Canberra vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Seattle
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$3183
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$7493
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$1996
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$3450
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$789
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$175
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$6618
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	30	80
😀 Quality of life	85	91
🏙️ Population	381K	737K

The cost of living in Canberra is 29% less expensive than in Seattle. Cities ranked 1373rd and 126th ($2258 vs $3183) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 94th 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 2 months in Canberra compared to 2.1 months in Seattle. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs Seattle ranked 33rd in the United States, while ranked 438th and 147th 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/seattle.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Canberra vs Seattle infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/canberra/seattle" target="_blank">Canberra vs Seattle - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

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	$15.6	$20.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$92.5
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$14.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$7.95
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$6.46
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$2.94
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$2109
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$1647
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$3900
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$2895
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$182
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$279
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$74.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	6.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$7971
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$5180
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$2.99
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$17.1
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.29
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$1.23
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$4.33
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$4.83
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$5.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$21.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$18.5
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$22.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$5.72
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$1.92
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$5.39
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$3.17
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$3.34
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$1.75
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$3.43
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$16.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$4.09
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$13.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$9.26
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$7.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$5.8
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$2.36
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$81.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$17.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$167
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$28.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$76.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$119
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$2124
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$30033

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 Seattle

Distance	City	Cost of living
9.1 km or 5.7 mi	Mercer Island	$2843
11 km or 6.5 mi	Bellevue	$3164
14 km or 8.5 mi	Kirkland	$3012
15 km or 9.2 mi	Tukwila	$2648
15 km or 9.5 mi	Burien	$2678
16 km or 10 mi	Bainbridge Island	$2827
17 km or 10 mi	Shoreline	$2782
17 km or 10 mi	Renton	$2621
17 km or 11 mi	Redmond	$3602
17 km or 11 mi	Kenmore	$2749
19 km or 12 mi	SeaTac	$2783
21 km or 13 mi	Bothell	$2734
22 km or 14 mi	Sammamish	$2884
22 km or 14 mi	Edmonds	$2728
23 km or 14 mi	Issaquah	$2797
24 km or 15 mi	Des Moines	$2637
24 km or 15 mi	Lynnwood	$2736
24 km or 15 mi	Bremerton	$2479
26 km or 16 mi	Kent	$2775
30 km or 19 mi	Mill Creek	$2714
33 km or 20 mi	Federal Way	$2542
34 km or 21 mi	Maple Valley	$2617
35 km or 21 mi	Mukilteo	$2709
35 km or 22 mi	Auburn	$2342
41 km or 25 mi	Everett	$2727
42 km or 26 mi	Tacoma	$2429
46 km or 28 mi	University Place	$2722
48 km or 30 mi	Puyallup	$2822
50 km or 31 mi	Lake Stevens	$2670
51 km or 32 mi	Lakewood	$2576
52 km or 33 mi	Marysville	$2661
57 km or 35 mi	Spanaway	$2378
74 km or 46 mi	Lacey	$2616
76 km or 47 mi	Olympia	$2592
78 km or 48 mi	Sequim	$2690
80 km or 50 mi	Oak Harbor	$2773
90 km or 56 mi	Mount Vernon	$2475
100 km or 62 mi	Port Angeles	$2580
109 km or 68 mi	Centralia	$2765
119 km or 74 mi	Victoria	$2098