Brisbane vs Gold Coast - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Brisbane	Gold Coast
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2269	$2528
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5424	$5661
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$1635
🏘️ Family rent	$2462	$2683
🍽️ Food expenses	$574	$646
🚐 Transport expenses	$151	$114
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4258	$3481
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	66	49
😀 Quality of life	98	92
🏙️ Population	2.71M	608K

The cost of living in Brisbane is 10% less expensive than in Gold Coast. Cities ranked 1349th and 839th ($2269 vs $2528) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 3rd in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Brisbane compared to 1.4 months in Gold Coast. Ranked 3rd vs 6th best cities to live in Australia, and 3rd vs 124th 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 Gold Coast

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

	Brisbane	Gold Coast
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$19.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$68.3	$108
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.8	$10.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.04	$7.08
☕ Cappuccino	$4.09	$3.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.89	$3.05
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1660	$1886
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1147	$1330
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3002	$2881
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2079	$2303
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$94.2	$136
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$144	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.2	$57.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.78%	5.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7935	$7538
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5145	$4593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.36	$2.84
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$27.8	$57.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.56	$1.61
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.28	$2.89
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.94	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.95	$5.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.35	$8.71
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.06	$9.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.2	$13.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.73	$3.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.1	$3.06
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.11	$3.59
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.91	$4.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.56	$2.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.99	$1.65
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.83	$2.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14	$14.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.89	$6.29
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.1	$26.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$7.94	$5.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.16	$5.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.47	$2.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.57	$2.15
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48	$38.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$14.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.1	$56.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$20.8	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$81.5	$70.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1949	$2105
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$12459	$8134

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 Gold Coast

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	Southport	$2352
71 km or 44 mi	Brisbane	$2269
73 km or 45 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
77 km or 48 mi	Ipswich	$1813
114 km or 71 mi	Caboolture	$1988
138 km or 86 mi	Caloundra	$1864
152 km or 94 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
155 km or 97 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
256 km or 159 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
308 km or 192 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
323 km or 201 mi	Armidale	$1288
367 km or 228 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
383 km or 238 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
511 km or 318 mi	Gladstone	$1640
567 km or 353 mi	Newcastle	$1997
591 km or 367 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
660 km or 410 mi	Dubbo	$1867
669 km or 416 mi	Dee Why	$2379
675 km or 419 mi	Kellyville	$2050
683 km or 424 mi	Blacktown	$1710
683 km or 425 mi	Sydney	$2844
684 km or 425 mi	Parramatta	$2482
703 km or 437 mi	Bathurst	$1699
715 km or 445 mi	Orange	$1477
752 km or 468 mi	Wollongong	$1695
827 km or 514 mi	Goulburn	$1821
904 km or 562 mi	Canberra	$2223
974 km or 605 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
988 km or 614 mi	Griffith	$1824
1182 km or 734 mi	Townsville	$1839
1196 km or 743 mi	Shepparton	$1815
1271 km or 789 mi	Mildura	$1904
1294 km or 804 mi	Bendigo	$1487
1299 km or 807 mi	Traralgon	$1979
1337 km or 830 mi	Sunbury	$1928
1338 km or 831 mi	Pakenham	$1896
1342 km or 834 mi	Berwick	$1860
1344 km or 835 mi	Melbourne	$2496
1344 km or 835 mi	South Yarra	$1829
1344 km or 835 mi	Dandenong	$1894