How Much It Really Costs to Live in Riyadh (2026 Update)

A year in, Carly and Vesna re-priced their whole life in Riyadh: what's gone up, what surprised them, and what they'd tell someone running the numbers before a move.

This is the granular version of the cost conversation, from the two biggest line items down to the ones nobody warns you about. They walk through compounds across four tiers, from the common 300 to 350K range to the half-million luxe end, plus what an off-compound option like Sedra actually trades away. International school fees land near 100K per child once trips, uniforms and deposits are counted, and they're honest about the math that forces real choices: cheaper school or more travel, space or community, save or spend.

They get into the Chinese cars they both bought outright, fuel so cheap it changes how you move around the city, a four-tier map of where to grocery shop, and the beauty, abaya and travel spend that adds up quietly underneath everything.

No invented numbers, just what a year of living it has actually cost them.

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Follow us: Show: @insidesaudiarabia Carly: @caroverman on insta / @carlyoverman on tiktok Vesna: @vesnapetrovicx

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Chapters:

00:00 Cold open 01:01 Welcome and what this episode covers 02:47 The biggest cost: schools vs compounds 03:37 Is Riyadh expensive? London, Sydney, Vancouver 04:27 Housing: compounds and your top-three list 06:47 The common tier: 300 to 350K compounds 09:11 Apartment-style compounds: 150 to 250K 13:53 Off-compound: the community trade-off 14:42 The luxe end: half a million to one million 16:35 Less is more: what a year taught us 17:28 Utilities, electricity and internet 19:17 School fees: roughly 100K per child 20:50 Uniforms, ECAs and the trips that add up 24:40 Visas, exit re-entry and premium residency 25:58 Cars: why we both bought Chinese, outright 28:22 Fuel: the one genuinely cheap thing 29:08 Groceries: weekly spend and where we shop 31:00 The grocery map: Spinneys down to corner shops 34:31 Beauty: nails, Botox, finding someone you trust 39:35 Abayas: 50 riyals to a few thousand 42:30 Clothing and kids' clothes 44:20 Help, nannies and cleaners 45:00 Travel: why living here makes you want to go 46:01 Wrap-up