Gold Coast vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Gold Coast	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2528	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5661	$6700
🏠 One person rent	$1635	$1749
🏘️ Family rent	$2683	$3002
🍽️ Food expenses	$646	$597
🚐 Transport expenses	$114	$337
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3481	$4145
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	20 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	49	99
😀 Quality of life	92	98
🏙️ Population	608K	5.45M

The cost of living in Gold Coast is 11% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 839th and 348th ($2528 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 3rd and 1st in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.4 months in Gold Coast compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Ranked 6th vs 2nd best cities to live in Australia, and 124th vs 2nd among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Gold Coast vs Sydney

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

	Gold Coast	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$19.7	$15.8
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$108	$79.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.8	$11.2
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.08	$7.36
☕ Cappuccino	$3.86	$3.85
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.05	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1886	$2123
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1330	$1437
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2881	$3835
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2303	$2492
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$136	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$207	$190
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$57.9	$51.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.76%	6.09%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7538	$13218
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$4593	$7866
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$2.84	$3.77
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$57.5	$118
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.4	$20.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.29	$1.37
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.61	$1.84
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.89	$2.46
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$2.13
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.06	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$8.71	$13.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.77	$9.78
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.8	$15.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.8	$3.56
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$3.1
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.59	$3.24
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.44	$4.66
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.59	$2.86
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.6	$2.53
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.65	$0.82
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.15	$2.8
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.4	$15.8
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$6.29	$4.69
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26.1	$24.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.19	$9.5
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$5.13	$4.93
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$2.53	$3.1
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.15	$3.03
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$38.4	$63.4
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$14.2	$16.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$56.9	$70.3
💇 Haircut, simple	$16.7	$21.7
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.4	$80.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$103	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2105	$2281
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$8134	$21946

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	$2352
71 km or 44 mi	Brisbane	$2269
73 km or 45 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
77 km or 48 mi	Ipswich	$1813
114 km or 71 mi	Caboolture	$1988
138 km or 86 mi	Caloundra	$1864
152 km or 94 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
155 km or 97 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1835
256 km or 159 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
308 km or 192 mi	Hervey Bay	$1864
323 km or 201 mi	Armidale	$1288
367 km or 228 mi	Bundaberg	$1727
383 km or 238 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
511 km or 318 mi	Gladstone	$1640
567 km or 353 mi	Newcastle	$1997
591 km or 367 mi	Rockhampton	$1635
660 km or 410 mi	Dubbo	$1867
669 km or 416 mi	Dee Why	$2379
675 km or 419 mi	Kellyville	$2050
683 km or 424 mi	Blacktown	$1710
683 km or 425 mi	Sydney	$2844
684 km or 425 mi	Parramatta	$2482
703 km or 437 mi	Bathurst	$1699
715 km or 445 mi	Orange	$1477
752 km or 468 mi	Wollongong	$1695
827 km or 514 mi	Goulburn	$1821
904 km or 562 mi	Canberra	$2223
974 km or 605 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
988 km or 614 mi	Griffith	$1824
1182 km or 734 mi	Townsville	$1839
1196 km or 743 mi	Shepparton	$1815
1271 km or 789 mi	Mildura	$1904
1294 km or 804 mi	Bendigo	$1487
1299 km or 807 mi	Traralgon	$1979
1337 km or 830 mi	Sunbury	$1928
1338 km or 831 mi	Pakenham	$1896
1342 km or 834 mi	Berwick	$1860
1344 km or 835 mi	Melbourne	$2496
1344 km or 835 mi	South Yarra	$1829
1344 km or 835 mi	Dandenong	$1894

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2379
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2482
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2050
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1710
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1997
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1699
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1821
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1477
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2223
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1867
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1288
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1824
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1815
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2703
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1979
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2528
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2352
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1896
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1860
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1487
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1766
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1894
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1813
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1829
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2496
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1928
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1906
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2269
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1822
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1988
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2217
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1604
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1864