# Living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates

> Open, sourced figures for Dubai: take-home pay, monthly costs, who may live there, climate, air, safety and health. Figures as of 2026-11-05. Canonical page: https://borgo.abcastor.com/city/dubai-ae/

## Key facts

- Dubai has about 3,790,000 residents (GeoNames).
- On a gross salary of AED 250,000 a year, an employee in Dubai takes home about AED 249,880 a year (AED 20,823 a month) after income tax and employee contributions, an effective rate of 0.0% (United Arab Emirates 2026 rules).
- In Dubai the average daily high (air temperature in the shade) peaks at 43.0 °C in August and the average daily low falls to 14.3 °C in January (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- Dubai has about 119 nice days a year, days that are dry, mostly clear and feel 18 to 30 °C on average from 8 am to 8 pm, most of them in March (23) (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- Between 2021 and 2025 the air in Dubai reached 47.9 °C at its hottest and 7.9 °C at its coldest (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo).
- It rains or snows (at least 1 mm) on about 8 days a year in Dubai (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- The shortest day in Dubai lasts 10 h 35 min and the longest 13 h 42 min (computed from latitude).
- Fine dust (PM2.5) in Dubai averages 35.0 µg/m³ a year, 7.0 times the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³ (WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026), World Health Organization, 2024).
- Everyday prices in the United Arab Emirates sit at 68.8 on an index where the United States is 100 (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2025).
- Life expectancy at birth in the United Arab Emirates is 83.1 years (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2024).
- The United Arab Emirates records 0.69 intentional homicides per 100,000 people a year (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2022).
- Only citizens of the United Arab Emirates can live and work in Dubai without a visa or permit; everyone else needs one.

## Take-home pay (United Arab Emirates, 2026 rules)

| Gross a year | Take-home a year | A month | Effective rate |
|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| AED 120,000 | AED 119,940 | AED 9,995 | 0.1% |
| AED 250,000 | AED 249,880 | AED 20,823 | 0.0% |
| AED 410,000 | AED 409,880 | AED 34,157 | 0.0% |

Expatriate employee: no income tax; the compulsory unemployment insurance (ILOE) premium is the only deduction. Sources: [UAE government portal: taxation (no income tax on individuals)](https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/finance-and-investment/taxation), [UAE government portal: unemployment insurance scheme](https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/jobs/Workplace-regulations/insurance/unemployment-insurance-scheme), [UAE government portal: end-of-service benefits in the private sector](https://u.ae/en/information-and-services/jobs/Sector-of-employment/employment-in-the-private-sector/end-of-service-benefits-for-employees-in-the-private-sector).

## A month on the reference profile

Assumed: one person, €60,000 gross a year, a one-bedroom home, everyday spending of €1,200 a month in Lisbon scaled by each country's price level.

- Take-home pay: AED 20,534
- Rent: not known (no open rent data yet)
- Everyday spending: AED 5,227
- Health care, out of pocket: AED 71
- Left each month: not known

## Who can live and work here without a visa

- Citizens of the United Arab Emirates

## Climate (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), 2021-2025)

| Month | High °C (air) | Low °C (air) | Lowest °C | Highest °C | Nice days | Wet days | Daylight |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Jan | 24.5 | 14.3 | 7.9 | 29.8 | 22 | 1.8 | 10 h 44 min |
| Feb | 26.1 | 16.1 | 10.3 | 35.9 | 21 | 1.4 | 11 h 16 min |
| Mar | 30.3 | 18.4 | 11.8 | 39.8 | 23 | 0.6 | 11 h 59 min |
| Apr | 34.4 | 21.0 | 16.1 | 43.9 | 11 | 0.6 | 12 h 45 min |
| May | 38.8 | 24.7 | 18.3 | 47.2 | 1 | 0.4 | 13 h 23 min |
| Jun | 41.9 | 27.8 | 23.3 | 47.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 13 h 41 min |
| Jul | 42.5 | 30.7 | 26.4 | 47.9 | 0 | 0.8 | 13 h 32 min |
| Aug | 43.0 | 30.3 | 25.6 | 47.9 | 0 | 0.0 | 12 h 59 min |
| Sep | 40.6 | 27.9 | 25.2 | 45.1 | 0 | 0.0 | 12 h 15 min |
| Oct | 36.4 | 24.6 | 19.4 | 43.3 | 0 | 0.6 | 11 h 30 min |
| Nov | 31.7 | 20.4 | 15.1 | 38.3 | 19 | 0.4 | 10 h 53 min |
| Dec | 27.0 | 16.6 | 10.8 | 31.4 | 23 | 1.6 | 10 h 35 min |

Nice days: dry, mostly clear and feeling 18 to 30 °C on average from 8 am to 8 pm. Lowest and highest: the extremes of 2021-2025.

## Every figure

| Figure | Value | Period | Level | Source | Licence |
|---|---:|---|---|---|---|
| Out-of-pocket health spending | US$232 a year per person | 2023 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Paid holiday by law | 21 working days a year | 2026 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [Paid holiday by law, from the labour codes cited](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/src/fetch/family.ts) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Price level | 68.8 index, US = 100 | 2025 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Wet days | 8 days a year | 2021-2025 | city | [Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)](https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/historical-weather-api) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Sunshine | 3,609 hours a year | 1991-2020 | city | [WMO Climatological Standard Normals 1991-2020](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/wmo-climate-normals) | No licence attached; NCEI public access, citation requested (WMO Unified Data Policy) |
| Fine dust (PM2.5) | 35.0 µg/m³ | 2024 | city | [WHO Ambient Air Quality Database v8.0 (2026)](https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/air-pollution/who-air-quality-database) | WHO terms for data compilations (public-health use, unaltered values; not CC BY) |
| Homicides | 0.69 per 100,000 | 2022 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Life expectancy | 83.1 years | 2024 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Research output | 115 works per 100k residents | 2025 | city | [OpenAlex institutions](https://openalex.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Research output per resident | 2 of 100 | 2025 | city | [OpenAlex institutions](https://openalex.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Universities and colleges | 33 organisations | 2026-10-27 | city | [Research Organization Registry](https://ror.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Research institutes | 1 organisation | 2026-10-27 | city | [Research Organization Registry](https://ror.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Founders Running Club | no chapter | 2026-10-27 | city | [Founders Running Club communities](https://foundersrc.com/communities) | Public listing (facts of presence only; no licence stated) |
| Coworking spaces | 0 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Climbing gyms | 0 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Public swimming pools | 10 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Hackerspaces and makerspaces | 0 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Green space | 7.5 % of land | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Distance to the sea | 13 km | Natural Earth 5.1 | city | [Natural Earth (coastline, land, countries and populated places)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/) | Public domain |
| Distance to the mountains | 87 km | terrain tiles 2017 | city | [Terrain Tiles (Terrarium) on AWS Open Data](https://registry.opendata.aws/terrain-tiles/) | Public domain (USGS, NOAA) and Open Government Licence – Canada, with attribution |
| Nearest major airport | 20 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OurAirports airports](https://ourairports.com/data/) | Public domain |
| Airports within 100 km | 7 airports | 2026-10-27 | city | [OurAirports airports](https://ourairports.com/data/) | Public domain |
| Rail and metro stations | 2 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Cycle paths | 92 km within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| English speakers | 50 % of population | CLDR 49 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [CLDR territory information](https://cldr.unicode.org/) | Unicode-3.0 |
| English is official | no | CLDR 49 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [CLDR territory information](https://cldr.unicode.org/) | Unicode-3.0 |
| Internet speed | 32 Mbit/s | 2023 | city | [M-Lab NDT statistics (daily city aggregates)](https://www.measurementlab.net/data/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Adults with a degree | 55.7 % of adults | 2024 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Developers on GitHub | 7.1 per 1,000 residents | 2026-11-05 | city | [GitHub user search](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/search/search#search-users) | No data licence: only total counts of profiles are stored (GitHub Acceptable Use Policies, section 7) |
| Cycle network | 0.29 km per km² of land | 2026-11-05 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Doctors | 3.0 per 1,000 people | 2023 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Unemployment | 2.2 % of the labour force | 2025 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Control of corruption | 1.15 -2.5 to 2.5 | 2025 | United Arab Emirates-wide | [Worldwide Governance Indicators](https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |

No open figure yet for: rent, one bedroom, rent, three bedrooms, childcare fees, one child, childcare fees, two children, childcare, net of support: couple, one child, childcare, net of support: couple, two children, childcare, net of support: single parent, one child, childcare, net of support: single parent, two children, your childcare cost, health insurance premium, public holidays on working days, paid leave for mothers, paid leave for fathers, life satisfaction, public swimming pools (official), green urban areas (official), commuting by public transport, commute time, monthly transit pass, road deaths, born abroad, everyday needs on foot, walking or cycling to work, out of the dense city, politics, left to right, abortion in law, same-sex couples in law.

## Comparisons

- [Dubai vs Athens](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/athens-gr-vs-dubai-ae/index.md)
- [Dubai vs Budapest](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/budapest-hu-vs-dubai-ae/index.md)
- [Dubai vs Kraków](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/dubai-ae-vs-krakow-pl/index.md)
- [Dubai vs Melbourne](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/dubai-ae-vs-melbourne-au/index.md)
- [Dubai vs Naples](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/dubai-ae-vs-naples-it/index.md)
- [Dubai vs Singapore](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/dubai-ae-vs-singapore-sg/index.md)
- [Dubai vs Sydney](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/dubai-ae-vs-sydney-au/index.md)
- [Dubai vs Warsaw](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/dubai-ae-vs-warsaw-pl/index.md)

## Credits

- Unicode CLDR territory information. Copyright © 1991-2026 Unicode, Inc. Used under the Unicode License v3 (https://www.unicode.org/license.txt) ([Unicode License v3](https://www.unicode.org/license.txt))
- Founders Running Club communities list (facts of presence and links only) ([No licence from the publisher: only facts of presence are stored](https://foundersrc.com/communities))
- Places, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0 ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Counts of GitHub profiles by stated location, from GitHub's public user search (counts only, no profile data) ([No data licence from the publisher: only total counts are stored, no record about anyone, as its terms allow public, non-personal information in openly published research](https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/acceptable-use-policies/github-acceptable-use-policies#7-information-usage-restrictions))
- Borgo contributors, from the labour codes cited in each figure's note ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- The M-Lab NDT Data Set, 2023-01-01–2023-12-31. https://measurementlab.net/tests/ndt ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- Made with Natural Earth (public domain) ([Public domain (dedicated by the publisher)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/))
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), CC BY 4.0 Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2021-2025. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains. ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- OpenAlex (openalex.org), CC0 ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ([Open Database License 1.0](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/))
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ([Open Database License 1.0](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/))
- Airports from OurAirports (ourairports.com), public domain ([Public domain (dedicated by the publisher)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/))
- Research Organization Registry (ror.org), CC0 ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- Terrain Tiles on AWS Open Data (Mapzen, a Linux Foundation project): SRTM and GMTED2010 terrain data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; ETOPO1, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Canada terrain data contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada ([Terrain Tiles source terms: public domain (USGS, NOAA) and Open Government Licence – Canada, with attribution](https://github.com/tilezen/joerd/blob/master/docs/attribution.md))
- World Health Organization, WHO Ambient Air Quality Database (Version 8.0), 2026, accessed 2026-10-27; data provided by the national and regional agencies named in each value's note WHO does not endorse Borgo, its use of these data, or any city ranking built from them. Values are as published by WHO; WHO advises against using the database to rank cities or compare countries directly, because monitoring differs between places. ([WHO terms and conditions for data compilations](https://www.who.int/about/policies/publishing/data-policy/terms-and-conditions))
- WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), sunshine duration. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/800j-vn07 ([No licence attached: NCEI public access with a requested citation, under the WMO Unified Data Policy](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0253808))
- World Bank, World Development Indicators, CC BY 4.0 (underlying sources named in each figure's note: ICP, IMF, UNODC, UN Population Division, WHO, ILO, UNESCO Institute for Statistics) ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators, Control of Corruption estimate, CC BY 4.0 ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))

## Cite

Borgo, "Living in Dubai", https://borgo.abcastor.com/city/dubai-ae/, figures as of 2026-11-05. Name the original source of any figure you quote. JSON: https://borgo.abcastor.com/api/city/dubai-ae.json