Brisbane vs Canberra - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Brisbane	Canberra
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2491	$2393
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5397	$5235
🏠 One person rent	$1506	$1495
🏘️ Family rent	$2275	$2245
🍽️ Food expenses	$562	$618
🚐 Transport expenses	$280	$133
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4184	$3763
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	66	30
😀 Quality of life	97	83
🏙️ Population	2.36M	381K

The cost of living in Brisbane is 4% more expensive than in Canberra. Cities ranked 781st and 929th ($2491 vs $2393) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 2nd and 5th in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Brisbane compared to 1.6 months in Canberra. Ranked 4th vs 8th best cities to live in Australia, and 15th vs 393rd among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Brisbane vs Canberra infographic

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

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

Prices in Brisbane vs Canberra

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

	Brisbane	Canberra
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14	$20.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$83.5	$84.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$9.85
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.26	$7.11
☕ Cappuccino	$3.81	$3.72
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.77	$2.92
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1542	$1584
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1283	$1222
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2771	$2518
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1860	$1831
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$116	$141
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$178	$217
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.5	$59.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.33%	6.35%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7907	$7663
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5572	$5992
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.99	$3.32
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$145	$107
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.4	$17.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.38
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.59	$1.58
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.42	$2.44
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.1	$2.24
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.52	$4.89
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.96	$12.3
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.74	$9.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$16.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.31	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.92	$3.11
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.71	$3.61
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.87	$4.94
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.69
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.11	$2.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.84	$1.59
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.95	$2.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.9	$17.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.61	$5.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$27.8	$27.7
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.08	$4.79
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.28	$4.68
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.28	$2.46
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.33	$2.07
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.1	$60.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$13.8	$14
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.4	$51.6
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.3	$18.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$74.3	$87
👟 Brand Sneakers	$108	$125
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1752	$1893
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9531	$15472

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Brisbane

Distance	City	Cost of living
31 km or 19 mi	Ipswich	$1877
45 km or 28 mi	Caboolture	$1925
66 km or 41 mi	Southport	$2141
71 km or 44 mi	Gold Coast	$2300
75 km or 47 mi	Caloundra	$1754
91 km or 57 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1733
107 km or 66 mi	Toowoomba	$1635
143 km or 89 mi	Byron Bay	$1958
243 km or 151 mi	Hervey Bay	$1835
299 km or 186 mi	Bundaberg	$1689
315 km or 196 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1913
362 km or 225 mi	Armidale	$1289
441 km or 274 mi	Gladstone	$1615
441 km or 274 mi	Port Macquarie	$1661
520 km or 323 mi	Rockhampton	$1514
618 km or 384 mi	Newcastle	$1833
682 km or 424 mi	Dubbo	$1815
719 km or 447 mi	Dee Why	$2286
722 km or 449 mi	Kellyville	$1997
730 km or 453 mi	Blacktown	$1732
732 km or 455 mi	Parramatta	$2472
733 km or 455 mi	Sydney	$2801
740 km or 460 mi	Bathurst	$1674
748 km or 465 mi	Orange	$1500
801 km or 498 mi	Wollongong	$1532
869 km or 540 mi	Goulburn	$1748
945 km or 587 mi	Canberra	$2393
1006 km or 625 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1628
1009 km or 627 mi	Griffith	$1746
1111 km or 690 mi	Townsville	$1303
1224 km or 761 mi	Shepparton	$1717
1278 km or 794 mi	Mildura	$1816
1320 km or 820 mi	Bendigo	$1397
1337 km or 831 mi	Traralgon	$1829
1367 km or 849 mi	Sunbury	$1822
1372 km or 853 mi	Pakenham	$1805
1375 km or 855 mi	Melbourne	$2397
1376 km or 855 mi	Berwick	$1800
1376 km or 855 mi	South Yarra	$1758
1377 km or 856 mi	Dandenong	$1876

Cities near Canberra

Distance	City	Cost of living
81 km or 50 mi	Goulburn	$1748
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1628
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1532
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1674
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1500
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1732
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2472
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$1997
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2801
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2286
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1746
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1815
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1717
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1833
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$1829
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1805
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1800
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1876
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1738
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1758
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1397
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2397
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1822
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1799
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1795
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1757
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1767
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$1892
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1357
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1661
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1289
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1816
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1913
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1697
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1900
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1798
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1788
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$1958
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2265
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1635