Canberra vs Wellington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Canberra	Wellington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2258	$2003
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5105	$4295
🏠 One person rent	$1409	$1243
🏘️ Family rent	$2111	$1875
🍽️ Food expenses	$584	$532
🚐 Transport expenses	$117	$103
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4498	$3056
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	6 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	30	18
😀 Quality of life	85	84
🏙️ Population	381K	216K

The cost of living in Canberra is 13% more expensive than in Wellington. Cities ranked 1373rd and 2013th ($2258 vs $2003) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 12th and 3rd in Australia and New Zealand, respectively. Check Australia vs New Zealand comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 2 months in Canberra compared to 1.5 months in Wellington. Canberra ranked 10th best city to live in Australia vs Wellington ranked 3rd in New Zealand, while ranked 438th and 485th 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 Wellington

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

	Canberra	Wellington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.6	$12.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$73.7	$60.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.5	$9.74
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.03	$7.34
☕ Cappuccino	$3.75	$3.47
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.24	$2.52
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1459	$1149
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1187	$1062
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2549	$1957
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1714	$1575
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$117	$110
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$179	$169
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.8	$53.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	5.32%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$9940	$7032
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6181	$3790
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.2	$2.91
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$86.9	$110
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.7	$16.9
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.32	$1.78
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$1.88
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.66	$2.17
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$1.91
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.41	$7.17
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.4	$11.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.1	$9.58
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.7	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.74	$3.13
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.29	$2.32
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.68	$3.14
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.65	$5.65
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$2.24
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.21
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.01	$0.84
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.28	$2.13
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16	$11.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.69	$3.59
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.9	$25
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$4.98	$10.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.85	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.55	$2.06
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.09	$2.45
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$62.8	$37.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.4	$11.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$35.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.2	$17.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$81.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$119	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2338	$1020
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$17844	$13757

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 Wellington

Distance	City	Cost of living
14 km or 8.8 mi	Lower Hutt	$1869
18 km or 11 mi	Porirua	$1803
29 km or 18 mi	Upper Hutt	$1751
46 km or 29 mi	Paraparaumu	$1709
73 km or 46 mi	Blenheim	$1248
81 km or 51 mi	Masterton	$1440
125 km or 78 mi	Palmerston North	$1395
129 km or 80 mi	Nelson	$1469
152 km or 95 mi	Whanganui	$1400
252 km or 157 mi	Hastings	$1503
255 km or 159 mi	New Plymouth	$1261
270 km or 168 mi	Napier	$1653
305 km or 190 mi	Christchurch	$1705
310 km or 192 mi	Taupo	$1475
372 km or 231 mi	Rotorua	$1259
392 km or 244 mi	Hamilton	$1424
402 km or 250 mi	Gisborne	$1647
418 km or 260 mi	Tauranga	$1660
450 km or 279 mi	Timaru	$1800
455 km or 283 mi	Pukekohe	$1530
479 km or 298 mi	Manukau	$1553
486 km or 302 mi	Waitakere	$1752
494 km or 307 mi	Auckland	$2100
521 km or 324 mi	Hibiscus Coast	$1745
596 km or 371 mi	Wanaka	$1567
614 km or 382 mi	Dunedin	$1507
620 km or 385 mi	Whangarei	$1239
647 km or 402 mi	Queenstown	$2232
768 km or 477 mi	Invercargill	$1282
2223 km or 1381 mi	Wollongong	$1695
2226 km or 1383 mi	Dee Why	$2354
2227 km or 1384 mi	Sydney	$2844
2235 km or 1389 mi	Newcastle	$1995
2235 km or 1389 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
2246 km or 1395 mi	Parramatta	$2481
2254 km or 1401 mi	Noumea	$1911
2255 km or 1401 mi	Kellyville	$2040
2256 km or 1402 mi	Blacktown	$1709
2263 km or 1406 mi	Hobart	$2364
2266 km or 1408 mi	Dumbea	$1844