Brisbane vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Brisbane	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2323	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5585	$6812
🏠 One person rent	$1439	$1756
🏘️ Family rent	$2525	$3107
🍽️ Food expenses	$586	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$144	$335
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4313	$4188
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	66	99
😀 Quality of life	97	100
🏙️ Population	2.71M	5.45M

The cost of living in Brisbane is 18% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 1241st and 370th ($2323 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 11th and 1st in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Brisbane compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Ranked 3rd vs 2nd best cities to live in Australia, and 3rd 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/brisbane/sydney.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Brisbane vs Sydney infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/brisbane/sydney" target="_blank">Brisbane vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Brisbane vs Sydney

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

	Brisbane	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.8	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.2	$81.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$11.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.69	$7.3
☕ Cappuccino	$4.32	$3.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1733	$2215
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1173	$1420
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3028	$3992
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2142	$2582
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.5	$126
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$151	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.9	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.91%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8341	$12962
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5970	$7403
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$0.35	$3.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$23.5	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.6	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.39	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.24	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.91	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.18	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.38	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.56	$9.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.14	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$3.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.11	$4.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.87	$2.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.54	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.07	$0.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.95	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.2	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.98	$4.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$24.3	$28.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.15	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.18	$4.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.49	$3.58
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.62	$3.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$53.3	$66
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$61.5	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$24	$21.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$87.8	$77.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$115	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2164	$2275
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$13265	$25164

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	$1825
45 km or 28 mi	Caboolture	$1992
66 km or 41 mi	Southport	$2341
71 km or 44 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
75 km or 47 mi	Caloundra	$1863
91 km or 57 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
107 km or 66 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
143 km or 89 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
243 km or 151 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
299 km or 186 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
315 km or 196 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
362 km or 225 mi	Armidale	$1273
441 km or 274 mi	Gladstone	$1643
441 km or 274 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
520 km or 323 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
618 km or 384 mi	Newcastle	$1995
682 km or 424 mi	Dubbo	$1855
719 km or 447 mi	Dee Why	$2354
722 km or 449 mi	Kellyville	$2040
730 km or 453 mi	Blacktown	$1709
732 km or 455 mi	Parramatta	$2481
733 km or 455 mi	Sydney	$2844
740 km or 460 mi	Bathurst	$1701
748 km or 465 mi	Orange	$1460
801 km or 498 mi	Wollongong	$1695
869 km or 540 mi	Goulburn	$1795
945 km or 587 mi	Canberra	$2258
1006 km or 625 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
1009 km or 627 mi	Griffith	$1825
1111 km or 690 mi	Townsville	$2015
1224 km or 761 mi	Shepparton	$1816
1278 km or 794 mi	Mildura	$1905
1320 km or 820 mi	Bendigo	$1493
1337 km or 831 mi	Traralgon	$2000
1367 km or 849 mi	Sunbury	$1933
1372 km or 853 mi	Pakenham	$1936
1375 km or 855 mi	Melbourne	$2543
1376 km or 855 mi	Berwick	$1915
1376 km or 855 mi	South Yarra	$1834
1377 km or 856 mi	Dandenong	$1913

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