Melbourne vs Oakland - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Melbourne	Oakland
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2543	$3273
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6242	$7799
🏠 One person rent	$1414	$2094
🏘️ Family rent	$2478	$3648
🍽️ Food expenses	$607	$836
🚐 Transport expenses	$361	$138
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4489	$5290
😷 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 829th and 95th ($2543 vs $3273) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 70th 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 1.6 months in Oakland. Melbourne ranked 1st best city to live in Australia vs Oakland ranked 13th in the United States, while ranked 1st and 70th among best cities to live in the world.

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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	$15.5	$24.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.1	$120
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.51	$7.96
☕ Cappuccino	$4.02	$5.35
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.15	$3.35
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1557	$2145
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1162	$1854
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2836	$3859
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2092	$3291
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$114
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$176
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51.2	$67.6
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.58%	6.08%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6978	$7921
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6027	$5888
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.85	$2.75
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$140	$85.6
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.7	$22.5
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$1.4
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$1.41
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.67	$4.91
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$7.05
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.94	$6.97
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$20.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.76	$16.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$17
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$6.64
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$2.19
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$6.4
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.07	$6.19
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$4.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$3.44
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.19	$2.01
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.68	$3.09
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.3	$12.1
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.54	$1.74
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26	$11.8
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.16	$11.7
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.98	$5.98
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.14	$5.31
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.17	$1.93
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.5	$39.2
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.4	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$56.8	$179
💇 Haircut, simple	$28	$22.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.1	$75.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$123	$109
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2326	$2824
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22313	$20453

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	$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

Cities near Oakland

Distance	City	Cost of living
4.1 km or 2.5 mi	Alameda	$3559
8 km or 5 mi	Berkeley	$3204
11 km or 6.5 mi	Albany	$3049
12 km or 7.3 mi	San Leandro	$3043
14 km or 8.7 mi	El Cerrito	$3070
15 km or 9.2 mi	San Francisco	$4110
15 km or 9.3 mi	Lafayette	$2906
17 km or 11 mi	San Lorenzo	$2822
17 km or 11 mi	Richmond	$3102
19 km or 12 mi	Castro Valley	$2968
20 km or 12 mi	San Pablo	$3086
20 km or 12 mi	Walnut Creek	$2900
21 km or 13 mi	Hayward	$2822
22 km or 14 mi	Danville	$3873
22 km or 14 mi	South San Francisco	$3252
23 km or 14 mi	Daly	$3264
24 km or 15 mi	Pleasant Hill	$2796
24 km or 15 mi	San Ramon	$2848
24 km or 15 mi	Hercules	$2893
25 km or 15 mi	San Bruno	$3261
26 km or 16 mi	Millbrae	$3276
26 km or 16 mi	Burlingame	$3310
26 km or 16 mi	Martinez	$2905
28 km or 17 mi	Concord	$2748
28 km or 17 mi	Foster	$3588
28 km or 17 mi	San Mateo	$3797
29 km or 18 mi	Pacifica	$3245
29 km or 18 mi	Union	$3075
30 km or 19 mi	Benicia	$2804
31 km or 19 mi	Dublin	$3088
31 km or 19 mi	San Rafael	$4178
32 km or 20 mi	Belmont	$3577
33 km or 21 mi	San Carlos	$3357
34 km or 21 mi	Vallejo	$2393
35 km or 22 mi	Newark	$3234
35 km or 22 mi	Pleasanton	$3486
35 km or 22 mi	Redwood	$3728
37 km or 23 mi	Fremont	$3616
38 km or 24 mi	East Palo Alto	$3356
39 km or 24 mi	Menlo Park	$3357