Melbourne vs Oakland - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Melbourne	Oakland
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2194	$2968
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5150	$8022
🏠 One person rent	$1216	$1832
🏘️ Family rent	$1971	$4049
🍽️ Food expenses	$541	$798
🚐 Transport expenses	$296	$140
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3902	$5520
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	97
😀 Quality of life	100	94
🏙️ Population	5.03M	441K

The cost of living in Melbourne is 26% less expensive than in Oakland. Cities ranked 1365th and 182nd ($2194 vs $2968) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 159th 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 1.8 months in Melbourne compared to 1.9 months in Oakland. Melbourne ranked 1st best city to live in Australia vs Oakland ranked 4th in the United States, while ranked 1st and 38th among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Melbourne vs Oakland infographic

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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	$14.2	$30.1
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.9	$53.3
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.78	$13
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.09	$7.96
☕ Cappuccino	$3.38	$4.95
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.54	$2.59
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1287	$1826
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1014	$1533
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2611	$4410
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1561	$3547
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.7	$170
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$259
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.3	$70.5
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.24%	6.67%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6900	$7152
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5335	$7023
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.51	$3.25
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$117	$84.9
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.7	$22.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$1.28
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.45
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.28	$5.04
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$6.33
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.68	$6.73
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.78	$20.8
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.79	$14.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$17.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$7.82
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$2.26
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$6.4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.93	$6.18
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.47	$4.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$3.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.93	$2.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.59	$2.97
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.5	$12
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.57	$1.73
🚬 Cigarette pack	$29	$11
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.67	$15
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7	$6
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.2	$5
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.67	$1.5
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$47.2	$54.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.1	$14.4
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.3	$178
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$22.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.1	$63.6
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$93
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1683	$2719
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19705	$18963

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	$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

Cities near Oakland

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.5 mi	Alameda	$3364
8 km or 5 mi	Berkeley	$2974
11 km or 6.5 mi	Albany	$2888
12 km or 7.3 mi	San Leandro	$2963
14 km or 8.7 mi	El Cerrito	$2929
15 km or 9.2 mi	San Francisco	$3905
15 km or 9.3 mi	Lafayette	$2888
17 km or 11 mi	San Lorenzo	$2747
17 km or 11 mi	Richmond	$3004
19 km or 12 mi	Castro Valley	$3041
20 km or 12 mi	San Pablo	$2999
20 km or 12 mi	Walnut Creek	$2932
21 km or 13 mi	Hayward	$2811
22 km or 14 mi	Danville	$3785
22 km or 14 mi	South San Francisco	$3185
23 km or 14 mi	Daly	$3190
24 km or 15 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2816
24 km or 15 mi	San Ramon	$3045
24 km or 15 mi	Hercules	$2840
25 km or 15 mi	San Bruno	$3195
26 km or 16 mi	Millbrae	$3226
26 km or 16 mi	Burlingame	$3269
26 km or 16 mi	Martinez	$2780
28 km or 17 mi	Concord	$2778
28 km or 17 mi	Foster	$3466
28 km or 17 mi	San Mateo	$3678
29 km or 18 mi	Pacifica	$3183
29 km or 18 mi	Union	$3002
30 km or 19 mi	Benicia	$2767
31 km or 19 mi	Dublin	$3059
31 km or 19 mi	San Rafael	$3997
32 km or 20 mi	Belmont	$3657
33 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3344
34 km or 21 mi	Vallejo	$2412
35 km or 22 mi	Newark	$3060
35 km or 22 mi	Pleasanton	$3448
35 km or 22 mi	Redwood	$3649
37 km or 23 mi	Fremont	$3187
38 km or 24 mi	East Palo Alto	$3286
39 km or 24 mi	Menlo Park	$3326