Adelaide vs Canberra - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Adelaide	Canberra
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2338	$2223
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4797	$4990
🏠 One person rent	$1428	$1398
🏘️ Family rent	$2032	$2158
🍽️ Food expenses	$589	$563
🚐 Transport expenses	$180	$119
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3804	$4087
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	50	30
😀 Quality of life	93	85
🏙️ Population	1.39M	381K

The cost of living in Adelaide is 5% more expensive than in Canberra. Cities ranked 1210th and 1443rd ($2338 vs $2223) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 9th and 12th in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Adelaide compared to 1.8 months in Canberra. Ranked 5th vs 13th best cities to live in Australia, and 73rd vs 479th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Adelaide vs Canberra

Prices for goods and services in Adelaide and Canberra are partly crowdsourced by our visitors, just like yourself. Please consider telling us about your city.

	Adelaide	Canberra
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.9	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$79.2	$69.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$10.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.33	$7.54
☕ Cappuccino	$4.02	$3.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.76	$2.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1521	$1538
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1196	$1150
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2231	$2721
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1697	$1726
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$114	$119
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$174	$182
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$53.2	$50.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.37%	5.89%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8511	$8609
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5565	$5425
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.19	$3.53
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$81.2	$88.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$16.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.24	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.68	$1.4
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.56	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$1.99
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.2	$5.14
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.67	$9.61
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.7	$15.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.48	$3.69
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.84	$3.44
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$3.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.67	$4.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.78	$2.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.31	$2.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.21	$0.89
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.55	$2.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.6	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.74	$4.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$23	$26.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.16	$4.98
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.16	$4.81
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.61	$2.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.49	$2.08
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.7	$57.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.1	$14.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.6	$52.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.1	$19.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.5	$79.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$123	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1013	$2023
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8002	$15408

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Adelaide

Distance	City	Cost of living
253 km or 157 mi	Whyalla	$2128
337 km or 209 mi	Mildura	$1904
377 km or 235 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
518 km or 322 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
551 km or 342 mi	Bendigo	$1487
555 km or 345 mi	Ballarat	$1604
618 km or 384 mi	Melton	$1906
623 km or 387 mi	Sunbury	$1928
627 km or 390 mi	Geelong	$2217
633 km or 393 mi	Tarneit	$1822
636 km or 395 mi	Shepparton	$1815
637 km or 396 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
655 km or 407 mi	Melbourne	$2496
658 km or 409 mi	South Yarra	$1829
683 km or 424 mi	Dandenong	$1894
686 km or 426 mi	Griffith	$1824
686 km or 426 mi	Frankston	$1889
694 km or 431 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
695 km or 432 mi	Berwick	$1860
709 km or 440 mi	Pakenham	$1896
797 km or 496 mi	Traralgon	$1979
800 km or 497 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
959 km or 596 mi	Canberra	$2223
971 km or 603 mi	Devonport	$1898
974 km or 605 mi	Dubbo	$1867
985 km or 612 mi	Orange	$1477
1016 km or 631 mi	Goulburn	$1821
1025 km or 637 mi	Bathurst	$1699
1040 km or 646 mi	Launceston	$1753
1125 km or 699 mi	Wollongong	$1695
1138 km or 707 mi	Blacktown	$1710
1143 km or 710 mi	Kellyville	$2050
1146 km or 712 mi	Parramatta	$2482
1162 km or 722 mi	Hobart	$2308
1163 km or 723 mi	Sydney	$2844
1173 km or 729 mi	Dee Why	$2379
1234 km or 767 mi	Newcastle	$1997
1318 km or 819 mi	Armidale	$1288
1330 km or 826 mi	Alice Springs	$1590
1387 km or 862 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1821
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1699
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1477
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1710
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2482
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2050
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2379
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1824
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1867
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1815
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1997
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1979
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1896
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1860
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1894
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1829
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1487
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2496
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1928
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1906
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1822
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2217
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1604
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1288
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1904
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1898
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1753
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2308
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1766