Canberra vs Medan - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Medan
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$453
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$1141
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$189
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$310
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$170
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$32.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$216
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Moderate
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	30	55
😀 Quality of life	85	47
🏙️ Population	381K	2.11M

The cost of living in Canberra is 398% more expensive than in Medan. Cities ranked 1373rd and 8852nd ($2258 vs $453) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 44th in Australia and Indonesia, respectively. Check Australia vs Indonesia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Canberra compared to 0.5 months in Medan. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs Medan ranked 15th in Indonesia, while ranked 438th and 6943rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Canberra vs Medan

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

	Canberra	Medan
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.6	$1.64
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$10.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$3.06
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$2.01
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$1.7
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$0.37
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$173
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$109
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$311
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$196
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$43.2
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$67.1
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$24
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	9.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$1152
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$558
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$0.28
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$6.85
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$2.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$0.7
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$1.18
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$1.11
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$0.89
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$1.32
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$6.98
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$3.29
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$6.36
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$2.44
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$1.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$1.47
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$0.85
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$0.8
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$0.3
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$1.01
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$8.72
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$1.81
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$2.56
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$1.79
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$2.16
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$0.74
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$0.7
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$17.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$3.24
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$13.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$2.48
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$47.2
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$96.2
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$114
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$7769

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	$1795
161 km or 100 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
187 km or 116 mi	Wollongong	$1695
212 km or 132 mi	Bathurst	$1701
223 km or 139 mi	Orange	$1460
235 km or 146 mi	Blacktown	$1709
238 km or 148 mi	Parramatta	$2481
243 km or 151 mi	Kellyville	$2040
247 km or 154 mi	Sydney	$2844
261 km or 162 mi	Dee Why	$2354
303 km or 188 mi	Griffith	$1825
341 km or 212 mi	Dubbo	$1855
357 km or 222 mi	Shepparton	$1816
358 km or 222 mi	Newcastle	$1995
397 km or 246 mi	Traralgon	$2000
448 km or 278 mi	Pakenham	$1936
454 km or 282 mi	Berwick	$1915
459 km or 285 mi	Dandenong	$1913
464 km or 288 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
466 km or 289 mi	South Yarra	$1834
466 km or 290 mi	Bendigo	$1493
466 km or 290 mi	Melbourne	$2543
470 km or 292 mi	Sunbury	$1933
477 km or 297 mi	Frankston	$1889
485 km or 302 mi	Melton	$1896
488 km or 303 mi	Tarneit	$1813
489 km or 304 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
531 km or 330 mi	Geelong	$2179
535 km or 332 mi	Ballarat	$1606
554 km or 344 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
583 km or 362 mi	Armidale	$1273
649 km or 403 mi	Mildura	$1905
669 km or 415 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
684 km or 425 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
698 km or 434 mi	Devonport	$1868
706 km or 438 mi	Launceston	$1728
796 km or 495 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
852 km or 529 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
858 km or 533 mi	Hobart	$2364
902 km or 560 mi	Toowoomba	$1720

Cities near Medan

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Binjai	$449
67 km or 41 mi	Tebing Tinggi	$449
90 km or 56 mi	Pematangsiantar	$459
119 km or 74 mi	Langsa	$439
148 km or 92 mi	Tanjungbalai	$470
238 km or 148 mi	Lhokseumawe	$429
264 km or 164 mi	Teluk Intan	$678
264 km or 164 mi	Taiping	$555
264 km or 164 mi	Padangsidempuan	$530
268 km or 166 mi	George Town	$762
269 km or 167 mi	Butterworth	$720
286 km or 178 mi	Ipoh	$677
298 km or 185 mi	Sungai Petani	$637
307 km or 191 mi	Gunungsitoli	$527
317 km or 197 mi	Klang	$743
322 km or 200 mi	Ko Lipe	$747
324 km or 201 mi	Langkawi	$616
325 km or 202 mi	Shah Alam	$741
331 km or 206 mi	Alor Setar	$545
332 km or 206 mi	Subang Jaya	$798
332 km or 206 mi	Petaling Jaya	$783
341 km or 212 mi	Kuala Lumpur	$992
342 km or 212 mi	Cyberjaya	$654
345 km or 215 mi	Putrajaya	$610
352 km or 219 mi	Kangar	$592
378 km or 235 mi	Seremban	$617
381 km or 237 mi	Dumai	$488
422 km or 262 mi	Hat Yai	$588
426 km or 265 mi	Banda Aceh	$407
431 km or 268 mi	Malacca	$707
445 km or 277 mi	Ko Lanta	$806
466 km or 289 mi	Pekanbaru	$466
468 km or 291 mi	Muar	$759
470 km or 292 mi	Phuket	$1010
483 km or 300 mi	Kota Bharu	$531
487 km or 303 mi	Ao Nang	$784
489 km or 304 mi	Krabi	$836
515 km or 320 mi	Batu Pahat	$737
518 km or 322 mi	Kuantan	$576
529 km or 329 mi	Kuala Terengganu	$550