Saudi Arabia / Middle East
Al-Ula is an indexed city in Saudi Arabia (Middle East), with a metropolitan population of about ~32K. This profile brings together deterministic city-intelligence indicators for Al-Ula spanning cost of living, climate, safety and quality of life, economy and jobs, education, and healthcare. Al-Ula is a middle east city of about ~32K in Saudi Arabia. On the composite city-intelligence score, Al-Ula sits around the indexed median (71/100).
Image credit: Image: Pteropus conspicillatus / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Composite profile
71/100
Use the Al-Ula profile to compare affordability, livability, and economic indicators against other indexed cities in Saudi Arabia and across Middle East, and to explore nearby nature and weekend destinations.
71/100
Composite directional score across affordability, air quality, clean energy, and resilience.
Directional
Directional indicators pending integration of verified city-level data.
See country hub
Emergency, healthcare, and transport verification status appears on the country hub.
The table is part of the initial server-rendered HTML and mirrors the key city score cards.
| Metric | Value | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Overall score | 71/100 | Composite score across major city intelligence modules. |
| Cost of Living | 59/100 | Al-Ula's cost-of-living profile is a directional indicator pending integration of verified city-level data; structured benchmark context applies. |
| Air Quality | 55/100 | Al-Ula's air-quality profile is a directional indicator framed against WHO and regional benchmarks; verified city-level measurements appear in the dedicated air-quality dataset section once integrated. |
| Energy | 82/100 | Al-Ula's energy-readiness profile is a directional indicator that combines national policy framing with city-level adaptation context. |
| Safety | 64/100 | Al-Ula's safety profile is a directional indicator; verified country-level emergency profiles attach via the country hub where available. |
| Internet Speed | 77/100 | Al-Ula's connectivity profile is a directional indicator combining national digital-readiness context with widely cited speed-test references. |
| Climate Risk | 57/100 | Al-Ula's climate-risk profile is a directional indicator combining regional hazard categories with national adaptation capacity. |
| Resilience | 57/100 | Climate adaptation and infrastructure continuity context. |
Deterministic safety estimates from our index — planning signals derived from country priors and city data, not official crime statistics.
Al-Ula is estimated to be a generally safe city (74/100 in our safety index), with solid personal-safety indicators.
A composite quality-of-life estimate and its component indicators.
Al-Ula has a high quality-of-life estimate (72/100), with notable strengths in green space and infrastructure.
How the city scores for raising a family, with the indicators that drive it.
Al-Ula scores high for family living (74/100), helped by safety and parks and green space.
Suitability for remote workers, based on connectivity, mobility, and livability.
Al-Ula is high for remote workers (68/100), based on connectivity, safety and overall livability and day-to-day amenities.
Suitability for retirement, weighing healthcare, affordability, climate, and environment.
Al-Ula is high for retirement (70/100).
Local public safety guidance for Al-Ula, with the country-level emergency contacts that apply when calling for police, fire, or ambulance.
For the universal emergency contacts that apply in Al-Ula, including police, fire, and ambulance, see the Saudi Arabia emergency profile, which currently lists no verified national contacts.
Methodology and the wider source registry are documented on the scoring methodology and data sources pages.
Healthcare context for Al-Ula, with national-level information from Saudi Arabia where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only and does not provide medical advice.
For the national healthcare and public-health context that applies in Al-Ula, see the Saudi Arabia healthcare profile, which currently lists no verified national healthcare information.
Related sections: emergency and public safety, scoring methodology, and data sources.
Local mobility context for Al-Ula, with national-level context from Saudi Arabia where city-specific data is not yet verified. This is informational only.
For national transport authorities and operators that apply in Al-Ula, see the Saudi Arabia transport profile, which currently lists no verified national transport information.
Related sections: emergency and public safety, healthcare and hospitals, cities directory, countries directory, scoring methodology, data sources.
Source-attributed air-quality dataset for Al-Ula. Verified measurements are surfaced when published from accepted official datasets; transparent fallback is shown otherwise.
Source-attributed values for Al-Ula will appear here after the platform integrates verified measurements from accepted official publishers. Until then, structured air-quality module context remains available on the dedicated module page.
| Metric | Value | Data year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air quality | Verified air-quality measurements are not yet published for this location. | ||
Global City Intelligence — air-quality dataset
Verified data unavailableThe air-quality dataset begins empty by design. Verified city-level measurements appear here only after they are sourced from accepted publishers (WHO, EEA, US EPA, OpenAQ, OECD, or official national/city environmental agencies).
Numeric measurements appear in this section only after they are sourced from accepted official publishers. The dataset is independently validated at build time; malformed records cannot ship to production.
Quick, evidence-based answers about Al-Ula drawn from this profile's indexed cost, climate, safety, economy, education, healthcare and nearby-nature data. Figures are deterministic estimates for orientation — verify specifics with official sources.
Yes — strong quality of life (72/100), with nearby nature such as Hala-'l Badr, Sheybarah Island.
Strong (74/100) on safety, schools and green space.
Around average cost; about 4,960 SAR/month for one person (estimate).
Late spring to early autumn; warmest in Jul, coldest in Jan.
Mainly energy, tourism, hospitality.
A desert climate, averaging about 25.3°C.
Higher education is good (53/100).
Healthcare access is good (55/100).
Retirement suitability is good (58/100).
Within ~170 km: Hala-'l Badr, Sheybarah Island.
City pages link to module and ranking pages so crawlers can move through the topic cluster naturally.
Al-Ula's cost-of-living profile is a directional indicator pending integration of verified city-level data; structured benchmark context applies.
Al-Ula's air-quality profile is a directional indicator framed against WHO and regional benchmarks; verified city-level measurements appear in the dedicated air-quality dataset section once integrated.
Al-Ula's energy-readiness profile is a directional indicator that combines national policy framing with city-level adaptation context.
Al-Ula's safety profile is a directional indicator; verified country-level emergency profiles attach via the country hub where available.
Al-Ula's connectivity profile is a directional indicator combining national digital-readiness context with widely cited speed-test references.
Al-Ula's climate-risk profile is a directional indicator combining regional hazard categories with national adaptation capacity.
Compare this city against other indexed cities in crawlable ranking tables.
Cost of living estimates for Al-Ula — monthly budgets, rent, food, and transport in the local currency, plus an affordability score for comparison. Planning estimates derived from country baselines, not live prices.
Climate profile for Al-Ula — Desert climate, annual average 25.3°C, comfort score 56/100. Month-by-month temperatures, rainfall, sunshine, and the best months to visit. Deterministic planning estimates, not a forecast.
Economy and jobs profile for Al-Ula — tourism economy, economy score 61/100, key industries including energy, tourism, hospitality. Employment, salary, startup, remote-work, and career indicators. Deterministic planning estimates.
Education profile for Al-Ula — mixed education base, education score 49/100, 3 representative universities, plus research, student life, and international-student indicators. Deterministic dataset, not institutional rankings.
Healthcare and retirement profile for Al-Ula — mixed healthcare profile, healthcare score 55/100, retirement score 58/100. Medical access, specialist and emergency care, affordability, and retirement suitability. Deterministic planning estimates.
Source-attributed visual context for Al-Ula using verified Wikimedia imagery from the existing media catalog, alongside structured city intelligence and planning links. Not a tourism guide or attractions ranking.
Weekend trip planning checklist for Al-Ula — links into arrival planning, Summer 2026 travel context, visual orientation, budget tools, transport, public safety, and healthcare context. Not an itinerary, events calendar, hotel-price guide, restaurant guide, or tourism ranking.
Source-backed nearby place records for local-first weekend planning, with verification status, official source links, Wikidata identity, and visual context.
Estimate a monthly budget for Al-Ula using your own housing, food, transport, healthcare, and lifestyle inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official cost-of-living measurement.
Plan a trip budget for Al-Ula using your own accommodation, food, local transport, activities, travel, healthcare buffer, and emergency buffer inputs. Planning estimator only — not an official travel cost estimate.
Where else nearby you could spend a day or a weekend from Al-Ula. Links are derived from geographic proximity, shared region, shared natural-recreation areas, transport corridors, and country borders — not popularity or tourism rankings.
Same region · about 188 km from Al-Ula. Explore Umm Lajj's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 236 km from Al-Ula. Explore Duba's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 239 km from Al-Ula. Explore Tabuk's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 281 km from Al-Ula. Explore Yanbu's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 292 km from Al-Ula. Explore Medina's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 386 km from Al-Ula. Explore Ha'il's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 434 km from Al-Ula. Explore Tabarjal's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 435 km from Al-Ula. Explore Sakakah's city intelligence profile.
Cross-border · about 438 km from Al-Ula. Explore Eilat's city intelligence profile.
Same region · about 562 km from Al-Ula. Explore Ar Rass's city intelligence profile.
Regional discovery collections that include Al-Ula — named natural regions grouping nearby nature, parks, lakes, coasts, and mountains for local-first day and weekend planning.
Weekend escapes · 28 places across 30 cities.
Theme-first discovery collections that include Al-Ula — grouped by outdoor interest (mountains, lakes, coasts, forests, national parks) rather than geography.
Weekend Nature Retreats · 40 places across 30 cities.
Common questions about living in, visiting, working in, studying in and retiring to Al-Ula, answered from the indexed cost-of-living, climate, safety, economy, education, healthcare and nearby-nature data on this profile.
Al-Ula has a high quality-of-life estimate (72/100), with notable strengths in green space and infrastructure. Visitors can also reach nature such as Hala-'l Badr, Sheybarah Island and Wadil Al Disah within weekend range.
Al-Ula has a high quality-of-life estimate (72/100), with notable strengths in green space and infrastructure. It indexes 72/100 for overall quality of life.
A single resident of Al-Ula spends roughly 4,960 SAR per month, with a one-bedroom rent near 2,630 SAR. Overall the city is around average cost for Saudi Arabia. These are modelled estimates, not live quotes — verify locally.
Plan for around-average living costs and check current rents before relocating. Al-Ula is high for remote workers (68/100), based on connectivity, safety and overall livability and day-to-day amenities.
Al-Ula's labour market is moderate, with opportunities concentrated in tourism and hospitality, technology and healthcare. Al-Ula has a tourism-driven economy with strengths in energy, tourism and hospitality.
Al-Ula offers solid infrastructure and amenities for remote professionals, with a remote-work score of 68/100.
Al-Ula is a developing education base with a mix of universities and research activity in our dataset, spanning fields such as Physics, Mathematics and Computer Science.
Al-Ula offers a developing student environment, supported by strong quality of life.
Al-Ula has a mixed healthcare profile, supported by hospitals, specialist services, and public-health infrastructure, with a healthcare score of 55/100. Residents have solid access to healthcare across primary, specialist, and emergency care.
Al-Ula offers a combination of healthcare access, safety, and amenities that may appeal to retirees, with a retirement score of 58/100. Residents benefit from parks and green space and broad urban amenities and day-to-day services.
Al-Ula has a desert climate, averaging about 25.3°C annually with roughly 103 mm of rain. The hottest month is Jul and the coldest Jan. The driest is typically Jul.
Al-Ula is estimated to be a generally safe city (74/100 in our safety index), with solid personal-safety indicators.
Al-Ula indexes a walkability score of 44 and a cycling score of 30 out of 100. Check the local operator for live transit routes and fares.
Nature destinations within about 170 km of Al-Ula include Hala-'l Badr, Sheybarah Island and Wadil Al Disah. Each is linked with its official source on the profile.
Al-Ula scores high for family living (74/100), helped by safety and parks and green space.
Al-Ula rates 47/100 for outdoor lifestyle and 89/100 for green space. Nearby nature such as Hala-'l Badr, Sheybarah Island and Wadil Al Disah supports day hikes, water activities and weekend trips.
Use the Al-Ula profile to compare affordability, livability, and economic indicators against other indexed cities in Saudi Arabia and across Middle East, and to explore nearby nature and weekend destinations. Its standout dimensions are energy (82/100) and internet speed (77/100). The area most worth watching is air quality (55/100), where the model registers practical gaps. Data year 2025; last updated 2026-05-16. Drawn from 4 institutional references.
Country context is available on the Saudi Arabia country page. Related rankings include Overall Intelligence, Quality of Life, Remote Work. See where Al-Ula appears in global rankings or read the scoring methodology.
Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation. Verified datasets are being integrated; official sources should be used for critical decisions.
4 institutional references inform this view, listed below with reliability notes. Structured indicators on this page are directional and intended for orientation; verified datasets are being integrated and official sources should be used for critical decisions.
Used as a policy and methodology reference for urban exposure and resilience signals.
Used as an energy-resource and weather-normalization reference.
Used to normalize air-quality indicators toward health-protective benchmarks.
Used to explain urban climate vulnerability and adaptation scoring logic.