Canberra vs Perth - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Perth
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$2562
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$5745
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$1566
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$2350
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$609
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$224
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$4370
😷 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 12% less expensive than in Perth. Cities ranked 1373rd and 791st ($2258 vs $2562) 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 2 months in Canberra compared to 1.7 months in Perth. Ranked 10th vs 4th best cities to live in Australia, and 438th vs 11th 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 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	$15.6	$16.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$80.4
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$11
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$8.94
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$4.26
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$2.76
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$1736
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$1309
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$2661
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$1980
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$115
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$176
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$57.4
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	5.93%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$6868
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$5243
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$2.45
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$101
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$17.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$1.64
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$2.96
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$2.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$5.91
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$9.77
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$15.4
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$4.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$3.23
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$3.4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$5.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$3.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.93
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$0.96
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$2.83
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$13.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$4.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$25.4
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$8.15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$6.05
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$3.56
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$3.19
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$48.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$17.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$70.1
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$23.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$85.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$2283
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$17749

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 Perth

Distance	City	Cost of living
156 km or 97 mi	Bunbury	$1831
195 km or 121 mi	Busselton	$2239
372 km or 231 mi	Geraldton	$1986
390 km or 242 mi	Albany	$2018
549 km or 341 mi	Kalgoorlie	$1604
1989 km or 1236 mi	Whyalla	$2133
1991 km or 1237 mi	Alice Springs	$1566
2130 km or 1323 mi	Adelaide	$2355
2357 km or 1465 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
2456 km or 1526 mi	Mildura	$1905
2513 km or 1562 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
2550 km or 1584 mi	Kupang	$504
2590 km or 1609 mi	Denpasar	$493
2599 km or 1615 mi	Mataram	$387
2608 km or 1620 mi	Ubud	$780
2609 km or 1621 mi	Bali	$1115
2621 km or 1629 mi	Ballarat	$1606
2628 km or 1633 mi	Bima	$566
2652 km or 1648 mi	Bendigo	$1493
2655 km or 1650 mi	Darwin	$2065
2672 km or 1660 mi	Geelong	$2179
2680 km or 1665 mi	Blitar	$416
2687 km or 1669 mi	Malang	$358
2687 km or 1670 mi	Melton	$1896
2696 km or 1675 mi	Tarneit	$1813
2698 km or 1676 mi	Sunbury	$1933
2699 km or 1677 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
2700 km or 1678 mi	Batu	$386
2705 km or 1681 mi	Probolinggo	$450
2713 km or 1686 mi	Kediri	$428
2721 km or 1690 mi	Pasuruan	$437
2722 km or 1691 mi	Melbourne	$2543
2724 km or 1693 mi	South Yarra	$1834
2730 km or 1696 mi	Maliana	$499
2740 km or 1703 mi	Frankston	$1889
2741 km or 1703 mi	Ainaro	$500
2742 km or 1703 mi	Madiun	$419
2745 km or 1706 mi	Yogyakarta	$436
2745 km or 1706 mi	Mojokerto	$402
2745 km or 1706 mi	Dandenong	$1913