Canberra vs San Francisco - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	San Francisco
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$4040
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$8690
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$2814
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$4668
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$830
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$179
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$7450
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	18 km
🎓 Higher education	30	97
😀 Quality of life	85	95
🏙️ Population	381K	874K

The cost of living in Canberra is 45% less expensive than in San Francisco. Cities ranked 1443rd and 7th ($2223 vs $4040) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 4th in Australia and the United States, respectively. Check Australia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Canberra compared to 1.8 months in San Francisco. Canberra ranked 13th best city to live in Australia vs San Francisco ranked 4th in the United States, while ranked 479th and 30th among 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/san-francisco.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Canberra vs San Francisco infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/canberra/san-francisco" target="_blank">Canberra vs San Francisco - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Canberra vs San Francisco

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

	Canberra	San Francisco
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$22.7
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$98.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$14
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$7.92
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$6.1
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$3.28
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$3172
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$2480
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$4983
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$4258
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$129
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$199
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$66.7
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	6.52%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$10615
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$9151
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$96.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$19.8
⛽ 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	$4.88
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$5.69
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$7.75
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$22
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$14.1
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$23.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$7.01
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$3.03
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$5.42
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$6.97
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$3.87
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$3.36
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$2
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$3.34
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$18.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$2.92
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$14
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$13.1
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$8
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$7.03
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$2.81
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$102
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$18
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$150
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$33.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$70.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$105
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$1918
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$21243

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 San Francisco

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.9 mi	Daly	$3252
14 km or 8.4 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
14 km or 8.8 mi	Alameda	$3277
15 km or 9.2 mi	Oakland	$3212
16 km or 10 mi	Albany	$3058
17 km or 10 mi	Berkeley	$3242
17 km or 11 mi	San Bruno	$3264
18 km or 11 mi	El Cerrito	$3073
18 km or 11 mi	Pacifica	$3255
19 km or 12 mi	Richmond	$3083
20 km or 12 mi	Millbrae	$3282
21 km or 13 mi	San Pablo	$3058
22 km or 14 mi	Burlingame	$3346
24 km or 15 mi	San Leandro	$3007
24 km or 15 mi	San Rafael	$4102
26 km or 16 mi	San Mateo	$3831
28 km or 17 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
28 km or 18 mi	Foster	$3604
29 km or 18 mi	Lafayette	$2929
29 km or 18 mi	Hercules	$2893
31 km or 19 mi	Belmont	$3593
32 km or 20 mi	Hayward	$2910
32 km or 20 mi	Castro Valley	$2983
34 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3359
34 km or 21 mi	Walnut Creek	$2984
36 km or 23 mi	Redwood	$3771
37 km or 23 mi	Martinez	$2929
37 km or 23 mi	Danville	$3778
37 km or 23 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2780
38 km or 24 mi	Union	$3137
39 km or 24 mi	San Ramon	$2859
39 km or 24 mi	Vallejo	$2380
39 km or 24 mi	Novato	$3182
39 km or 24 mi	Benicia	$2807
41 km or 25 mi	Concord	$2783
42 km or 26 mi	Menlo Park	$3395
42 km or 26 mi	East Palo Alto	$3382
43 km or 27 mi	Newark	$3261
45 km or 28 mi	Dublin	$3094
46 km or 28 mi	Palo Alto	$3805