Canberra vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Canberra	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2223	$3154
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$4990	$7508
🏠 One person rent	$1398	$1981
🏘️ Family rent	$2158	$3422
🍽️ Food expenses	$563	$796
🚐 Transport expenses	$119	$169
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4087	$6532
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	30	80
😀 Quality of life	85	95
🏙️ Population	381K	737K

The cost of living in Canberra is 30% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 1443rd and 142nd ($2223 vs $3154) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 101st 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 2.1 months in Seattle. Canberra ranked 13th best city to live in Australia vs Seattle ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 479th and 32nd 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 Seattle

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

	Canberra	Seattle
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.1	$96.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$14.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.54	$7.73
☕ Cappuccino	$3.66	$6.45
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.98	$2.97
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1538	$2110
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1150	$1647
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2721	$3872
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1726	$2891
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$119	$169
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$182	$262
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$72.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.89%	6.53%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8609	$7394
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5425	$5077
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.53	$3.01
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$88.3	$111
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.6	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.21
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.4	$1.44
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.62	$4.47
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.99	$4.23
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.14	$6.95
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.7	$20.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.61	$16.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$21.9
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.69	$5.6
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.44	$2.27
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.47	$5.07
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$6.09
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.62	$3.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.66	$3.45
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.89	$1.74
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$3.47
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$17.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.86	$3.65
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$12.5
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.81	$8.04
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.5	$6.86
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.08	$2.42
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$57.5	$83.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.3	$17.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.8	$147
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$24.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$79.1	$69.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$112	$122
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2023	$2521
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15408	$28950

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2896
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3292
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$3041
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2681
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2717
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2855
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2778
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2604
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3559
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2702
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2807
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2737
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2915
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2739
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2798
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2677
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2734
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2475
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2814
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2717
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2587
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2656
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2674
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2325
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2641
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2519
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2720
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2828
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2641
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2582
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2628
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2362
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2584
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2558
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2710
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2754
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2456
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2539
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2747
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2173