Gold Coast vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Gold Coast	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2530	$2543
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5679	$6242
🏠 One person rent	$1644	$1414
🏘️ Family rent	$2706	$2478
🍽️ Food expenses	$638	$607
🚐 Transport expenses	$112	$361
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4225	$4489
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	49	100
😀 Quality of life	93	100
🏙️ Population	608K	5.35M

The cost of living in Gold Coast is 0.5% less expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 852nd and 829th ($2530 vs $2543) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 5th and 4th in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Gold Coast compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Ranked 5th vs 1st best cities to live in Australia, and 68th vs 1st among the 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/gold-coast/melbourne.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Gold Coast vs Melbourne infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/gold-coast/melbourne" target="_blank">Gold Coast vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Gold Coast vs Melbourne

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

	Gold Coast	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$20.2	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$106	$67.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.74	$9.51
☕ Cappuccino	$3.85	$4.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$3.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2097	$1557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1297	$1162
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2832	$2836
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2351	$2092
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$133	$122
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$205	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54.2	$51.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.77%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8667	$6978
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5294	$6027
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.75	$3.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$56.7	$140
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.26	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.63	$1.67
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.69	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.37	$2.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.89	$5.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.84	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.53	$9.76
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.7	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.88	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.16	$3.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.4	$3.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$5.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$3.08
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.49	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.57	$1.19
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.2	$2.68
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.4	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.93	$5.54
🚬 Cigarette pack	$25.9	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.29	$8.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.14	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.53	$3.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.17	$3.17
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$41.5	$55.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14	$16.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$56.9	$56.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.7	$28
👖 Brand Jeans	$77.8	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$105	$123
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2112	$2326
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$9318	$22313

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Gold Coast

Distance	City	Cost of living
5.6 km or 3.5 mi	Southport	$2341
71 km or 44 mi	Brisbane	$2323
73 km or 45 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
77 km or 48 mi	Ipswich	$1825
114 km or 71 mi	Caboolture	$1992
138 km or 86 mi	Caloundra	$1863
152 km or 94 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
155 km or 97 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1838
256 km or 159 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
308 km or 192 mi	Hervey Bay	$1883
323 km or 201 mi	Armidale	$1273
367 km or 228 mi	Bundaberg	$1720
383 km or 238 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
511 km or 318 mi	Gladstone	$1643
567 km or 353 mi	Newcastle	$1995
591 km or 367 mi	Rockhampton	$1642
660 km or 410 mi	Dubbo	$1855
669 km or 416 mi	Dee Why	$2354
675 km or 419 mi	Kellyville	$2040
683 km or 424 mi	Blacktown	$1709
683 km or 425 mi	Sydney	$2844
684 km or 425 mi	Parramatta	$2481
703 km or 437 mi	Bathurst	$1701
715 km or 445 mi	Orange	$1460
752 km or 468 mi	Wollongong	$1695
827 km or 514 mi	Goulburn	$1795
904 km or 562 mi	Canberra	$2258
974 km or 605 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
988 km or 614 mi	Griffith	$1825
1182 km or 734 mi	Townsville	$2015
1196 km or 743 mi	Shepparton	$1816
1271 km or 789 mi	Mildura	$1905
1294 km or 804 mi	Bendigo	$1493
1299 km or 807 mi	Traralgon	$2000
1337 km or 830 mi	Sunbury	$1933
1338 km or 831 mi	Pakenham	$1936
1342 km or 834 mi	Berwick	$1915
1344 km or 835 mi	Melbourne	$2543
1344 km or 835 mi	South Yarra	$1834
1344 km or 835 mi	Dandenong	$1913

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1834
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1813
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1913
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1933
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1896
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1915
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1936
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2179
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1606
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1493
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$2000
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1816
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1876
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1880
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1868
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1825
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1728
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2258
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1905
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1795
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2364
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1460
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1701
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2355
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1709
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1855
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2481
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2040
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2354
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1995
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2133
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1273
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132