Melbourne vs Riga - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 11, 2026

	Melbourne	Riga
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2496	$1248
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6197	$3118
🏠 One person rent	$1388	$588
🏘️ Family rent	$2468	$989
🍽️ Food expenses	$606	$449
🚐 Transport expenses	$346	$82.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4328	$1623
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	59
😀 Quality of life	100	81
🏙️ Population	5.35M	595K

The cost of living in Melbourne is 100% more expensive than in Riga. Cities ranked 893rd and 4678th ($2496 vs $1248) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 2nd in Australia and Latvia, respectively. Check Australia vs Latvia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.7 months in Melbourne compared to 1.3 months in Riga. Melbourne ranked 1st best city to live in Australia vs Riga ranked 1st in Latvia, while ranked 1st and 668th 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/riga.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Melbourne vs Riga infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/melbourne/riga" target="_blank">Melbourne vs Riga - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Melbourne vs Riga

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

	Melbourne	Riga
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.4	$13.5
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$71.7	$56.9
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.3	$8.55
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$9.06	$5.82
☕ Cappuccino	$4.04	$3.96
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.97	$1.86
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1549	$558
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1138	$370
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2861	$984
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2079	$662
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$115	$161
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$180	$243
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$52.7	$19.8
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.61%	4.55%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7481	$3224
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6465	$2056
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.9	$1.79
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$132	$36
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$19.3	$9.82
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.33	$1.86
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.73	$1.43
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.72	$1.52
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.25	$2.37
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.92	$3.57
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.2	$13.4
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.85	$8.56
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.8	$12.6
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.7	$2.07
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.25	$1.97
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.42	$2.73
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.78	$3.82
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.06	$1.09
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.73	$1.11
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.17	$0.62
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.74	$3.14
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$14.8	$8.94
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.42	$2.05
🚬 Cigarette pack	$25.8	$5.97
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.05	$9.13
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.9	$5.47
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.3	$2.22
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.88	$3.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.2	$48.9
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.5	$10.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$53.7	$53.4
💇 Haircut, simple	$26.2	$18.3
👖 Brand Jeans	$80	$79.5
👟 Brand Sneakers	$127	$94.1
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2232	$528
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$26129	$17597

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 Riga

Distance	City	Cost of living
21 km or 13 mi	Jurmala	$1423
34 km or 21 mi	Ogre	$1027
40 km or 25 mi	Jelgava	$908
103 km or 64 mi	Valmiera	$944
118 km or 74 mi	Jekabpils	$912
123 km or 77 mi	Siauliai	$1001
129 km or 80 mi	Mazeikiai	$903
137 km or 85 mi	Panevezys	$1012
161 km or 100 mi	Ventspils	$994
161 km or 100 mi	Parnu	$1214
174 km or 108 mi	Kuressaare	$1230
181 km or 112 mi	Viljandi	$1083
186 km or 115 mi	Utena	$1003
190 km or 118 mi	Daugavpils	$952
195 km or 121 mi	Liepaja	$1060
203 km or 126 mi	Rezekne	$853
209 km or 130 mi	Jonava	$890
223 km or 138 mi	Tartu	$1232
228 km or 142 mi	Kaunas	$1279
229 km or 142 mi	Klaipeda	$1106
262 km or 163 mi	Vilnius	$1461
270 km or 168 mi	Marijampole	$947
271 km or 168 mi	Pskov	$720
279 km or 174 mi	Tallinn	$1683
283 km or 176 mi	Alytus	$907
286 km or 178 mi	Maardu	$1448
298 km or 185 mi	Rakvere	$1021
327 km or 203 mi	Suwalki	$1133
330 km or 205 mi	Kohtla-Jarve	$1131
335 km or 208 mi	Kaliningrad	$919
339 km or 211 mi	Raseborg	$1606
347 km or 215 mi	Sillamae	$1111
353 km or 219 mi	Kirkkonummi	$1753
357 km or 222 mi	Visby	$1579
361 km or 225 mi	Narva	$1108
362 km or 225 mi	Helsinki	$1990
364 km or 226 mi	Espoo	$2062
365 km or 227 mi	Grodno	$399
365 km or 227 mi	Elk	$1184
367 km or 228 mi	Lohja	$1406