So, who lives in the Burj Khalifa? Mostly private owners and tenants. Homeowners and renters occupy the Burj Khalifa residences on levels 45 to 108, and the Armani Residences fill levels 9 to 16. The rest of the tower is shared by guests of the Armani Hotel Dubai, companies in the Corporate Suites higher up, and visitors heading to the observation decks.
There’s no public list of who lives in Burj Khalifa, and that’s by design. What is public is the cost of living there. The Dubai Land Department (DLD) publishes the approved service charge for every Burj Khalifa residence each year, and for 2026 it’s AED 55.22 per sq ft for The Residences. This guide covers who lives in the tower, how you can rent or buy a home there, and what the running costs look like for owners and tenants.
- Who lives in the Burj Khalifa?
- Can you live in the Burj Khalifa?
- Armani Residences Burj Khalifa
- Burj Khalifa service charges in 2026
- Running costs: what owners and tenants pay
- What daily life in the Burj Khalifa residences looks like
Who lives in the Burj Khalifa?
The Burj Khalifa is a mixed-use tower, not an apartment block. Emaar Properties developed it, and it was officially unveiled on 4 January 2010. At 828 metres, it holds hotel rooms, private homes, offices and public attractions, each on its own set of floors.
| Levels | What’s there | Who uses it |
| Concourse to 8, plus 38 and 39 | Armani Hotel Dubai | Hotel guests |
| 9 to 16 | Armani Residences (one and two-bedroom) | Owners and tenants |
| 43, 76 and 123 | Sky lobbies with fitness facilities (pools on 43 and 76) | Residents |
| 45 to 108 | The Residences (studios to four-bedroom apartments) | Owners and tenants |
| 112 to 154 | Corporate Suites | Companies and office tenants |
| 122 and 124 | At.mosphere and At the Top | Restaurant diners and visitors |
Homeowners and tenants in The Residences
Most people who live in the Burj Khalifa are in The Residences, the private apartments between levels 45 and 108. Units range from studios to four-bedroom homes. Some owners live in their apartments, while many others let them out, so a large share of Burj Khalifa residents are tenants on yearly leases.
According to Property Finder’s Burj Khalifa Area Insights, the building suits working professionals best, and its renters come from many countries, with British, Indian, French and Lebanese tenants among the most common.
Armani Residences owners
The Armani Residences are a smaller, branded part of the tower, with 144 one and two-bedroom suites styled by Giorgio Armani. They sit just above the hotel and are covered in more detail below.
Hotel guests and office tenants
A lot of the people you’ll see inside the tower don’t live there at all. The Armani Hotel Dubai, the world’s first hotel designed and developed by Giorgio Armani, takes the lower floors. The Corporate Suites on levels 112 to 154 are full-floor and part-floor offices, so on a weekday the upper floors are busy with people who go home somewhere else.
Is there a list of who lives in Burj Khalifa?
No. Ownership records in Dubai are held by the DLD, which doesn’t publish a directory of residents or owners. Stories naming celebrity owners circulate online, but they’re rarely backed by any official record. The official, checkable side of the building is its cost data: approved service charges, budgets and the company that manages it.
The Residence | Burj Khalifa is a different building
If you’re searching for a Burj Khalifa residence, check the project name carefully. The Residence | Burj Khalifa is a separate Emaar development a few minutes from the tower, with direct access to Fashion Avenue and The Dubai Mall. It’s a good option in its own right, and you can browse apartments for sale in The Residence, but it isn’t inside the Burj Khalifa itself.
Can you live in the Burj Khalifa?
Yes. Anyone who can afford it can rent or buy a Burj Khalifa residence, just like any other apartment in Dubai. Homes come up regularly on the open market, and both renting and buying follow the usual Dubai process: an Ejari-registered lease for tenants, and a DLD-registered title deed for buyers.
Renting: Burj Khalifa apartments for rent
Burj Khalifa rent depends on the size, floor and view, with fountain-facing and high-floor units at the top of the range. These are the average asking rents for apartments in the tower on Property Finder:
| Apartment size | Average asking rent (per year) |
| Studio | AED 114,000 |
| 1 bedroom | AED 206,000 |
| 2 bedrooms | AED 318,000 |
| 3 bedrooms | AED 457,000 |
Source: Property Finder listing data, November 2026. Figures are rounded and change with the market.
You can compare current Burj Khalifa apartments for rent on Property Finder, filtered by bedrooms, furnishing and view.
Can you rent a room in the Burj Khalifa?
Not in the sense of a shared room. Burj Khalifa room rent searches usually lead to whole apartments, as the residences are let as complete units on yearly contracts. A few landlords accept monthly payments, so it’s worth checking monthly rentals in the Burj Khalifa on Property Finder. If you only want a short stay, the Armani Hotel Dubai rents rooms by the night.
Buying a Burj Khalifa residence
Burj Khalifa apartments sell at around AED 3,156 per sq ft on average, according to Property Finder. Typical median asking prices look like this:
| Apartment size | Median asking price |
| Studio | AED 2.4 million |
| 1 bedroom | AED 3.4 million |
| 2 bedrooms | AED 6 million |
| 3 bedrooms | AED 8.5 million |
Source: Property Finder listing data, November 2026.
Browse apartments for sale in Burj Khalifa, or see how the tower compares in our guide to Dubai’s most expensive apartments.
Armani Residences Burj Khalifa
The Armani Residences Burj Khalifa occupy levels 9 to 16, directly above the Armani Hotel. There are 144 suites, all one or two-bedroom, with interiors and bespoke furnishings by Giorgio Armani. Residents get the tower’s address with a more hotel-like, serviced feel, and many units are let fully furnished.
On Property Finder, the building is listed as Armani Residence, under Burj Khalifa Area in Downtown Dubai. Its DLD registration sits under the Burj Khalifa project as a separate entry, which is why the Armani Residences have their own service charge rate (see below).
Armani Residences Dubai for rent
Rents here sit slightly above the main residences for one-bedroom units, reflecting the branded finish and furniture:
| Apartment size | Median asking rent (per year) | Typical size |
| 1 bedroom | AED 240,000 | 986 to 1,183 sq ft |
| 2 bedrooms | AED 500,000 | 1,926 to 2,172 sq ft |
Source: Property Finder listing data, November 2026.
See the latest Armani Residences Dubai for rent on Property Finder.
Burj Khalifa service charges in 2026
Burj Khalifa service charges are set through the DLD’s approval process. The building’s owners association budget is audited, approved by the Real Estate Regulatory Agency (RERA), and then published on the DLD Service Charge Index. Emaar Community Management manages the building.
Here’s the approved 2026 breakdown for The Residences, alongside 2025:
| Item | 2026 (AED per sq ft) | 2025 (AED per sq ft) |
| Services | 12.89 | 12.53 |
| Maintenance | 18.45 | 16.67 |
| Utilities services | 10.61 | 10.37 |
| Management services | 3.37 | 3.37 |
| Insurance | 2.20 | 2.73 |
| Master community | 1.55 | 1.48 |
| Fire-related provisions | 1.18 | 1.20 |
| General fund total | 50.25 | 48.35 |
| Reserve fund | 4.97 | 3.96 |
| Total service charge | 55.22 | 52.31 |
| Unit A/C charge (additional) | 3.42 | 3.43 |
Source: Dubai Land Department Service Charge Index, project ‘Burj Khalifa – The Residences’, residential use. The rates don’t include any arrears.
That’s a rise of about 5.6% on 2025, driven mostly by maintenance and a bigger reserve fund.
Armani Residences service charges
The Armani Residences have their own budget. For 2026, the approved total is AED 61.36 per sq ft, plus a unit A/C charge of AED 4.80 per sq ft. Maintenance is the largest single item, at AED 31.59 per sq ft.
What the service charge pays for
According to the DLD, service charges fund the running of the building’s shared parts. In the Burj Khalifa, that covers:
- Security and cleaning of common areas
- Maintenance contracts for lifts, facades and building systems
- Electricity, water and air conditioning for shared spaces
- Building insurance and management fees
- Master community charges for Downtown Dubai
- A reserve fund for major repairs in the future
How to check the service charge yourself
You can look up the official rate in a couple of minutes on the DLD website or the Dubai REST app:
1. Open the Service Charge Index on the DLD website and choose ‘Service Charge Index’ by project.
2. Select the project, for example ‘Burj Khalifa – The Residences’ or ‘Burj Khalifa – Armani Residences’.
3. Choose ‘Residential’ as the usage, then pick the year.
4. Select ‘Calculate’ to see the approved rate per sq ft and its breakdown.
If you already own a unit, you can also search by title deed number to see your own figure. For a broader look at how fees work across the city, read our service charge Dubai guide.
Running costs: what owners and tenants pay
Owners pay the service charge based on the area shown on their title deed. To estimate yours, multiply the unit size by the approved rate. Using the 2026 figures for The Residences, typical apartments work out as follows:
| Example unit | Service charge (AED 55.22/sq ft) | Unit A/C (AED 3.42/sq ft) | Total per year | Per month |
| 1 bedroom, 1,103 sq ft | AED 60,908 | AED 3,772 | AED 64,680 | AED 5,390 |
| 2 bedrooms, 1,778 sq ft | AED 98,181 | AED 6,081 | AED 104,262 | AED 8,688 |
| 3 bedrooms, 2,333 sq ft | AED 128,828 | AED 7,979 | AED 136,807 | AED 11,401 |
These are estimates for illustration. Your exact bill depends on your title deed area and any arrears on the unit.
Who pays what: owner or tenant?
If you rent a Burj Khalifa apartment, you won’t pay the service charge. The DLD says the landlord is responsible for service fees. Here’s how the main costs usually split:
| Cost | Who pays | Notes |
| Service charge | Owner | Approved yearly by RERA and paid to the management company |
| Unit A/C charge | Owner, or tenant if the lease says so | Tenants may be asked to contribute where A/C isn’t metered per unit |
| Municipality (housing) fee | Tenant | 5% of the annual rent, added to the electricity bill |
| Unit electricity and water | Set by the tenancy contract | Billed to the account holder for the apartment |
| Rent | Tenant | Paid to the landlord under an Ejari-registered contract |
Put simply, a tenant renting a two-bedroom apartment at AED 318,000 a year would also pay around AED 15,900 in municipality fees, plus utilities. The owner of the same flat covers roughly AED 98,000 to AED 104,000 in service and A/C charges.
What daily life in the Burj Khalifa residences looks like
Living in the Burj Khalifa residences comes with facilities you won’t find in many buildings. The sky lobbies on levels 43, 76 and 123 all have fitness facilities, and levels 43 and 76 add swimming pools, jacuzzis and rooms for gatherings and events. The tower connects to The Dubai Mall and looks over The Dubai Fountain.
Residents’ reviews on Property Finder rate the building highly for maintenance and amenities. The downsides they mention are the cost of everyday life in Downtown, traffic at peak times and weekend crowds of tourists around the tower. Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro Station is under a kilometre away.
For a wider view of the neighbourhood, read our guide to the pros and cons of living in Downtown Dubai.
Key Takeaways
- Who lives in the Burj Khalifa? Mainly private owners and tenants in The Residences (levels 45 to 108) and the Armani Residences (levels 9 to 16).
- The tower also holds the Armani Hotel Dubai and the Corporate Suites offices, and there’s no public list of residents.
- Anyone can rent or buy a Burj Khalifa residence; one-bedroom apartments average about AED 206,000 a year in rent on Property Finder.
- The DLD-approved 2026 service charge is AED 55.22 per sq ft for The Residences and AED 61.36 per sq ft for the Armani Residences, plus a separate A/C charge.
- Owners pay service charges; tenants pay rent, a 5% municipality fee and any A/C contribution set in the lease.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who lives in the Burj Khalifa?
Private homeowners and tenants live in the Burj Khalifa, in The Residences on levels 45 to 108 and the Armani Residences on levels 9 to 16. The rest of the tower is used by the Armani Hotel Dubai, offices and visitor attractions.
Can anyone live in Burj Khalifa?
Yes. Burj Khalifa apartments are rented and sold on the open market, so anyone who meets the landlord’s or seller’s terms can live there.
How much is Burj Khalifa rent?
Average asking rents on Property Finder are about AED 114,000 a year for a studio, AED 206,000 for one bedroom, AED 318,000 for two bedrooms and AED 457,000 for three bedrooms (November 2026).
Can I rent a room in Burj Khalifa?
No shared rooms are offered. The residences are let as whole apartments, usually on yearly contracts, though some landlords accept monthly payments. For a short stay, the Armani Hotel Dubai rents rooms.
What are the service charges in Burj Khalifa?
For 2026, the DLD-approved service charge for The Residences is AED 55.22 per sq ft, plus a unit A/C charge of AED 3.42 per sq ft. The Armani Residences rate is AED 61.36 per sq ft, plus AED 4.80 for A/C.
Do tenants pay service charges in Burj Khalifa?
No. The landlord pays service charges. Tenants pay rent, a 5% municipality fee on the annual rent and, where the lease says so, a contribution towards air conditioning.
Where are the Armani Residences in Burj Khalifa?
The Armani Residences are on levels 9 to 16 of the Burj Khalifa, above the Armani Hotel Dubai. There are 144 one and two-bedroom suites designed by Giorgio Armani.
Is the Burj Khalifa the Armani tower in Dubai?
The Burj Khalifa is home to both the Armani Hotel Dubai and the Armani Residences, which is why people often link the tower with the Armani name.
Is there a list of Burj Khalifa residents?
No. The Dubai Land Department doesn’t publish the names of owners or residents, so any list you find online isn’t official.
Is The Residence Burj Khalifa inside the tower?
No. The Residence | Burj Khalifa is a separate Emaar building a few minutes from the tower, with access to Fashion Avenue and The Dubai Mall.
