Canberra vs Gold Coast - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	Gold Coast
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$2528
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$5661
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$1635
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$2683
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$646
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$114
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$3481
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	30	49
😀 Quality of life	85	92
🏙️ Population	381K	608K

The cost of living in Canberra is 12% less expensive than in Gold Coast. Cities ranked 1443rd and 839th ($2223 vs $2528) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 3rd in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 1.4 months in Gold Coast. Ranked 13th vs 6th best cities to live in Australia, and 479th 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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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/canberra/gold-coast.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Canberra vs Gold Coast infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/canberra/gold-coast" target="_blank">Canberra vs Gold Coast - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Canberra vs Gold Coast

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

	Canberra	Gold Coast
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$19.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$108
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$10.8
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$7.08
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$3.86
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$3.05
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$1886
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$1330
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$2881
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$2303
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$136
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$207
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$57.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	5.76%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$7538
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$4593
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$2.84
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$57.5
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$15.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.4	$1.61
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$2.89
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$5.06
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$8.71
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$9.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$13.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$3.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$3.06
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$3.59
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$4.44
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.59
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$2.6
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.65
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$2.15
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$14.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$6.29
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$26.1
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$5.19
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$5.13
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$2.53
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$2.15
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$38.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$14.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$56.9
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$16.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$70.4
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$103
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$2105
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$8134

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

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