Adelaide vs Canberra - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Adelaide	Canberra
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2355	$2258
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4952	$5105
🏠 One person rent	$1426	$1409
🏘️ Family rent	$2084	$2111
🍽️ Food expenses	$596	$584
🚐 Transport expenses	$188	$117
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3842	$4498
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	50	30
😀 Quality of life	92	85
🏙️ Population	1.39M	381K

The cost of living in Adelaide is 4% more expensive than in Canberra. Cities ranked 1178th and 1373rd ($2355 vs $2258) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 8th and 12th in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Adelaide compared to 2 months in Canberra. Ranked 6th vs 10th best cities to live in Australia, and 75th vs 438th 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	$15.8	$15.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.8	$73.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$10.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.12	$8.03
☕ Cappuccino	$4.01	$3.75
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.73	$3.24
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1640	$1459
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1164	$1187
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2242	$2549
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1758	$1714
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$117
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$179
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51	$50.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.04%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9174	$9940
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6193	$6181
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.21	$3.2
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.9	$86.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.9	$16.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.31	$1.32
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.47	$2.66
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$2.17
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.44	$5.41
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.9	$10.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.5	$17.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.85	$3.74
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$3.29
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.53	$3.68
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.83	$4.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$2.91
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.29	$2.73
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.6	$2.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.3	$16
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.97	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$23	$26.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.18	$4.98
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.24	$4.85
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.6	$2.55
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.53	$2.09
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.5	$62.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.6	$14.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.3	$53.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$19.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$84.5	$80
👟 Brand Sneakers	$126	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1172	$2338
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9256	$17844

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	$2133
337 km or 209 mi	Mildura	$1905
377 km or 235 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
518 km or 322 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
551 km or 342 mi	Bendigo	$1493
555 km or 345 mi	Ballarat	$1606
618 km or 384 mi	Melton	$1896
623 km or 387 mi	Sunbury	$1933
627 km or 390 mi	Geelong	$2179
633 km or 393 mi	Tarneit	$1813
636 km or 395 mi	Shepparton	$1816
637 km or 396 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
655 km or 407 mi	Melbourne	$2543
658 km or 409 mi	South Yarra	$1834
683 km or 424 mi	Dandenong	$1913
686 km or 426 mi	Griffith	$1825
686 km or 426 mi	Frankston	$1889
694 km or 431 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
695 km or 432 mi	Berwick	$1915
709 km or 440 mi	Pakenham	$1936
797 km or 496 mi	Traralgon	$2000
800 km or 497 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
959 km or 596 mi	Canberra	$2258
971 km or 603 mi	Devonport	$1868
974 km or 605 mi	Dubbo	$1855
985 km or 612 mi	Orange	$1460
1016 km or 631 mi	Goulburn	$1795
1025 km or 637 mi	Bathurst	$1701
1040 km or 646 mi	Launceston	$1728
1125 km or 699 mi	Wollongong	$1695
1138 km or 707 mi	Blacktown	$1709
1143 km or 710 mi	Kellyville	$2040
1146 km or 712 mi	Parramatta	$2481
1162 km or 722 mi	Hobart	$2364
1163 km or 723 mi	Sydney	$2844
1173 km or 729 mi	Dee Why	$2354
1234 km or 767 mi	Newcastle	$1995
1318 km or 819 mi	Armidale	$1273
1330 km or 826 mi	Alice Springs	$1566
1387 km or 862 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1795
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1701
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1460
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1709
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2481
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2040
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2354
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1825
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1855
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1816
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1995
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$2000
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1936
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1915
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1913
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1834
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1493
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2543
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1933
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1896
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1813
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2179
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1606
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1273
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1905
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1868
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1728
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2364
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1720