Auckland vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Auckland	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2156	$2496
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4802	$6197
🏠 One person rent	$1242	$1388
🏘️ Family rent	$1967	$2468
🍽️ Food expenses	$543	$606
🚐 Transport expenses	$242	$346
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3398	$4328
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	15 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	32	100
😀 Quality of life	89	100
🏙️ Population	1.47M	5.35M

The cost of living in Auckland is 14% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 1604th and 893rd ($2156 vs $2496) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 4th in New Zealand and Australia, respectively. Check New Zealand vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.6 months in Auckland compared to 1.7 months in Melbourne. Auckland ranked 1st best city to live in New Zealand vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 240th and 1st among 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/auckland/melbourne.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Auckland vs Melbourne infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/auckland/melbourne" target="_blank">Auckland vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Auckland vs Melbourne

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

	Auckland	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$13.5	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.5	$71.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.86	$11.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.14	$9.06
☕ Cappuccino	$3.63	$4.04
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.35	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1205	$1549
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1071	$1138
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2099	$2861
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1689	$2079
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.7	$115
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$147	$180
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.2	$52.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.07%	5.61%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7507	$7481
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5316	$6465
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.91	$3.9
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$131	$132
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.4	$19.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.63	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.75	$1.73
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.03	$2.72
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.77	$2.25
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.66	$5.92
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.91	$13.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.8	$9.85
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.6	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.05	$3.7
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$3.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.3	$3.42
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.81	$4.78
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.8	$3.06
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.53	$2.73
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.79	$1.17
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.36	$2.74
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$11.4	$14.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.9	$5.42
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.3	$25.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$11.7	$8.05
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.16	$6.9
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$1.55	$3.3
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.45	$2.88
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$36.7	$48.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.2	$15.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$41.1	$53.7
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$26.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$75.6	$80
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$127
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$988	$2232
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15607	$26129

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Auckland

Distance	City	Cost of living
13 km or 8.4 mi	Waitakere	$1778
17 km or 11 mi	Manukau	$1646
28 km or 18 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1782
40 km or 25 mi	Pukekohe	$1527
113 km or 70 mi	Hamilton	$1474
132 km or 82 mi	Whangarei	$1261
154 km or 96 mi	Tauranga	$1740
193 km or 120 mi	Rotorua	$1393
234 km or 146 mi	Taupo	$1523
253 km or 157 mi	New Plymouth	$1304
344 km or 214 mi	Whanganui	$1528
347 km or 216 mi	Napier	$1605
348 km or 217 mi	Gisborne	$1696
359 km or 223 mi	Hastings	$1518
396 km or 246 mi	Palmerston North	$1458
453 km or 281 mi	Paraparaumu	$1741
464 km or 288 mi	Masterton	$1359
476 km or 296 mi	Porirua	$1788
477 km or 296 mi	Upper Hutt	$1803
486 km or 302 mi	Lower Hutt	$1920
494 km or 307 mi	Wellington	$2037
512 km or 318 mi	Nelson	$1533
524 km or 326 mi	Blenheim	$1325
765 km or 475 mi	Christchurch	$1787
891 km or 553 mi	Timaru	$1894
995 km or 618 mi	Wanaka	$1623
1044 km or 649 mi	Queenstown	$2303
1064 km or 661 mi	Dunedin	$1579
1190 km or 740 mi	Invercargill	$1318
1809 km or 1124 mi	Noumea	$1928
1821 km or 1131 mi	Dumbea	$1865
1826 km or 1135 mi	Paita	$1865
1997 km or 1241 mi	Mua	$1033
1997 km or 1241 mi	Nukualofa	$1035
2097 km or 1303 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
2112 km or 1312 mi	Suva	$879
2120 km or 1317 mi	Nasinu	$857
2129 km or 1323 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
2134 km or 1326 mi	Nadi	$1039
2140 km or 1330 mi	Newcastle	$1997

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1829
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1822
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1894
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1928
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1906
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1860
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1896
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2217
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1604
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1487
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1979
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1815
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1898
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1824
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1753
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2223
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1904
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1821
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2308
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1477
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1699
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2338
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1710
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1867
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2482
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2050
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2379
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1997
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2128
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1288
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172