Los Angeles vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Los Angeles	Melbourne
🚶 Cost of living one person	$3420	$2543
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$7800	$6242
🏠 One person rent	$2177	$1414
🏘️ Family rent	$3742	$2478
🍽️ Food expenses	$761	$607
🚐 Transport expenses	$263	$361
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4482	$4489
😷 Air quality	Good	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	17 km	12 km
🎓 Higher education	99	100
😀 Quality of life	93	100
🏙️ Population	3.9M	5.35M

The cost of living in Los Angeles is 34% more expensive than in Melbourne. Cities ranked 62nd and 829th ($3420 vs $2543) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 47th 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 1.3 months in Los Angeles compared to 1.8 months in Melbourne. Los Angeles ranked 8th best city to live in the United States vs Melbourne ranked 1st in Australia, while ranked 50th and 1st 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/los-angeles/melbourne.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Los Angeles vs Melbourne infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/los-angeles/melbourne" target="_blank">Los Angeles vs Melbourne - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Los Angeles vs Melbourne

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

	Los Angeles	Melbourne
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.4	$15.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$104	$67.1
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$14.1	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.92	$9.51
☕ Cappuccino	$6.66	$4.02
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.53	$3.15
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2356	$1557
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1856	$1162
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$4109	$2836
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3268	$2092
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$152	$122
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$236	$186
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$69.2	$51.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.28%	5.58%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$8186	$6978
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7185	$6027
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.76	$3.85
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$95.5	$140
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.5	$19.7
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.37	$1.42
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.32	$1.67
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.33	$2.67
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.26	$2.28
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.59	$5.94
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.1	$13.1
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.3	$9.76
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$20.4	$15
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.08	$3.92
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.46	$3.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.3	$3.2
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.19	$5.07
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.89	$3.08
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$2.76
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$1.19
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$2.68
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.3	$14.3
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.99	$5.54
🚬 Cigarette pack	$12.9	$26
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$9.24	$8.16
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.99	$6.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$5.99	$3.14
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.92	$3.17
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$70.1	$55.5
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$18.2	$16.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$164	$56.8
💇 Haircut, simple	$29.5	$28
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.1	$80.1
👟 Brand Sneakers	$110	$123
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1748	$2326
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$23685	$22313

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Los Angeles

Distance	City	Cost of living
8.1 km or 5 mi	Huntington Park	$2945
8.9 km or 5.5 mi	Maywood	$2888
9.2 km or 5.7 mi	Florence-Graham	$2945
10 km or 6.2 mi	Bell	$2868
10 km or 6.2 mi	Monterey Park	$2786
11 km or 6.6 mi	Alhambra	$3031
11 km or 6.6 mi	South Pasadena	$3020
11 km or 7 mi	Cudahy	$2866
12 km or 7.6 mi	San Gabriel	$3184
12 km or 7.7 mi	Bell Gardens	$2798
12 km or 7.8 mi	West Hollywood	$3055
13 km or 7.8 mi	Montebello	$2826
13 km or 8 mi	South Gate	$2867
13 km or 8.2 mi	Glendale	$3717
14 km or 8.8 mi	Inglewood	$3066
15 km or 9 mi	Beverly Hills	$2945
15 km or 9.1 mi	Lynwood	$2880
15 km or 9.3 mi	Rosemead	$2868
15 km or 9.5 mi	Culver	$3054
15 km or 9.6 mi	Pasadena	$3802
16 km or 9.9 mi	Pico Rivera	$2818
16 km or 10 mi	Burbank	$3369
16 km or 10 mi	Downey	$2766
17 km or 11 mi	Compton	$2922
18 km or 11 mi	La Canada Flintridge	$3179
18 km or 11 mi	Hawthorne	$3139
18 km or 11 mi	Temple	$2909
18 km or 11 mi	South El Monte	$2849
18 km or 11 mi	West Whittier-Los Nietos	$2826
18 km or 11 mi	Paramount	$2793
19 km or 12 mi	Gardena	$3076
20 km or 12 mi	El Monte	$2858
21 km or 13 mi	Lawndale	$3243
21 km or 13 mi	Arcadia	$3020
21 km or 13 mi	Bellflower	$2758
22 km or 14 mi	Norwalk	$2694
22 km or 14 mi	Santa Monica	$3654
22 km or 14 mi	Whittier	$2835
23 km or 15 mi	Manhattan Beach	$3295
24 km or 15 mi	Carson	$3000

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