Accepting a job offer in Dubai can feel like a big risk. Especially the salary negotiation part! How much do you need to earn to cover the costs of living in Dubai, and ideally save a bit of money?

This article covers the first few months of living in Dubai where you probably don't want to commit to anything long term immediately before you've explored. Therefore the amount to budget will be a bit higher than people who want to commit for a year.

Rent is a large part of the calculation. People considering a move here will undoubtedly start doing some internet research and find that renting an apartment is expensive. It's currently the 11th most expensive place in the world, ahead of London at 18th place and Singapore at 17th place.

A histogram would be a better source of information to see if a small cluster of properties of the mega rich are pushing this up but I'm not sure any such data exists. Regardless, at this end of the table rent is not going to be cheap.

Locations

The biggest factor in rental price is going to be the place you want to live. Dubai is quite a big city and it would take many evenings and weekends to get a feel for each different place. Personally I would never commute for more than an hour to work each way so office location is often a limiting factor.

Let's assume you're considering a job in Dubai that's located within walking distance of a metro station. In most cases, despite a lot of advice I have read online to the contrary, you won't need a car right away. The metro is cheap and convenient and runs the length of Dubai connecting almost everywhere within an hour.

Note: if you are considering a job that's not close to a metro station then factor in approximately 2,000AED per month for leasing a small car including fuel and parking (i.e. Toyota Yaris or similar).

When I first visited Dubai the majority of people recommended that I looked at Dubai Marina or JLT as that's where a lot of British ex-pat's live. These places are in the middle of zone 2 on the metro map above.

Marina is a nice quiet place to live and it's next to JBR which has a very cool beach and a lot of night life. Although it's quite expensive and there aren't many reasonably priced hotel apartments to choose from, especially in high season (Winter in Dubai). The distance to the metro station can also sometimes be an issue. There is a tram that connects most places in Marina and JBR to the metro but this adds a fair bit of time to a daily commute. If you have a car and live at either end of the Marina it's supposed to be a fantastic place to live.

A slightly cheaper option is the opposite side of the Sheikh Zayed road in JLT (Jumeirah Lake Towers). JLT is made up of lots of little clusters of high rise towers and in the middle there are a bunch of lakes surrounded by restaurants and grocery shops. I'd say it's a nicer place to live if you like to wander around. It's also pet friendly but that probably doesn't affect anyone who is newly arrived. Picking a cluster near either the Marina metro or the JLT metro will save some time walking in the sun.

As you move up towards the middle of the map you'll find that some more central places are actually surprisingly cheaper. Internet City is a bit sterile and is the home to mostly offices so there's not a lot to do, other than take a cheap taxi or metro ride somewhere else. However, go up a bit further and you'll find Al Barsha which is next to Mall of the Emirates metro station.

Out of all of the places that I've stayed so far in Dubai (along the metro) this is probably my favourite. It's very close to the Mall of the Emirates which has a big supermarket for food shopping and a Ski slope if you get bored. The area is full of cheap, good quality, apartment hotels and small shops and restaurants.

Going a bit further North takes you towards Downtown Dubai in zone 6 on the metro map. This is quite an expensive place to live. However, depending on where you work it might be cool to live here for a short commute.

I've stayed in Downtown for a few weeks and enjoyed the night life. Although it is very expensive so I'd only consider this an option if you're in banking or a C level exec.

As you go up past Downtown you start to head towards the cheapest places to live in Dubai. I've stayed in Burjuman and quite liked it, although this is a more traditional area so the nightlife isn't great. Diera city is probably the cheapest place to live in Dubai but I've not stayed there yet. Curiosity did get the better of me once and I took a wander around and was pleasantly surprised.

According to my booking.com history I've stayed in 15 hotel apartments dotted around Dubai over the past 5 months. I'm yet to find a bad area or apartment with the worst places being merely a bit boring. Every place I've stayed at has had a swimming pool and gym, and often room service.

Some people have asked if I get bored of moving around every 2 weeks and living out of a suitcase but oddly enough I haven't so far. However, I have explored most of the metro line and it's probably approaching the point where I'd like to get a car and live a bit further out and settle down a bit. I've heard some very good things about Arabian Ranches which is south of Al Barsha and a quick commute to Internet / Media city.

Shared apartments

The cheapest way to live on a monthly rental basis is probably to rent a room in a shared apartment. You can find many of these on AirBnb and Dubizzle. Being a fairly solitary person I've never considered sharing, however, some people love to live around other people.

You can get a room in a shared apartment near one of the metro stations in Dubai for anywhere between 2,000 and 5,000 AED depending on location and room quality.

Hotel apartments

If you want to rent a proper one bedroom apartment with kitchen and washing machine then it's going to cost anywhere upwards of 5,000 AED per month depending on location and time of the year. For the month of July (low season) there are quite a few options in Bur Dubai (up near Burjuman) for 5,000 AED. To get a good place in Al Barsha is 7,000 - 8,000 AED for the same period. JLT is probably going to be 8,000 to 10,000 AED per month once the additional fees are added on.

Yearly rentals

You can save money if you commit to a longer period of time by renting for a year. In Dubai this means writing a cheque, or several cheques, for the entire sum up front. A one bedroom apartment in JLT is going to cost between 80,000 AED and 100k AED per year. I've not really looked at any other areas.

I have personally got burnt by a scam on a long term rental so be careful with this. My advice is to only deal with RERA registered agents (that you have checked are real online) with a physical address where you can meet them. Areas and hotel bookings are generally a safe bet in Dubai. Rental cheque scams on the other hand are surprisingly common.

So what should I budget for?

For a person moving to Dubai, that wants to live in a location along the metro, I'd advise setting aside a budget of 5,000 AED per month for a room in a shared apartment.

If you're like me and prefer your own company then you may want to budget 7,000 - 10,000 AED per month. This may sound like a lot, but I was paying £1,500 per month in London (7,000 AED) for a one bedroom flat in Camden Town.

Once you have decided on a place to stay and are in a position to commit for a year you can save money. One of my friends is paying 5,000 AED per month on a one bedroom apartment in Marina with 4 cheques.

To answer the question about how much you need to earn to live in Dubai, given that rent is typically around 30% of a persons monthly salary, you probably need to be earning 17,000 - 25,000 AED per month to rent your own one bedroom apartment in a reasonable area. You could reduce this a bit by living in a place like Diera and never dining out or having any fun at all but Dubai can be a very tempting place when it comes to spending money.

Hopefully this helps set expectations on the salary needed to live and work in Dubai. If I've missed anything or made any mistakes please leave a message in the comments.