $362

Eating Out

Dubai

$309 10.8%

El Faiyum

$53 12% 82.7% $255

Groceries & Markets

Dubai

$293 10.2%

El Faiyum

$114 25.6% 61.1% $179

Clothing & Footwear

Dubai

$147 5.1%

El Faiyum

$120 27% 18.5% $27

Sport & Entertainment

Dubai

$131 4.6%

El Faiyum

$33 7.4% 74.9% $98

Getting Around

Dubai

$87 3%

El Faiyum

$7.8 1.7% 91.1% $79

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $2,380 in Dubai and $171 in El Faiyum. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Dubai pays 4722% more on average. The extra income cushions the higher costs, though housing choices and lifestyle decide how much of the gap is truly closed.

Dining out: $81.0 in Dubai vs $13.00 in El Faiyum for a mid-range dinner for two. Groceries echo the gap at $293 vs $114 per month, with El Faiyum cheaper across the board.

Good to know

🇦🇪 Dubai

🇪🇬 El Faiyum

🕒 Local time

16:00 4:00 PM

15:00 3:00 PM

1 h behind Dubai

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

3,790,000

306,393

💱 Currency

UAE Dirham AED د.إ

Egyptian Pound EGP £

📈 Exchange rate

1 AED = 0.272 USD

1 AED = 0.243 EUR

100 EGP = 1.91 USD

100 EGP = 1.71 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

EGP, USD, EUR to AED – UAE Dirham Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇪 UAE Dirham (د.إ)

UAE Dirham exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 3.67 AED (1 AED = 0.272 USD). 1 EUR = 4.12 AED (1 AED = 0.243 EUR).

Egyptian Pound exchange rates as of October 10, 2026: 1 USD = 52.32 EGP (100 EGP = 1.91 USD). 1 EUR = 58.63 EGP (100 EGP = 1.71 EUR).

USD to AED in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Dubai El Faiyum 2,450 km ≈ 3 h 30 min nonstop flight

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Dubai
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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 El Faiyum: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

El Faiyum is cheaper overall, especially in eating out, groceries, and clothing. The 533% gap adds up to real monthly savings that compound significantly over time.

Average pay runs 4722% higher in Dubai, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $2,380 in Dubai versus $171 in El Faiyum. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

A monthly transit pass in El Faiyum runs roughly 1210% less than in Dubai. Both cities have functional networks, but the price difference matters if you're watching your budget.

Childcare runs $843 in Dubai versus $23.39 in El Faiyum. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

At $451 in El Faiyum versus $2,854 in Dubai, a $1,500 budget is realistic in El Faiyum but tight or insufficient in Dubai. The gap between the two cities makes El Faiyum the clear choice for anyone on this budget.

For families, El Faiyum is more practical. Housing and childcare are both notably cheaper than in Dubai, and the savings on those two alone free up budget for education, activities, and family trips.

Safety-wise, Dubai and El Faiyum are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find El Faiyum gentler on the wallet – expenses run 533% less than in Dubai. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.