Brisbane vs Canberra - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brisbane	Canberra
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2269	$2223
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5424	$4990
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$1398
🏘️ Family rent	$2462	$2158
🍽️ Food expenses	$574	$563
🚐 Transport expenses	$151	$119
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4258	$4087
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	6 km
🎓 Higher education	66	30
😀 Quality of life	98	85
🏙️ Population	2.71M	381K

The cost of living in Brisbane is 2% more expensive than in Canberra. Cities ranked 1349th and 1443rd ($2269 vs $2223) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 12th in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Brisbane compared to 1.8 months in Canberra. Ranked 3rd vs 13th best cities to live in Australia, and 3rd 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 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	$15.5	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.3	$69.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.8	$10.5
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.04	$7.54
☕ Cappuccino	$4.09	$3.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.89	$2.98
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1660	$1538
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1147	$1150
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3002	$2721
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2079	$1726
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.2	$119
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$144	$182
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.2	$50.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.78%	5.89%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7935	$8609
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5145	$5425
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.36	$3.53
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.8	$88.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19	$16.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.33
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.4
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.28	$2.62
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$1.99
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.95	$5.14
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.35	$11.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.06	$9.61
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.2	$15.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.73	$3.69
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.1	$3.44
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$3.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.91	$4.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.62
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$2.66
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.99	$0.89
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.83	$2.28
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.89	$4.86
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.1	$26.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.94	$4.98
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.16	$4.81
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.47	$2.5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.57	$2.08
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48	$57.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$14.3
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.1	$52.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$19.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$81.5	$79.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$112
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1949	$2023
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12459	$15408

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	$1813
45 km or 28 mi	Caboolture	$1988
66 km or 41 mi	Southport	$2352
71 km or 44 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
75 km or 47 mi	Caloundra	$1864
91 km or 57 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
107 km or 66 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
143 km or 89 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
243 km or 151 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
299 km or 186 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
315 km or 196 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
362 km or 225 mi	Armidale	$1288
441 km or 274 mi	Gladstone	$1640
441 km or 274 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
520 km or 323 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
618 km or 384 mi	Newcastle	$1997
682 km or 424 mi	Dubbo	$1867
719 km or 447 mi	Dee Why	$2379
722 km or 449 mi	Kellyville	$2050
730 km or 453 mi	Blacktown	$1710
732 km or 455 mi	Parramatta	$2482
733 km or 455 mi	Sydney	$2844
740 km or 460 mi	Bathurst	$1699
748 km or 465 mi	Orange	$1477
801 km or 498 mi	Wollongong	$1695
869 km or 540 mi	Goulburn	$1821
945 km or 587 mi	Canberra	$2223
1006 km or 625 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
1009 km or 627 mi	Griffith	$1824
1111 km or 690 mi	Townsville	$1839
1224 km or 761 mi	Shepparton	$1815
1278 km or 794 mi	Mildura	$1904
1320 km or 820 mi	Bendigo	$1487
1337 km or 831 mi	Traralgon	$1979
1367 km or 849 mi	Sunbury	$1928
1372 km or 853 mi	Pakenham	$1896
1375 km or 855 mi	Melbourne	$2496
1376 km or 855 mi	Berwick	$1860
1376 km or 855 mi	South Yarra	$1829
1377 km or 856 mi	Dandenong	$1894

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