Method
How the Dubai offer checker works
Every dirham in the budget comes from a range already published on this site. The band is a coverage statement, not a pay grade.
Quick answer
The checker adds basic salary, housing, transport and other allowances, then spreads annual flights and schooling over 12 months. It sets that monthly package against rent for the area and home size, a DEWA bill, groceries, Salik or a metro pass, school fees when you pick an example, and health insurance. Strong means the package clears the high end and still leaves 20 percent against the midpoint. That 20 percent is a buffer this checker sets, not an official savings target.
The four bands
| Band | Rule |
|---|---|
| Hard to live on | Package is under the low end of the sourced costs. |
| Below market | Package clears the low end but not the midpoint. Here, market means the midpoint of these costs, not a salary survey. |
| Fair | Package covers the midpoint but does not clear the high end with the 20 percent buffer. |
| Strong | Package is at least the high end, and money left against the midpoint is at least 20 percent of the package. |
What each line uses
- Rent. Annual ranges from the neighbourhood profiles (RERA Rent Index, approximate, updated 2026-09). A single person uses a studio, a couple or a family with no children a 1-bedroom, one child a 2-bedroom, and two or more children a 3-bedroom or villa. An unknown area falls back to JVC and the result says so.
- DEWA. The site estimator, winter bill at the low rent through to the summer bill at the high rent. The total includes the 5 percent municipality housing fee collected on the DEWA bill. District cooling is extra and is not in the line.
- Groceries. AED 600 to AED 1,500 a month per person, the budget low and the mid-range high on the cost of living guide, last checked 25 August 2026. Children use the same band. Premium shops are left out.
- Transport. Metro is one pass at AED 300 to AED 400 a month. A car is Salik at AED 200–500 plus public parking at AED 200–1,000 a month, from the same guide. Petrol and car insurance are not in the line.
- Schools. Only the six 2026-27 fee examples checked on 11 October 2026. Tuition is multiplied by the number of children. If you count children and pick no example, the band ignores fees and a warning says the result is too optimistic.
- Insurance. From the insurance guide: basic cover about AED 600–800 a year per person, a wider network about AED 3,000–15,000 a year. Employer cover for the household is treated as zero. Employer cover for the employee only prices the dependants. Co-pays are not estimated.
Home country and industry
If you enter a home country and a net monthly salary, the checker converts that net pay with the exchange rate already stored for that country and subtracts it from money left at the Dubai midpoint. It does not subtract rent or living costs at home, and it is not a savings forecast. The home amount is never written to the survey.
The industry list is the compiled table in the salary benchmarks: Robert Half, Michael Page, Hays and Cooper Fitch Middle East surveys for 2025-2026, base salary only. It is not a set of role-level bands, and picking an industry does not change the verdict.
Gratuity and the three asks
End-of-service gratuity reuses the gratuity calculator: Federal Decree-Law No. 33 of 2021, 21 days of basic pay per year for the first five years and 30 days after that, capped at two years of wage. The years control defaults to five. The three asks are the largest money gaps first (housing, school, medical, flights, transport, basic salary), then fillers such as the contract wording and who pays the visas.
Sharing and the survey
A shared link encodes the inputs in the URL. Copying it stores nothing on the server. Emailing the report uses the existing subscribe route and sends only when you tick the box. The newsletter list is a second tick. The survey checkbox is off by default. A row is inserted only when consent is exactly true, and the server recomputes the band rather than trusting the browser. Groups smaller than 10 are not for publication.
Questions about the method
Does the band say whether the salary is competitive?
No. The band says whether the package covers sourced living costs for the household and area you named. An optional industry chip uses the site's compiled base-pay table and does not move the band.
Why is there no score out of 100?
A precise score would pretend the ranges are a survey. Rent, DEWA, food, transport, school fees and insurance are ranges. The checker names Strong, Fair, Below market or Hard to live on from where the package sits in that range.
What gets stored?
Nothing, unless you tick a box. Emailing the report needs its own tick and sends the text you asked for. The anonymised survey is a separate tick, off by default, and it never stores an email, a name or a home salary. A published group needs at least 10 contributions.
Sources
Reviewed by the DubaiExpatHub editorial team — last checked .
Not legal advice
DubaiExpatHub is an information portal, not a law firm or government entity. Our tools and content do not constitute legal advice. Always verify critical information with the relevant authority (RERA, DHA, MOHRE, etc.) or a licensed professional.
For informational purposes only — does not constitute professional advice.