Columbus vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Columbus	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2145	$2194
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5059	$5150
🏠 One person rent	$1248	$1216
🏘️ Family rent	$2171	$1971
🍽️ Food expenses	$632	$541
🚐 Transport expenses	$125	$296
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4018	$3902
😷 Air quality	Moderate	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	10 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	73	100
😀 Quality of life	88	100
🏙️ Population	906K	5.03M

The cost of living in Columbus is 2% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 1476th and 1365th ($2145 vs $2194) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1323rd and 4th in the United States and Australia, respectively. Check the United States vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.9 months in Columbus compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Columbus ranked 59th best city to live in the United States vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 249th and 1st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Columbus vs Melbourne infographic

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Prices in Columbus vs Melbourne

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

	Columbus	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.9	$14.2
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$66.4	$67.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.7	$9.78
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.69	$8.09
☕ Cappuccino	$4.78	$3.38
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.44	$2.54
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1314	$1287
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$972	$1014
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2378	$2611
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1757	$1561
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$149	$98.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$232	$150
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.9	$49.3
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.57%	6.24%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3095	$6900
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2954	$5335
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.01	$3.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$60.8	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$15.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.86	$1.2
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.92	$1.39
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.74	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.43	$2.2
🥚 Eggs, x12	$3.4	$4.68
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.3	$9.78
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$9.79
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.4	$14.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.29	$3.2
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.32	$2.8
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.69	$2.91
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.95	$3.93
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.12	$2.47
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.04	$2.23
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.47	$0.93
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.28	$2.59
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$18.6	$12.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.66	$4.57
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.45	$29
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.35	$5.67
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$3.76	$7
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$4.07	$3.2
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.2	$3.67
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.3	$47.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$11.7	$15.1
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$85.5	$52.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$19.9	$22.2
👖 Brand Jeans	$61	$70.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$89.4	$107
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1236	$1683
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$15423	$19705

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Columbus

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.6 km or 5.3 mi	Upper Arlington	$2084
11 km or 7.1 mi	Grove	$2062
13 km or 8.3 mi	Gahanna	$1986
15 km or 9 mi	Hilliard	$2085
17 km or 11 mi	Reynoldsburg	$1994
18 km or 11 mi	Dublin	$2095
19 km or 12 mi	Westerville	$1798
22 km or 13 mi	Pickerington	$1983
38 km or 24 mi	Delaware	$1851
43 km or 27 mi	Lancaster	$1903
43 km or 27 mi	Marysville	$1968
51 km or 32 mi	Newark	$1881
69 km or 43 mi	Springfield	$1897
70 km or 43 mi	Chillicothe	$1764
70 km or 44 mi	Marion	$1871
84 km or 52 mi	Zanesville	$1825
86 km or 53 mi	Xenia	$1870
89 km or 55 mi	Fairborn	$1798
94 km or 59 mi	Beavercreek	$1862
97 km or 60 mi	Huber Heights	$1852
97 km or 60 mi	Mansfield	$1832
98 km or 61 mi	Riverside	$1865
103 km or 64 mi	Kettering	$1890
103 km or 64 mi	Troy	$1897
104 km or 65 mi	Athens	$1674
104 km or 65 mi	Centerville	$1902
105 km or 65 mi	Dayton	$1783
105 km or 65 mi	Sidney	$1973
108 km or 67 mi	Piqua	$1914
112 km or 69 mi	Trotwood	$1870
116 km or 72 mi	Ashland	$1681
120 km or 74 mi	Lebanon	$1834
128 km or 80 mi	Middletown	$1427
128 km or 80 mi	Lima	$1923
130 km or 81 mi	Wooster	$1481
131 km or 81 mi	Mason	$1853
132 km or 82 mi	Findlay	$1839
136 km or 84 mi	Portsmouth	$1428
144 km or 90 mi	New Philadelphia	$1683
146 km or 91 mi	Norwalk	$1858

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1620
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1625
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1645
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1691
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1668
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1671
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1643
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1654
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$1981
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1390
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1291
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1727
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1601
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1631
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1701
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1768
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1619
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1651
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2023
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1691
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1616
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2106
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1511
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1538
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1416
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$1978
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1584
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1702
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2252
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1824
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2539
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2099
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1448
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$1795
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1185
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963