Melbourne vs Oakland - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Melbourne	Oakland
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2496	$3212
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6197	$7752
🏠 One person rent	$1388	$2040
🏘️ Family rent	$2468	$3618
🍽️ Food expenses	$606	$832
🚐 Transport expenses	$346	$138
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4328	$5293
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	97
😀 Quality of life	100	93
🏙️ Population	5.35M	441K

The cost of living in Melbourne is 22% less expensive than in Oakland. Cities ranked 893rd and 124th ($2496 vs $3212) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 86th in Australia and the United States, respectively. Check Australia vs the United States comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Melbourne compared to 1.6 months in Oakland. Melbourne ranked 1st best city to live in Australia vs Oakland ranked 10th in the United States, while ranked 1st and 65th among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Melbourne vs Oakland

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

	Melbourne	Oakland
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.4	$25.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.7	$120
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$12.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.06	$8.05
☕ Cappuccino	$4.04	$5.06
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.97	$3.36
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1549	$1880
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1138	$1835
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2861	$3381
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2079	$3346
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$115	$130
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$198
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.7	$66.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.61%	6.43%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7481	$7626
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6465	$6332
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.9	$3.14
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$132	$84.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.3	$22.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.25
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.73	$1.4
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.72	$4.99
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$7.06
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.92	$6.48
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$20.5
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.85	$14.8
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$16.8
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$6.63
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$2.2
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.42	$6.37
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.78	$6.14
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$4.49
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$3.4
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.17	$2.03
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.74	$3.06
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.8	$11.9
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.42	$1.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$25.8	$11.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.05	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.9	$5.97
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.3	$5.34
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.88	$1.93
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.2	$46.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.5	$12.9
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$180
💇 Haircut, simple	$26.2	$22.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$73.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2232	$2824
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26129	$20916

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Melbourne

Distance	City	Cost of living
3.2 km or 2 mi	South Yarra	$1829
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1854
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1822
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1894
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1928
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1906
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1889
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1860
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1798
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1896
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2217
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1604
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1487
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1979
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1815
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1870
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1901
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1583
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1898
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1824
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1753
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2223
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1904
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1821
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2308
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1477
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1699
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1695
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2338
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1710
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1867
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2482
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$2050
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2844
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2379
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1997
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2128
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1796
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1288
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2172

Cities near Oakland

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.5 mi	Alameda	$3277
8 km or 5 mi	Berkeley	$3242
11 km or 6.5 mi	Albany	$3058
12 km or 7.3 mi	San Leandro	$3007
14 km or 8.7 mi	El Cerrito	$3073
15 km or 9.2 mi	San Francisco	$4040
15 km or 9.3 mi	Lafayette	$2929
17 km or 11 mi	San Lorenzo	$2802
17 km or 11 mi	Richmond	$3083
19 km or 12 mi	Castro Valley	$2983
20 km or 12 mi	San Pablo	$3058
20 km or 12 mi	Walnut Creek	$2984
21 km or 13 mi	Hayward	$2910
22 km or 14 mi	Danville	$3778
22 km or 14 mi	South San Francisco	$3245
23 km or 14 mi	Daly	$3252
24 km or 15 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2780
24 km or 15 mi	San Ramon	$2859
24 km or 15 mi	Hercules	$2893
25 km or 15 mi	San Bruno	$3264
26 km or 16 mi	Millbrae	$3282
26 km or 16 mi	Burlingame	$3346
26 km or 16 mi	Martinez	$2929
28 km or 17 mi	Concord	$2783
28 km or 17 mi	Foster	$3604
28 km or 17 mi	San Mateo	$3831
29 km or 18 mi	Pacifica	$3255
29 km or 18 mi	Union	$3137
30 km or 19 mi	Benicia	$2807
31 km or 19 mi	Dublin	$3094
31 km or 19 mi	San Rafael	$4102
32 km or 20 mi	Belmont	$3593
33 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3359
34 km or 21 mi	Vallejo	$2380
35 km or 22 mi	Newark	$3261
35 km or 22 mi	Pleasanton	$3520
35 km or 22 mi	Redwood	$3771
37 km or 23 mi	Fremont	$3589
38 km or 24 mi	East Palo Alto	$3382
39 km or 24 mi	Menlo Park	$3395