Raleigh vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Raleigh	Sydney
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2265	$2844
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$5273	$6812
🏠 One person rent	$1374	$1756
🏘️ Family rent	$2201	$3107
🍽️ Food expenses	$624	$592
🚐 Transport expenses	$89.7	$335
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4362	$4188
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	14 km	9 km
🎓 Higher education	82	99
😀 Quality of life	89	100
🏙️ Population	468K	5.45M

The cost of living in Raleigh is 20% less expensive than in Sydney. Cities ranked 1363rd and 370th ($2265 vs $2844) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1143rd 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 1.9 months in Raleigh compared to 1.5 months in Sydney. Raleigh ranked 54th best city to live in the United States vs Sydney ranked 2nd in Australia, while ranked 219th and 2nd 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/raleigh/sydney.jpg" alt="Cost of living in Raleigh vs Sydney infographic" style="max-width: 100%; height: auto;"><p>Source: <a href="https://livingcost.org/cost/raleigh/sydney" target="_blank">Raleigh vs Sydney - Cost of Living Comparison</a></p>

Prices in Raleigh vs Sydney

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

	Raleigh	Sydney
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$18.3	$15.4
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$69.7	$81.6
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$10.4	$11.6
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$5.64	$7.3
☕ Cappuccino	$6.08	$3.97
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.82	$2.71
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1531	$2215
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1084	$1420
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2619	$3992
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$1754	$2582
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$138	$126
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$211	$193
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$63.1	$50.1
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	6.17%	5.83%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$3898	$12962
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$2197	$7403
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$1.42	$3.96
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$47.7	$117
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$16.4	$20.2
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$0.81	$1.39
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.94	$1.74
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$3.23	$2.28
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.67	$2.09
🥚 Eggs, x12	$4.61	$5.78
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$14.6	$13.6
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$10.3	$9.72
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$17.3	$15.5
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.38	$3.62
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$1.25	$3.08
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.7	$3.19
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$5.76	$4.73
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.01	$2.9
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.55	$2.27
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.53	$0.72
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.65	$2.95
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$15.4	$16.4
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$2.96	$4.08
🚬 Cigarette pack	$9.18	$28.3
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$12.2	$8.18
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.45	$4.65
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.97	$3.58
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$2.95	$3.34
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$42.7	$66
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$15	$17.6
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$127	$70
💇 Haircut, simple	$28.8	$21.4
👖 Brand Jeans	$52.7	$77.3
👟 Brand Sneakers	$101	$111
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$1475	$2275
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$24243	$25164

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

Cities near Raleigh

Distance	City	Cost of living
12 km or 7.6 mi	Garner	$2229
15 km or 9.1 mi	Cary	$2483
17 km or 10 mi	Morrisville	$1850
21 km or 13 mi	Wake Forest	$2169
21 km or 13 mi	Apex	$2280
25 km or 16 mi	Holly Springs	$2300
28 km or 18 mi	Fuquay-Varina	$2241
30 km or 19 mi	Durham	$2063
38 km or 23 mi	Chapel Hill	$2133
60 km or 37 mi	Henderson	$2116
61 km or 38 mi	Sanford	$1842
65 km or 41 mi	Wilson	$2016
77 km or 48 mi	Rocky Mount	$1803
77 km or 48 mi	Goldsboro	$1766
78 km or 49 mi	Burlington	$2089
87 km or 54 mi	Fayetteville	$2212
106 km or 66 mi	Asheboro	$2059
109 km or 68 mi	Danville	$1775
110 km or 68 mi	Greensboro	$2027
114 km or 71 mi	Roanoke Rapids	$2055
114 km or 71 mi	Kinston	$2073
117 km or 73 mi	Greenville	$2045
123 km or 76 mi	High Point	$1909
129 km or 80 mi	Thomasville	$2007
133 km or 83 mi	Kernersville	$2200
137 km or 85 mi	Lumberton	$1863
141 km or 87 mi	Rockingham	$2070
149 km or 92 mi	Winston-Salem	$2105
163 km or 101 mi	Jacksonville	$2007
165 km or 103 mi	New Bern	$1849
166 km or 103 mi	Salisbury	$2075
182 km or 113 mi	Kannapolis	$2031
182 km or 113 mi	Lynchburg	$1851
183 km or 114 mi	Concord	$1904
189 km or 117 mi	Havelock	$2003
190 km or 118 mi	Wilmington	$2295
191 km or 119 mi	Petersburg	$2375
196 km or 122 mi	Monroe	$2129
196 km or 122 mi	Mint Hill	$2204
198 km or 123 mi	Roanoke	$1729

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