Melbourne vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: March 02, 2025

	Melbourne	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2194	$3149
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5150	$7865
🏠 One person rent	$1216	$2045
🏘️ Family rent	$1971	$4037
🍽️ Food expenses	$541	$738
🚐 Transport expenses	$296	$167
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$3902	$5859
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Good
✈️ Airport proximity	12 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	100	100
😀 Quality of life	100	94
🏙️ Population	5.03M	690K

The cost of living in Melbourne is 30% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 1365th and 96th ($2194 vs $3149) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 4th and 86th 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 Washington. Melbourne ranked 1st best city to live in Australia vs Washington ranked 5th in the United States, while ranked 1st and 43rd among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

Cost of living in Melbourne vs Washington infographic

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Prices in Melbourne vs Washington

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

	Melbourne	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$14.2	$22.3
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$67.9	$86.7
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$9.78	$11.9
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.09	$8.65
☕ Cappuccino	$3.38	$5.66
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.54	$2.99
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1287	$2298
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1014	$1750
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2611	$4716
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1561	$3555
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$98.7	$123
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$150	$187
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$49.3	$62.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.24%	6.6%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$6900	$7543
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$5335	$6152
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.51	$2.51
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$117	$94.2
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$15.7	$23.3
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.2	$0.91
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.39	$1.09
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.28	$3.54
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.2	$4.92
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.68	$4.44
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.78	$18.2
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.79	$15.7
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.1	$19.3
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.2	$5.25
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.8	$2.02
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.91	$5.22
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.93	$6.03
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.47	$3.21
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.23	$3.8
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.93	$1.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.59	$2.99
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$12.5	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.57	$3.25
🚬 Cigarette pack	$29	$11.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$5.67	$9.31
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$7	$4.77
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.2	$4.98
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.67	$2.58
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$47.2	$105
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15.1	$16.2
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$52.3	$114
💇 Haircut, simple	$22.2	$31.9
👖 Brand Jeans	$70.1	$76
👟 Brand Sneakers	$107	$113
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1683	$2464
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$19705	$24653

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	$1620
24 km or 15 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1635
25 km or 16 mi	Tarneit	$1625
29 km or 18 mi	Dandenong	$1645
34 km or 21 mi	Sunbury	$1691
37 km or 23 mi	Melton	$1668
40 km or 25 mi	Frankston	$1671
41 km or 25 mi	Berwick	$1643
42 km or 26 mi	Cranbourne	$1600
54 km or 34 mi	Pakenham	$1654
65 km or 40 mi	Geelong	$1981
102 km or 64 mi	Ballarat	$1390
134 km or 83 mi	Bendigo	$1291
144 km or 90 mi	Traralgon	$1727
164 km or 102 mi	Shepparton	$1601
226 km or 140 mi	Warrnambool	$1631
367 km or 228 mi	Mount Gambier	$1701
369 km or 230 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1457
392 km or 244 mi	Devonport	$1768
404 km or 251 mi	Griffith	$1619
444 km or 276 mi	Launceston	$1651
466 km or 290 mi	Canberra	$2023
477 km or 296 mi	Mildura	$1691
546 km or 339 mi	Goulburn	$1616
597 km or 371 mi	Hobart	$2106
628 km or 390 mi	Orange	$1511
643 km or 399 mi	Bathurst	$1538
651 km or 405 mi	Wollongong	$1416
655 km or 407 mi	Adelaide	$1978
700 km or 435 mi	Blacktown	$1584
702 km or 436 mi	Dubbo	$1702
703 km or 437 mi	Parramatta	$2252
707 km or 440 mi	Kellyville	$1824
713 km or 443 mi	Sydney	$2539
728 km or 452 mi	Dee Why	$2099
822 km or 511 mi	Newcastle	$1448
891 km or 554 mi	Whyalla	$1795
1015 km or 631 mi	Port Macquarie	$1681
1021 km or 634 mi	Armidale	$1185
1123 km or 698 mi	Coffs Harbour	$1963

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$2893
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2543
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2856
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2777
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2273
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$2548
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2309
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2471
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2596
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2786
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2566
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2299
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2617
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2498
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2425
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2513
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2601
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2539
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3174
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2791
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2760
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2640
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2696
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2961
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2500
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2197
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2499
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2287
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2584
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2389
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2206
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1728
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$2909
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2727
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2640
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2210
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2149
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2280
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2217
122 km or 76 mi	York	$1979