New York City vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	New York City	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$4202	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$9189	$6812
🏠 One person rent	$2718	$1756
🏘️ Family rent	$4417	$3107
🍽️ Food expenses	$842	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$400	$335
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$5389	$4188
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	13 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	100	99
😀 Quality of life	95	100
🏙️ Population	8.8M	5.45M

The cost of living in New York City is 48% more expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 4th and 370th ($4202 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 1st in the United States and Australia, respectively. Check the United States vs Australia comparison.

The average after-tax salary is enough to cover living expenses for 1.3 months in New York City compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. New York City ranked 2nd best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 15th and 2nd among best cities to live in the world.

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the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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

Prices in New York City vs Sydney

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

	New York City	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$22.6	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$90	$81.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$13.4	$11.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$8.3	$7.3
☕ Cappuccino	$6.22	$3.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$3.28	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$3692	$2215
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2206	$1420
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$5140	$3992
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3874	$2582
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$144	$126
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$218	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$70.6	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.31%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$18073	$12962
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7831	$7403
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.01	$3.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$138	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$27	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.02	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.44	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$4.07	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.67	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$6.75	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$16.6	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$9.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$18.5	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.3	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.24	$3.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.79	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$6.72	$4.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.21	$2.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.96	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.67	$0.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$3.57	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$19.7	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.61	$4.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$18.5	$28.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$23.4	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$14	$4.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$8.02	$3.58
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.86	$3.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$132	$66
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$21.7	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$159	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$40.5	$21.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$61.1	$77.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$115	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2095	$2275
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$21713	$25164

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near New York City

Distance	City	Cost of living
11 km or 6.6 mi	Astoria	$2940
11 km or 6.8 mi	Hoboken	$3729
11 km or 7.1 mi	Jersey	$3110
13 km or 8.3 mi	Union	$3145
14 km or 8.8 mi	West New York	$2842
14 km or 8.9 mi	Bayonne	$3304
15 km or 9.6 mi	North Bergen	$2840
17 km or 10 mi	Secaucus	$2917
17 km or 11 mi	Cliffside Park	$2795
18 km or 11 mi	Kearny	$2791
20 km or 12 mi	Valley Stream	$2820
20 km or 13 mi	Fort Lee	$2821
20 km or 13 mi	Lyndhurst	$2707
22 km or 14 mi	Newark	$2797
23 km or 14 mi	Elizabeth	$2805
23 km or 14 mi	Belleville	$2545
25 km or 15 mi	Hillside	$2725
25 km or 15 mi	Long Beach	$2823
25 km or 15 mi	Nutley	$2540
25 km or 16 mi	East Orange	$2557
25 km or 16 mi	Irvington	$2665
26 km or 16 mi	Rockville Centre	$2700
26 km or 16 mi	Linden	$2791
26 km or 16 mi	Hackensack	$2692
26 km or 16 mi	Bloomfield	$2485
26 km or 16 mi	Teaneck	$2697
26 km or 16 mi	Carteret	$2775
26 km or 16 mi	Passaic	$2614
27 km or 17 mi	Roselle	$2779
27 km or 17 mi	Hempstead	$2710
28 km or 17 mi	Union Township	$2729
28 km or 18 mi	Clifton	$2669
28 km or 18 mi	Maplewood	$2634
29 km or 18 mi	Montclair	$2450
29 km or 18 mi	Bergenfield	$2713
29 km or 18 mi	Mount Vernon	$2863
30 km or 18 mi	Rahway	$2762
30 km or 18 mi	Uniondale	$2694
30 km or 18 mi	West Orange	$2488
30 km or 18 mi	New Rochelle	$3192

Cities near Sydney

Distance	City	Cost of living
15 km or 9.2 mi	Dee Why	$2354
19 km or 12 mi	Parramatta	$2481
29 km or 18 mi	Kellyville	$2040
29 km or 18 mi	Blacktown	$1709
69 km or 43 mi	Wollongong	$1695
117 km or 73 mi	Newcastle	$1995
158 km or 98 mi	Bathurst	$1701
168 km or 104 mi	Goulburn	$1795
205 km or 127 mi	Orange	$1460
247 km or 154 mi	Canberra	$2258
301 km or 187 mi	Dubbo	$1855
314 km or 195 mi	Port Macquarie	$1786
377 km or 234 mi	Armidale	$1273
378 km or 235 mi	Wagga Wagga	$1608
436 km or 271 mi	Coffs Harbour	$2132
478 km or 297 mi	Griffith	$1825
597 km or 371 mi	Shepparton	$1816
624 km or 388 mi	Byron Bay	$2672
638 km or 396 mi	Traralgon	$2000
683 km or 425 mi	Gold Coast	$2530
689 km or 428 mi	Southport	$2341
695 km or 432 mi	Pakenham	$1936
701 km or 436 mi	Berwick	$1915
706 km or 439 mi	Bendigo	$1493
706 km or 439 mi	Toowoomba	$1720
707 km or 439 mi	Dandenong	$1913
711 km or 442 mi	Ipswich	$1825
711 km or 442 mi	Cranbourne	$1810
713 km or 443 mi	South Yarra	$1834
713 km or 443 mi	Melbourne	$2543
716 km or 445 mi	Sunbury	$1933
724 km or 450 mi	Frankston	$1889
732 km or 455 mi	Melton	$1896
733 km or 455 mi	Brisbane	$2323
735 km or 457 mi	Tarneit	$1813
736 km or 457 mi	Hoppers Crossing	$1847
775 km or 481 mi	Caboolture	$1992
778 km or 484 mi	Geelong	$2179
779 km or 484 mi	Ballarat	$1606
807 km or 502 mi	Caloundra	$1863