With a base salary of $240,000 and an expected total income of $400,000 in 2025, Fares Ksebati could be living quite well in his hometown outside of Detroit.
The median household income in Wayne County, Michigan — where Detroit is located — is just under $60,000 a year, according to Census Bureau data. Homes there sold for a median of just $100,000 in April 2025, according to RedFin.
But the 33-year-old founder and CEO of MySwimPro recently bought an apartment in Dubai, where he has lived for six months out of the year since 2024.
“I first came to Dubai in 2021, and for the last four years I’ve spent more and more time here,” Ksebati tells CNBC Make It. “Every single year I just fell [more] in love with the energy.”
He’s not alone. Dubai’s population has exploded in recent years, adding 300,000 residents between 2019 and 2023. A 2023 survey by Remitly found that Dubai is the most-desired destination for people who want to move to a new country, and the emirate ranked No. 3 on TripAdvisor’s top global destinations in 2025, based on user reviews. It previously held the No. 1 spot on that list since 2022.
Ksebati’s Dubai apartment cost around $350,000, and his monthly mortgage and utilities costs come to about $1,750 a month. While it’s feasible Ksebati could have bought an entire house in Detroit for a fraction of that cost, Dubai has several advantages that made him want to buy property there first.
Here are three of Ksebati’s favorite aspects of living in Dubai.
1. ‘It really is a city of innovation’
As an entrepreneur, Ksebati has been inspired by the energy in Dubai that’s ripe with fellow founders along with high net worth individuals.
“It really is a city of innovation and from the people who come here to the government initiatives, everyone is just focused on improving themselves,” Ksebati says. “When you come to a place like that, it just feels so inspiring. And you feel empowered to bring your best to the world.”
Ksebati started his company, a swim training app, several years before he came to Dubai. He says a lot of the entrepreneurs there have done the same, or they start businesses there. That kind of community inspires him to keep growing his business and pursuing bigger goals.
“As someone who’s already been in the entrepreneurial game, it’s really an opportunity for me to level up and to be surrounded by people who are executing at a very high level,” he says. “I’ve traveled to a few dozen countries, hundreds of cities, and really nowhere makes me feel the way that Dubai feels. It’s like this magnetic energy.”
2. ‘Amazing culinary experiences’
Dubai is home to an estimated 13,000 restaurants, The New York Times reports, giving it more eatery options per capita than New York. And Ksebati says those “amazing culinary experiences” are some of the biggest benefits to being in Dubai.
“There is so much good food from all over the world, and as someone who doesn’t really cook outside of the occasional cooking, eggs in the morning for myself, I do order a lot of food,” he says.
The prices for food are also pretty reasonable, Ksebati says. In March 2025, he spent about $2,000 on dining out, but his bills were higher that month because he was celebrating Ramadan. Typically he spends about half of that, he says. Access to great Arabic cuisine is another benefit of the Dubai food scene.
“I think it’s so cool to live in an area where I can walk outside and be footsteps away from the best shawarma, hummus and Arabic food,” he says. As the child of Syrian immigrants, he grew up with his mom cooking Middle Eastern meals. Now when he’s in Dubai, he has unmitigated access to a lot of the same foods: “Nothing will replace Mom’s cooking, but this is pretty close,” he says.
3. Convenience and affordability
On the surface, Dubai may look like a luxury city with its futuristic-looking skyline and high-end shopping opportunities. But Ksebati says there’s a wide spectrum of incomes that can afford you a beautiful life there.
“Dubai has a bad rap, I think, when it comes to how everyone’s like, ‘Oh, it’s so expensive there, you must be loaded,’ or whatever,” he says. “Everything is less than if you go to New York or Miami. I mean, those places, you actually need to have real money to actually experience anything.”
The city offers numerous low-cost or free activities like sightseeing or visiting free public beaches. And if you want a more luxurious or adrenaline-inducing attraction like jet-skiing, you “can still do that and it’s still not a ridiculous amount of money,” Ksebati says.
He adds that getting around and accessing these attractions and amenities is simple.
“Dubai has all the conveniences that make living here so easy,” he says. “Along with the fact that it’s a really safe environment, you always feel like you’re just one person away or one walk away from something amazing.”
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