Melbourne vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: October 10, 2024

	Melbourne	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2394	$2799
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5687	$6756
🏠 One person rent	$1342	$1658
🏘️ Family rent	$2213	$3030
🍽️ Food expenses	$558	$571
🚐 Transport expenses	$344	$411
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4369	$4377
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	99
😀 Quality of life	100	99
🏙️ Population	5.03M	4.84M

The cost of living in Melbourne is 14% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 929th and 313th ($2394 vs $2799) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 1st in Australia.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.8 months in Melbourne compared to 1.6 months in Sydney. Ranked 1st vs 2nd best cities to live in Australia, and 1st vs 4th among the best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Melbourne vs Sydney infographic

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<img src="https://livingcost.org/assets/photo/cost/melbourne/sydney.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Melbourne vs Sydney infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/melbourne/sydney" target="_blank">Melbourne vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Melbourne vs Sydney

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

	Melbourne	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.5	$15.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$62.5	$71
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$10.3
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.62	$7.46
☕ Cappuccino	$3.6	$3.55
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.85	$2.63
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1356	$1981
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1144	$1367
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2729	$3996
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1820	$2501
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$101	$115
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$157	$176
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$54	$53.9
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.3%	6.37%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7493	$16514
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5817	$9833
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.69	$3.46
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$124	$143
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$21.7	$29.8
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.35	$1.41
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.48	$1.7
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.65	$2.85
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.33	$2.54
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.34	$4.86
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$12.7
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.51	$9.01
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.5	$15.1
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.39	$3.46
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.77	$2.93
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.68	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.46	$4.45
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.39	$2.53
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.17	$2.33
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.99	$0.98
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.59	$2.45
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$13.5	$14.2
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.76	$5.04
🚬 Cigarette pack	$27	$29.9
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$6.79	$6.96
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$8.02	$5.42
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.49	$2.83
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.98	$2.89
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$52.7	$58.8
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.2	$16.8
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$55.6	$68
💇 Haircut, simple	$23.3	$20.8
👖 Brand Jeans	$81.9	$78.9
👟 Brand Sneakers	$113	$118
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1967	$2082
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21197	$18904

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	$1758
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1778
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1766
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1875
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1819
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1786
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1793
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1791
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1748
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1796
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$1893
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1353
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1392
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1824
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1722
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1702
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1786
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1629
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1900
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1755
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1803
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2382
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1823
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1741
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2266
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1506
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1681
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1527
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$2244
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1740
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1823
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2456
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1984
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2799
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2292
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1835
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$2013
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1667
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1285
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1919

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2292
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2456
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$1984
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1740
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1527
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1835
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1681
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1741
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1506
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2382
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1823
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1667
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1285
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1629
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1919
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1755
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1722
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$1963
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$1824
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2302
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2154
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1796
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1791
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1392
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1645
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1875
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1869
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1748
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1758
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2394
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1819
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1793
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1786
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2488
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1766
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1778
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1922
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$1893
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1353
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1749