Melbourne vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Melbourne	Raleigh
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2543	$2265
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6242	$5273
🏠 One person rent	$1414	$1374
🏘️ Family rent	$2478	$2201
🍽️ Food expenses	$607	$624
🚐 Transport expenses	$361	$89.7
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4489	$4362
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	14 km
🎓 Higher education	100	82
😀 Quality of life	100	89
🏙️ Population	5.35M	468K

The cost of living in Melbourne is 12% more expensive than in Raleigh. Cities ranked 829th and 1363rd ($2543 vs $2265) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1143rd 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 Raleigh. Melbourne ranked 1st best city to live in Australia vs Raleigh ranked 54th in the United States, while ranked 1st and 219th 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/melbourne/raleigh.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Melbourne vs Raleigh infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/melbourne/raleigh" target="_blank">Melbourne vs Raleigh - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Melbourne vs Raleigh

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

	Melbourne	Raleigh
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$18.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.1	$69.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$12	$10.4
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.51	$5.64
☕ Cappuccino	$4.02	$6.08
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.15	$2.82
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1557	$1531
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1162	$1084
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2836	$2619
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2092	$1754
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$122	$138
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$186	$211
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$51.2	$63.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.58%	6.17%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6978	$3898
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6027	$2197
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.85	$1.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$140	$47.7
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.7	$16.4
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.42	$0.81
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$0.94
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.67	$3.23
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.28	$2.67
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.94	$4.61
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.1	$14.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.76	$10.3
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15	$17.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.92	$5.38
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$1.25
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$4.7
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.07	$5.76
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$3.01
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.76	$3.55
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.19	$1.53
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.68	$2.65
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.3	$15.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.54	$2.96
🚬 Cigarette pack	$26	$9.18
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.16	$12.2
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.98	$4.45
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.14	$3.97
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.17	$2.95
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$55.5	$42.7
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$16.4	$15
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$56.8	$127
💇 Haircut, simple	$28	$28.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$80.1	$52.7
👟 Brand Sneakers	$123	$101
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2326	$1475
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22313	$24243

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 Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729