Melbourne vs South Tarawa - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 14, 2025

	Melbourne	South Tarawa
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2308	$533
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5590	$1272
🏠 One person rent	$1286	$235
🏘️ Family rent	$2187	$392
🍽️ Food expenses	$561	$220
🚐 Transport expenses	$315	$22.3
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4060	$181
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	20 km
🎓 Higher education	100	1
😀 Quality of life	100	25
🏙️ Population	5.35M	63.4K

The cost of living in Melbourne is 333% more expensive than in South Tarawa. Cities ranked 1249th and 8428th ($2308 vs $533) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in Australia and Kiribati, respectively. Check Australia vs Kiribati comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Melbourne compared to 0.3 months in South Tarawa. Melbourne ranked 1st best city to live in Australia vs South Tarawa ranked 1st in Kiribati, while ranked 1st and 8954th among best cities to live in the world.

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Cost of living in Melbourne vs South Tarawa infographic

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Prices in Melbourne vs South Tarawa

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

	Melbourne	South Tarawa
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.5	$3.73
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.6	$21.8
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.2	$5.03
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.26	$1.8
☕ Cappuccino	$3.74	$1.9
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.63	$0.61
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1462	$226
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1055	$155
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2675	$405
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1808	$280
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$101	$39.7
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$157	$61.5
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$48.5	$26.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.03%	12.18%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7072	$1457
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5978	$926
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.57	$0.42
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$115	$16.3
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$18.5	$6.92
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.23	$1.07
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.54	$1.21
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.38	$0.74
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.04	$1.21
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.43	$1.7
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$11.4	$7.34
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.58	$4.41
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.7	$7.25
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.28	$2.21
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.97	$1.24
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.14	$1.63
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.15	$1.12
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$1.03
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.43	$1.04
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.06	$0.36
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.63	$1.23
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.7	$7.85
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.88	$1.43
🚬 Cigarette pack	$27.9	$2.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.99	$3.83
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$6.03	$2.92
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.07	$1.54
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.65	$1.27
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$48.2	$24.1
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.6	$4.54
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.5	$18.2
💇 Haircut, simple	$24.7	$3.66
👖 Brand Jeans	$72	$30.8
👟 Brand Sneakers	$110	$66.5
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1948	$113
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$22799	$3644

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	$1681
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1697
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1673
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1736
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1768
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1738
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1728
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1706
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1674
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1725
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$2058
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1464
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1362
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1813
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1662
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1718
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1753
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1458
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1786
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1667
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1660
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2019
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1771
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1678
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2127
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1364
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1568
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1580
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2117
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1599
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1747
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2292
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1888
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2640
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2181
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1839
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$1911
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1633
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1184
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1988

Cities near South Tarawa

Distance	City	Cost of living
658 km or 409 mi	Majuro	$1496
661 km or 411 mi	Djarrit	$1502
706 km or 439 mi	Yaren	$733
1302 km or 809 mi	Vaiaku	$684
1302 km or 809 mi	Funafuti	$683
1768 km or 1099 mi	Auki	$1417
1879 km or 1167 mi	Honiara	$1419
1988 km or 1235 mi	Luganville	$1882
2172 km or 1349 mi	Lautoka	$596
2190 km or 1361 mi	Nadi	$997
2190 km or 1361 mi	Port Vila	$1884
2248 km or 1397 mi	Nasinu	$818
2253 km or 1400 mi	Suva	$836
2310 km or 1435 mi	Manase	$751
2382 km or 1480 mi	Apia	$753
2712 km or 1685 mi	Dumbea	$1811
2713 km or 1686 mi	Paita	$1807
2725 km or 1693 mi	Noumea	$1878
2817 km or 1750 mi	Nukualofa	$1024
2825 km or 1756 mi	Mua	$1022
3022 km or 1878 mi	Lae	$548
3104 km or 1929 mi	Port Moresby	$566
3286 km or 2042 mi	London	$532
3357 km or 2086 mi	Saipan	$1437
3375 km or 2097 mi	Dededo	$2406
3383 km or 2102 mi	Hagatna	$2786
3611 km or 2244 mi	Cairns	$1513
3612 km or 2244 mi	Jayapura	$507
3658 km or 2273 mi	Gladstone	$1503
3665 km or 2277 mi	Townsville	$1683
3668 km or 2279 mi	Bundaberg	$1595
3672 km or 2282 mi	Hervey Bay	$1712
3673 km or 2282 mi	Rockhampton	$1482
3762 km or 2338 mi	Kauai	$2825
3779 km or 2348 mi	Sunshine Coast	$1697
3788 km or 2354 mi	Caloundra	$1710
3822 km or 2375 mi	Caboolture	$1798
3851 km or 2393 mi	Waipahu	$2700
3854 km or 2395 mi	Brisbane	$2065
3855 km or 2396 mi	Pearl	$2637