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Living in Dubai

For Dubai, the nearest airport was DXB, 6.6 km away, with 188 listed destinations in June 2026.

Last checked 2026-10-1015 sources

Which United Arab Emirates-wide rules apply when you move to Dubai?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in United Arab EmiratesNational rates and thresholds that apply in Dubai.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

No city-level rent figure is published for Dubai. The available city-level cost figures remain below.

What recurs every month6 published recurring costs, € per month
Dubai recurring monthly costs, € per month

€ / month

Private kindergarten€728
Utilities, 85 m² flat€206
Transport pass€85
Internet, 60 Mbps€84
Fitness club€78
Mobile plan, 10 GB€48

Supplemental estimate lane, not official statistics: Utilities, 85 m² flat, Private kindergarten, Fitness club, Internet, 60 Mbps, Mobile plan, 10 GB. The others are published prices.

MetricValuePeriodSource
Fitness club membership, monthly78.01 EUR/month3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context
Grocery basket, monthly67.53 EUR/month3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited83.8 EUR/month3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context
Private kindergarten, monthly727.9 EUR/month3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context
Meal at an inexpensive restaurant10.86 eur3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context
Mobile plan, 10 GB48.04 EUR/month3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context
Monthly transport pass85.27 EUR/month31 Oct 2026Roads & Transport Authority — nol Fares8Official
Basic utilities, 85 m² home206.1 EUR/month3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context

Is Dubai a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile
Remote worker51%strong on work, weak on safety · range 37–65%
Skilled employee57%strong on work, weak on safety · range 43–71%
Student56%strong on legal route, weak on safety · range 42–70%
Family55%strong on legal route, weak on safety · range 40–70%
Retirement44%strong on legal route, weak on admin · range 31–57%

Worked out from these numbers

How international is the population?

75.2% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 3,362,800 of 4,471,000 people. This counts nationality, not place of birth, so long-settled residents who naturalised are not in it.

Work and income

MetricValuePeriodSource
Average net monthly salary2,987 EUR/month30 Sept 2026Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/ae/dubai/15Community estimate · Supplemental context

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Dubai. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

MOHRE employment services — Public employment service

Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation

Job Search
Search jobs
Open the United Arab Emirates service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Dubai. Sources checked through 10 Aug 2026.

Mobility and administration

MetricValuePeriodSource
Destinations from nearest airport188 count13 Jun 2026OpenFlights — routes.dat6Official
Nearest airportDXB13 Jun 2026OurAirports — airports.csv7Official
Distance to nearest airport6.6 km13 Jun 2026OurAirports — airports.csv7Official
Public transport monthly pass75.54 EUR/month3 Aug 2026Numbeo14Supplemental estimate · Supplemental context

Language courses and integration in Dubai

1 exact course-location record is linked to this city. Check the linked source for dates, availability and enrolment.

Verified locally
1verified local records
Check courses in DubaiHow the country programme works
Exact city-linked record checked 2026-08-10. Provider-supplied records are supplemental and are not presented as official accreditation.

Find courses near Dubai

Climate and air quality

Temperature through the yearAverage daytime high and night-time low, °C
Rainfall through the yearAverage monthly precipitation, mm
Sunshine through the yearAverage monthly sunshine, hours
Air quality vs health guidelinesAnnual means against WHO 2021 guidelines and EU legal limits

City values from the published air-quality observations. WHO 2021 guidelines and EU limit values are published constants.

MetricValuePeriodSource
PM2.5 — annual mean45.76 µg/m³31 Dec 2021cdn.who.int1Official
Average daytime high by monthJan 24.4 · Feb 26.1 · Mar 28.9 · Apr 33.7 · May 38.2 · Jun 40.3 · Jul 41.5 · Aug 41.9 · Sep 39.5 · Oct 35.9 · Nov 30.7 · Dec 26.5 °C31 Dec 1991World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI9Official
Average night-time low by monthJan 15.3 · Feb 16.4 · Mar 18.6 · Apr 22.3 · May 26.1 · Jun 28.6 · Jul 31.2 · Aug 31.5 · Sep 28.9 · Oct 25.4 · Nov 21.1 · Dec 17.3 °C31 Dec 1991World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI10Official
Average temperature by monthJan 19.9 · Feb 21.2 · Mar 23.6 · Apr 27.8 · May 31.9 · Jun 34 · Jul 35.8 · Aug 35.9 · Sep 33.6 · Oct 30.3 · Nov 25.9 · Dec 21.9 °C31 Dec 1991World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI11Official
Average precipitation by monthJan 20.8 · Feb 9.9 · Mar 21.7 · Apr 3.3 · May 0.1 · Jun 0.02 · Jul 1.1 · Aug 0 · Sep 0.04 · Oct 1.5 · Nov 5.9 · Dec 14.8 mm31 Dec 1991World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI12Official
Average sunshine by monthJan 253.1 · Feb 250.8 · Mar 288 · Apr 315.6 · May 350 · Jun 344.5 · Jul 340.3 · Aug 333.9 · Sep 307.8 · Oct 300 · Nov 268.1 · Dec 256.9 hours31 Dec 1991World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI13Official

Similar climate. In United Arab Emirates: Ajman ±1.8 °C. Elsewhere: Dammam (Saudi Arabia) ±2.4 °C, Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) ±2.3 °C, Chandler (United States) ±4.6 °C, Glendale (United States) ±4.6 °C, Tempe Junction (United States) ±4.6 °C. Twenty closest, compared month by month

Monthly highs and lows against the 1991–2020 station normals of the nearest station; ± is the average monthly difference.

Population and city profile

The city covered 4,114 km² in 2024.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

MetricValuePeriodSource
City area4,114 km²2024Dubai Statistics Centre — Population & Vital Statistics5Official
Foreign-resident share92.01 %31 Dec 2023Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment (DSC)2Official
Foreign residents3,362,800 people31 Dec 2023Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment (DSC)2Official
Population density766 people/km²31 Dec 2023Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment (DSC)3Official
Population4,471,000 people30 Sept 2025Dubai in Figures 20254Official · emirate figure

Alternatives for people set on Dubai

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

Sharjah as a Dubai alternative in the same country

Better on 4 of 5 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1. Foreign residents cannot be compared like for like.

  • Nearest airport: 12.2 km Sharjah vs 6.6 km Dubai+85%
  • Annual PM2.5: 29.2 µg/m³ Sharjah vs 45.8 µg/m³ Dubai−36%
  • A meal out: €5 Sharjah vs €11 Dubai−57%
  • Transport pass: €35 Sharjah vs €76 Dubai−53%
  • Foreign residents: 82.6% (2005) Sharjah vs 92.0% (2023) Dubaino percentage
  • Basic utilities, 85 m²: €196 Sharjah vs €206 Dubai−5%
Full comparisonMore about Sharjah

Valencia as a Dubai alternative in another country

Better on 2 of 4 metrics measured the same way, worse on 2. Foreign residents cannot be compared like for like.

  • Transport pass: €35 Valencia vs €76 Dubai−54%
  • Basic utilities, 85 m²: €140 Valencia vs €206 Dubai−32%
  • Nearest airport: 9.2 km Valencia vs 6.6 km Dubai+39%
  • A meal out: €15 Valencia vs €11 Dubai+38%
  • Foreign residents: 15.7% (2024) Valencia vs 92.0% (2023) Dubaino percentage
Full comparisonMore about Valencia

How does Dubai compare?

Pick a city. The answer appears here and the address bar keeps it, so the comparison can be shared; the page stays Dubai's.

Open the full comparison

Dubai in rankings

#1 of 30 in Cities with the highest foreign-population share #1 of 30 in Cities with the largest foreign populations #6 of 30 in Cities with the most published annual sunshine #7 of 30 in Cities with the lowest published annual rainfall #10 of 30 in Cities with the hottest summers #14 of 30 in Cities with the mildest winters

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Dubai when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide
Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

Is the air quality good in Dubai?

The annual PM2.5 mean is 45.76 µg/m³. The WHO 2021 guideline is 5 µg/m³ and the EU limit value is 25 µg/m³, so this reading is above the EU limit value. Source: cdn.who.int.

How many people live in Dubai?

The published population is 4,471,000 people. Source: Dubai in Figures 2025.

How many foreign residents live in Dubai?

3,362,800 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment (DSC).

How much is public transport in Dubai?

A monthly transport pass is 85.27 EUR/month. Source: Roads & Transport Authority — nol Fares.

Is Dubai a good place to live?

Dubai may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation
ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Dubai, United Arab Emirates: population, salary, air quality [ImmigrationDB compilation; version a7058bbcc5ce11e04ba803a2744e64b8]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ae/dubai/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
BibTeX citation
@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_dubai-united-arab-emirates-population-salary-air-quality_da0e642cff30,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Dubai, United Arab Emirates: population, salary, air quality},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {a7058bbcc5ce11e04ba803a2744e64b8},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ae/dubai/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}
Markdown citation
[Dubai, United Arab Emirates: population, salary, air quality](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/ae/dubai/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version a7058bbcc5ce11e04ba803a2744e64b8; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown
  1. cdn.who.int cdn.who.int · checked 2026-08-26
  2. Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment (DSC) dsc.gov.ae · checked 2026-08-03
  3. Dubai Data and Statistics Establishment (DSC) dsc.gov.ae · checked 2026-08-03
  4. Dubai in Figures 2025 dsc.gov.ae · checked 2026-09-28
  5. Dubai Statistics Centre — Population & Vital Statistics Dubai Statistics Centre · dsc.gov.ae · checked 2026-07-14
  6. OpenFlights — routes.dat OpenFlights · raw.githubusercontent.com · checked 2026-07-14
  7. OurAirports — airports.csv OurAirports · davidmegginson.github.io · checked 2026-07-14
  8. Roads & Transport Authority — nol Fares Roads & Transport Authority · rta.ae · checked 2026-10-08
  9. World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-03
  10. World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-03
Show 5 more sources
  1. World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-03
  2. World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-03
  3. World Meteorological Organization / NOAA NCEI nodc.noaa.gov · checked 2026-08-03
  4. Numbeo numbeo.com · checked 2026-08-03
  5. Numbeo city cost-of-living page — /cities/ae/dubai/ Numbeo city cost-of-living page · de.numbeo.com · checked 2026-09-05

Spotted a number that looks wrong? Every value here carries its source and date — tell us what you found and we will re-check it against the source.