Cost of Living: New York vs United Arab Emirates (Dubai)
How expensive is the United Arab Emirates compared with New York City? The national price level of everyday spending versus the New York metro area, and the salary — in US dollars and AED — that buys the same standard of living.
Salary converter
Before taxes. Income tax, sales tax and benefits differ a lot between places and aren’t included.
The numbers
- Cities
- Dubai
- Price level vs US average
- 68.8 (New York metro: 112.6)
- Exchange rate (2025 avg.)
- 1 USD = 3.672 AED
- Purchasing-power parity
- 1 USD of US-average spending ≈ 2.527 AED
- Source
- World Bank, PPP conversion factor for private consumption ÷ exchange rate (2025); New York: BEA 2024
⚠️ This is the United Arab Emirates’s national average. Major cities — especially Dubai — are usually more expensive, mostly because of rent, so treat this as a lower bound for big-city living.
Frequently asked questions
Is the United Arab Emirates cheaper than New York?
Yes. The United Arab Emirates is 39% cheaper than the New York metro area overall (index 61, New York = 100).
What salary in the United Arab Emirates equals $100,000 in New York?
About $61,129 a year (about AED 224,495 at purchasing-power parity) buys the same standard of living in the United Arab Emirates as $100,000 in the New York metro area, before taxes.
Is Dubai more expensive than the United Arab Emirates’s national average?
Usually, yes. The comparison here uses the United Arab Emirates’s national average price level; large cities such as Dubai typically cost more than the national figure, especially for rent.
Where does this data come from?
World Bank price levels of household consumption for 2025 (purchasing power parity conversion factor divided by the market exchange rate), compared with BEA’s 2024 figure for the New York metro area.