Adelaide vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Adelaide	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2355	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4952	$6812
🏠 One person rent	$1426	$1756
🏘️ Family rent	$2084	$3107
🍽️ Food expenses	$596	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$188	$335
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3842	$4188
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	5 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	50	99
😀 Quality of life	92	100
🏙️ Population	1.39M	5.45M

The cost of living in Adelaide is 17% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 1178th and 370th ($2355 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 8th and 1st in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Adelaide compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Ranked 6th vs 2nd best cities to live in Australia, and 75th vs 2nd among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/adelaide/sydney.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Adelaide vs Sydney infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/adelaide/sydney" target="_blank">Adelaide vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Adelaide vs Sydney

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

	Adelaide	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.8	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.8	$81.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.9	$11.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.12	$7.3
☕ Cappuccino	$4.01	$3.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.73	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1640	$2215
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1164	$1420
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2242	$3992
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1758	$2582
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$126
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.04%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9174	$12962
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6193	$7403
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.21	$3.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$82.9	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$17.9	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.31	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.85	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.47	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.44	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.9	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.9	$9.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.5	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.85	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.88	$3.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.53	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.83	$4.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.96	$2.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.29	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$0.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.6	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.3	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.97	$4.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$23	$28.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.18	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.24	$4.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.6	$3.58
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.53	$3.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$45.5	$66
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.6	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$54.3	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$15.2	$21.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$84.5	$77.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$126	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1172	$2275
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9256	$25164

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 Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2354
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2481
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2040
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1709
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1995
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1701
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1795
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1460
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2258
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1855
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1273
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1825
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1816
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$2000
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2341
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1936
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1915
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1493
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1913
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1825
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1834
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2543
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1933
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1896
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2323
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1813
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1992
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2179
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1606
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1863