Canberra vs Perth - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	Perth
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$2448
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$5605
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$1473
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$2303
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$587
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$226
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$4181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	10 km
🎓 Higher education	30	94
😀 Quality of life	85	96
🏙️ Population	381K	2.14M

The cost of living in Canberra is 9% less expensive than in Perth. Cities ranked 1443rd and 978th ($2223 vs $2448) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 6th in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 1.7 months in Perth. Ranked 13th vs 4th best cities to live in Australia, and 479th vs 10th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Share this infographic!

Use the link below to embed the infographic from our site and automatically keep the data layer up to date.

If you prefer to download the image, please credit us as a source.

<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/canberra/perth.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Canberra vs Perth infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/canberra/perth" target="_blank">Canberra vs Perth - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Canberra vs Perth

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

	Canberra	Perth
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$15.6
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$74.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$11.7
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$8.55
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$4.27
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$2.94
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$1621
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$1228
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$2691
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$1923
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$109
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$56.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	5.84%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$6285
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$4935
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$2.83
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$88
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.27
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.4	$1.52
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$2.17
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$5.76
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$11.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$8.82
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$14.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$4.05
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$3.36
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$3.43
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$4.91
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$2.85
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$1.86
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$3.05
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$12.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$4.62
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$22.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$9.3
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$5.8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$3.09
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$2.96
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$47.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$17.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$66.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$24.6
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$81
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$2141
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$15409

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 Perth

Distance	City	Cost of living
156 km or 97 mi	Bunbury	$1838
195 km or 121 mi	Busselton	$2219
372 km or 231 mi	Geraldton	$2016
390 km or 242 mi	Albany	$2025
549 km or 341 mi	Kalgoorlie	$1618
1989 km or 1236 mi	Whyalla	$2128
1991 km or 1237 mi	Alice Springs	$1590
2130 km or 1323 mi	Adelaide	$2338
2357 km or 1465 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
2456 km or 1526 mi	Mildura	$1904
2513 km or 1562 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
2550 km or 1584 mi	Kupang	$527
2590 km or 1609 mi	Denpasar	$496
2599 km or 1615 mi	Mataram	$409
2608 km or 1620 mi	Ubud	$822
2609 km or 1621 mi	Bali	$1175
2621 km or 1629 mi	Ballarat	$1604
2628 km or 1633 mi	Bima	$593
2652 km or 1648 mi	Bendigo	$1487
2655 km or 1650 mi	Darwin	$1861
2672 km or 1660 mi	Geelong	$2217
2680 km or 1665 mi	Blitar	$439
2687 km or 1669 mi	Malang	$379
2687 km or 1670 mi	Melton	$1906
2696 km or 1675 mi	Tarneit	$1822
2698 km or 1676 mi	Sunbury	$1928
2699 km or 1677 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
2700 km or 1678 mi	Batu	$408
2705 km or 1681 mi	Probolinggo	$476
2713 km or 1686 mi	Kediri	$453
2721 km or 1690 mi	Pasuruan	$459
2722 km or 1691 mi	Melbourne	$2496
2724 km or 1693 mi	South Yarra	$1829
2730 km or 1696 mi	Maliana	$514
2740 km or 1703 mi	Frankston	$1889
2741 km or 1703 mi	Ainaro	$513
2742 km or 1703 mi	Madiun	$445
2745 km or 1706 mi	Yogyakarta	$445
2745 km or 1706 mi	Mojokerto	$419
2745 km or 1706 mi	Dandenong	$1894