Jeddah, the red sea commercial gateway city reportSaudi Arabia · population 4.7 million · index 6.4 of 10

Jeddah in 200 words.

Jeddah scored 6.4 on the everycity index in 2026. The headline numbers: rent on a one bedroom apartment in Al Hamra or Al Rawdah runs 4,800 riyals, the monthly all in cost lands at 1,650 dollars for a single resident, the safety score is 7.4 on the same 10 point scale we apply to Tokyo, London, and Singapore, and the median internet speed is 98 Mbps.

The case for Jeddah is named in the cost table in section 2, the safety read in section 3, and the verdict in section 12. The case against, when there is one, is also named in section 12. The numbers run by category. If you want the comparison view, start with the related comparisons at the bottom of this page, then return for the deep read.

The data feeding this report comes from our methodology page, with primary sources at the bottom of the page. Numbers are May 2026 unless stated otherwise. Currency is the Saudi riyal, with USD conversion in parentheses where the original is not the dollar. For the country context, Saudi Arabia places Jeddah on the national table; for the regional context, Asia places it on the continental table.

One reading note. This is the long form report. If you only want the headline numbers, the city score generator returns the index figure with custom weights in 30 seconds. If you want the comparison view across two cities, the bottom of this page lists the most useful pairings for Jeddah. If you want the cost converter from your current city, the cost converter tool handles the math against 1,650 dollars a month as the Jeddah baseline.

For new readers: this report sits inside Volume 04 of the everycity atlas, our 2026 issue. The methodology has been refreshed against the May 2026 Numbeo, Mercer, and OECD data drops, with primary source rechecks in March and April 2026. Where the numbers conflict, we use the lower of the published values for cost and the higher for risk. The next refresh ships August 2026. For ongoing updates on this report specifically, see the Jeddah changelog.

A 10 point read on streets, day and night.

Jeddah scored 7.4 overall. The breakdown matters more than the headline.

Jeddah ranks as one of the safest large cities in the Arab world, with very low violent crime rates and an overall safety read shaped by the conservative Islamic legal framework, the 24 hour police presence in the central business and Corniche districts, and the heavy security investment that accompanied the post 2017 Vision 2030 tourism opening. The risk profile for expat professionals is dominated by road traffic accidents (Saudi Arabia ranks in the top ten countries for road fatality rates per capita), heat related medical incidents during the May to September peak, and the procedural risk around alcohol possession or the violation of local religious and dress codes that remain enforced under the Sharia legal system despite the post 2019 social reforms.

Practical notes for new residents: violent crime against foreign professionals is concentrated in the neighborhoods that residents already avoid, listed in section 6; scams and property crime concentrate in the major transit hubs and the tourist areas. Carry an international policy from SafetyWing for the first six months while your local cover gets sorted; medical evacuation cover matters here because the local road accident rates and emergency response variance can both surprise the new arrival. The full safety methodology is on our methodology page.

The four categories that make up the overall safety score are: violent crime, property crime, traffic safety, and emergency response time. Jeddah is strongest on the categories listed in the safety detail above. The Jeddah safety deep dive walks the four categories with the underlying data from the local police statistics and the national crime registries. The solo female safety ranking and family safety ranking show how Jeddah compares on those axes specifically.

Who pays, and how much the tax takes back.

Salary medians are May 2026, sourced from Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and OECD wage data. Tax figures are from the official revenue authority.

The major employers in Jeddah are: Saudi Aramco Jeddah regional, the King Abdulaziz Port (the largest port on the Red Sea), Saudi Arabian Airlines Saudia (the national carrier headquartered here), the Saudi National Bank SNB, Bin Laden Group, Al Khodari, Almarai distribution, Savola Group headquarters, Saudi Telecom STC western region, Mobily, the Jeddah Hajj and Umrah service industry that handles 13 million pilgrims a year through the King Abdulaziz International Airport, the Red Sea Global tourism development and AMAALA project that anchor the Vision 2030 northwest coast plan, the Saudi Industrial Development Fund SIDF, plus the network of multinational regional offices including Procter and Gamble, Unilever, Pepsi, Coca Cola, GE, Siemens, Schlumberger, and the international banking arms of HSBC, Standard Chartered, BNP Paribas, Citi. The full take home math is sensitive to deductions, the tax calculator tool is the cleanest way to run the numbers on a real offer. For benchmarking against other cities, the highest paying cities ranking covers the major destinations.

Note on tax: Saudi Arabia has no personal income tax on individuals (residents or non residents) under the longstanding tax framework. Foreign companies operating in Saudi Arabia pay 20 percent corporate income tax on attributable profits, plus Zakat at 2.5 percent for Saudi or GCC owned share. Value added tax VAT runs 15 percent on most goods and services since the July 2020 rate increase. Expatriate dependent fee was 400 riyals per dependent per month in 2024, scheduled to remain through 2026. Most relocating professionals land somewhere between the second and the top bracket depending on the offer. Run your number against the actual offer, not the headline rate.

Working culture in Jeddah is its own variable. Hours, hierarchy, and weekend expectations vary widely by sector. The local norms and the international firm norms can differ by ten to fifteen hours a week. The Jeddah working culture guide covers the specifics. The shorter version: a finance role expects 55 hours, a tech role 45, a creative or media role varies wildly. Read the relocation checklist for the items the recruiters skip.

Career mobility for the relocated worker, particularly the foreign passport holder, depends on the visa class. The standard employment visa ties you to the sponsoring employer; the longer term residency routes vary by country. The career growth ranking tracks the pattern across the cities in this issue, and the Saudi Arabia employment visa guide covers the renewal and conversion paths.

One more lens. The dual income household question. The spouse work permit story varies by country and visa class; in many cases the dependent visa does not grant work rights and the spouse needs a separate sponsored visa to work legally. The spouse visa guide covers the 30 most common destination cities. Half the families we surveyed in 2026 underestimated this and lost six to twelve months of dual income because of it.

The system, the cost, the wait.

Healthcare scored 7.4 on a 10 point scale. The methodology weights access, cost, and outcomes equally.

Two tier system: the public Ministry of Health network anchored by King Fahd General Hospital, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, and the King Abdullah Medical Complex covers Saudi nationals and government employees. Private hospitals include King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (the most internationally recognized hospital in the country, JCI accredited and the regional reference for cardiology and oncology), International Medical Center IMC, Saudi German Hospital Jeddah, Dr Soliman Fakeeh Hospital, the Mouwasat Hospital, and the Magrabi Hospital network for ophthalmology, with consultation fees of 250 to 800 riyals depending on speciality. Most multinational employer packages cover 100 percent of inpatient and 80 to 90 percent of outpatient through the local insurance partner.

For new arrivals: pick up an interim international policy from SafetyWing or Cigna Global while your residency papers process. Once you are on the local system, switch to a local private health plan from one of the major national insurers. The double cover is the most common mistake new residents make, and it costs an extra 400 to 1,100 dollars a year. The expat insurance guide covers the trade off in detail.

Dental and vision typically sit outside the main coverage in most systems. Dental cleaning runs 15 to 60 dollars, a filling 12 to 80 dollars, a single tooth implant 380 to 1,400 dollars, an annual eye exam 12 to 35 dollars. Cross check the Jeddah dental care guide before booking. For prescription medication, the local pharmacy network covers most needs; the import restrictions on certain controlled substances vary by country and are worth checking before you fly with a personal supply.

Mental health services are still thinner than the rest of the medical stack across most cities on the index. Expect six to twelve month waits for non urgent appointments with the busiest English speaking psychiatrists; private cover with online therapy platforms collapses that to one to two weeks at the cost of 22 to 90 dollars per session depending on the provider. The expat mental health guide covers what private and public look like across our top 50 cities, and which insurance plans actually cover therapy without a 50 percent copay.