What Dubai actually costs.
Rent, school, health insurance, utilities, groceries, mobile and the flight home for your household, calculated from registered tenancy contracts, official fee sheets and the providers' own price lists. Always a range, never a single number that fits nobody.
Pick your household and area, then tap Calculate costs.
Nine pages with every table, every source and the workings. Rent by area, school by curriculum, health insurance, everyday costs and the lump sum on move in.
Download the PDF, 9 pages, 258 KBWhy everything here is a range
Because any single number on this subject is wrong.
Between the cheapest and the most expensive area, the same two bedroom flat differs by more than a factor of three, from AED 6,667 to 15,000 a month. Anyone quoting a single figure has either generalised their own address or taken it from a portal that never collected it in the first place.
So every item has a from and a to, and behind it the decision that drives the difference. For school it is the curriculum, for housing the area, for groceries the chain, for health insurance which hospitals you want access to.
Rent, area by area
Values in bold are registered Ejari contract rents from the Dubai Land Department, everything else is a current asking price. In AED per month.
| Area | Studio | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dubai Sports City | 3,333 to 3,628 | 5,000 to 5,833 | 6,667 to 7,500 | 8,333 to 12,500 |
| Dubai Silicon Oasis | 3,583 to 3,917 | 4,750 to 5,500 | 7,000 to 7,667 | 9,167 to 10,417 |
| Discovery Gardens | 3,815 to 4,250 | 5,417 to 5,583 | 7,083 to 7,500 | — |
| Town Square | 3,333 to 3,792 | 5,000 to 5,417 | 7,083 to 9,167 | 10,417 to 12,917 |
| Mirdif | — | — | 7,271 to 10,000 | 10,841 to 13,750 |
| Jumeirah Lake Towers | 4,167 to 5,417 | 6,250 to 7,500 | 7,500 to 9,167 | 10,000 to 16,250 |
| Jumeirah Village Circle -2 % a year | 3,667 to 4,241 | 5,000 to 6,250 | 7,500 to 9,417 | 10,000 to 11,993 |
| Al Furjan +1 % a year | 3,500 to 4,132 | 5,667 to 7,083 | 8,333 to 9,583 | 9,583 to 13,750 |
| Arjan | 3,333 to 4,583 | 5,833 to 6,250 | 9,167 to 10,000 | 12,083 to 12,500 |
| Dubai Marina -13 % a year | 4,167 to 5,667 | 8,199 to 11,250 | 9,583 to 15,000 | 15,833 to 20,417 |
| Dubai Hills Estate -19 % a year | 5,000 to 6,162 | 6,667 to 8,293 | 12,083 to 14,167 | 18,750 to 21,667 |
| Jumeirah Beach Residence -11 % a year | 5,833 to 6,692 | 7,417 to 9,568 | 10,417 to 13,333 | 12,083 to 15,000 |
| Downtown Dubai -18 % a year | 6,389 to 9,167 | 8,333 to 10,000 | 11,667 to 14,167 | 20,000 to 26,667 |
The percentage under each area is the change in registered contract rents for two bedrooms over twelve months. Dubai Land Department via Bayut and the Bayut market report H1 2026, retrieved 8 September 2026.
Downtown is down 18 percent, Dubai Hills 19, the Marina 13. Jumeirah Village Circle gives up only 2 percent, and Al Furjan even edges up. If you are looking in the middle of the market, you will not notice the widely quoted rent drop.
In the mid market a house barely costs more than a flat
A townhouse in Town Square runs about AED 12,480 a month, a three bedroom flat in JVC AED 11,993. In DAMAC Hills 2 a three bedroom house costs AED 8,161, cheaper than almost every three bedroom flat on the list. What you pay for it is the distance.
What falls due all at once on move in
| First of four cheques | 25,000 |
|---|---|
| Deposit, 5 percent, refundable | 5,000 |
| Agency fee, 5 percent | 5,000 |
| VAT on the agency fee | 250 |
| Ejari registration | 178 |
| DEWA deposit, refundable | 2,000 |
| DEWA activation | 130 |
| Total on day one | 37,558 |
A shared room or a partitioned flat is not a cheaper option, it has been illegal since 26 August 2026. Law No. 4 of 2026 allows only owners and licensed operators to let property. Fines run up to AED 500,000, on top of that come disconnection of power and water and eviction.
School
Tuition only, per child per month. A KHDA fee freeze applies for 2026/27, so zero percent increase.
| Curriculum | Primary | Year 7 and up |
|---|---|---|
| British | 2,340 to 6,990 | 2,720 to 8,120 |
| IB | 3,510 to 7,410 | 5,230 to 8,530 |
| American | 1,850 to 7,780 | 2,800 to 7,780 |
| Bus, uniform, materials | 85 to 4,580 depending on the school | |
KHDA fee sheets of the individual schools for 2026/27, retrieved 8 September 2026.
A good British school starts at around AED 2,720 a month
GEMS Founders School in Al Barsha South is rated Very Good by the KHDA and charges exactly AED 32,624 a year for Years 7 to 9. Jumeirah College, rated Outstanding, charges AED 88,813.
Of the 22 British schools charging under AED 50,000, not one is rated Outstanding. What is documented: larger classes, closer to 30 than 20 children, a ratio of 1 to 15 instead of 1 to 8, and a narrower choice at IGCSE and A-Level. Many cheaper schools do not publish their exam results at all.
Health insurance, the costliest misunderstanding
Article 10 of Dubai Law No. 11 of 2013 obliges the employer to insure their employees and expressly forbids passing the cost on. Article 11 assigns spouses and children to the sponsor, and the sponsor is usually the employee themselves.
| Employed, single | 0 |
|---|---|
| Both employed, no children | 0 |
| One employed, partner without their own job | 500 to 2,100 |
| Self employed or free zone owner | 500 to 2,100 |
| Per child | 500 to 2,100 |
No insurer in the UAE publishes premium tables. The lower bound is extrapolated from press reporting on the local mid market, the upper bound comes from published entry prices of international plans. Abu Dhabi is the opposite: there the employer must also cover a spouse and up to three children.
Everyday life
| Item | Single | Couple | Family, 2 children |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groceries, value to Waitrose | 230 to 360 | 435 to 675 | 665 to 1,035 |
| Internet and mobile | 372 to 1,102 | 503 to 1,627 | 569 to 1,889 |
| Leisure and sport | 400 to 2,110 | 780 to 3,290 | 1,550 to 5,400 |
| Electricity and water | 165 to 410 | 250 to 650 | 395 to 1,115 |
| Flight home, spread | 206 | 412 | 824 |
| Visa and Emirates ID | 27 to 32 | 54 to 64 | 108 to 128 |
Groceries from a product level basket of 14 items. You often read that Spinneys is 62 percent more expensive. That applies to Waitrose, Spinneys itself sits at plus 39 to 43 percent. Telecoms at the standard e& and du tariffs: there is no real family discount in the UAE, every line counts in full.
Childcare: the maths flips at the second child
| Nursery, 3 days half day, per child | 2,200 to 2,625 |
|---|---|
| Nursery, 5 days full day, per child | 4,040 to 4,850 |
| Live-in nanny, whole household | 2,900 to 5,900 |
The nursery charges per child, the nanny does not. With three children that is AED 6,600 to 14,550 for nursery against an unchanged AED 2,900 to 5,900 for the nanny.
The total
| Household | frugal | premium |
|---|---|---|
| Single, employed, studio in a mid market area | 4,900 | 9,500 |
| Couple, both employed, 1 bedroom | 7,800 | 15,500 |
| Family of four, one child at school, 2 bed | 20,200 | 29,200 |
The family row is why the widely quoted threshold of AED 25,000 a month holds up: it sits exactly in the middle of that range. Below it you are at the lower end of several items at once, and savings are not included. Run your own case in the calculator above.
Frequently asked
How much salary do you need in Dubai for a family?
For a family of four with one child in a British school and a two bedroom flat in a mid market area, running costs land between roughly AED 20,000 and AED 29,000 a month depending on lifestyle. Below that you are at the lower end of several items at once. Savings and the lump sum due on move in are not included in that.
Does the employer pay for family health insurance in Dubai?
No. Under Dubai Law No. 11 of 2013 the employer must insure the employee only, and may not pass the cost on. Spouses and children are the sponsor’s responsibility, meaning the family itself. Abu Dhabi is the opposite: there the employer must also cover a spouse and up to three children.
What does a school in Dubai really cost?
Tuition alone runs from about AED 1,850 to AED 8,530 per child per month. A British school rated "Very Good" by the KHDA starts at around AED 2,720 a month. On top come bus, uniform and materials, up to AED 4,580 a month at the expensive end. A KHDA fee freeze applies for 2026/27, so zero percent increase.
Did rents in Dubai fall in 2026?
Only at the top. In registered contract rents, Downtown, Dubai Hills and the Marina lose double digits, while mid market areas such as Jumeirah Village Circle barely move and Al Furjan even edges up. If you are looking in the middle of the market, you will not notice the widely quoted rent drop.
What this page is for. It gives orders of magnitude and does not replace individual advice. Rents come from registered contracts and from asking prices, and both move. School fees are for 2026/27. On health insurance, no insurer in the UAE publishes premium tables, so read those ranges as orders of magnitude.
Deliberately not used: Numbeo, Expatistan, Mercer, ECA and comparable portal calculators.
Last reviewed 8 September 2026. Sources: Dubai Land Department, registered Ejari tenancy contracts via Bayut , KHDA, school fee sheets for 2026/27 , Dubai Law No. 11 of 2013 on health insurance , u.ae, leasing a property in the UAE, housing fee and Ejari , DEWA, electricity and water tariffs .
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