Sydney vs Washington - Cost of Living Comparison

Updated: June 21, 2026

	Sydney	Washington
🚶 Cost of living one person	$2844	$3350
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Cost of living Family	$6812	$7781
🏠 One person rent	$1756	$2159
🏘️ Family rent	$3107	$3818
🍽️ Food expenses	$592	$775
🚐 Transport expenses	$335	$171
💳 Monthly salary after tax	$4188	$7152
😷 Air quality	Excellent	Excellent
✈️ Airport proximity	9 km	5 km
🎓 Higher education	99	100
😀 Quality of life	100	94
🏙️ Population	5.45M	690K

The cost of living in Sydney is 15% less expensive than in Washington. Cities ranked 370th and 74th ($2844 vs $3350) in the list of the most expensive cities in the world and ranked 1st and 56th 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 1.5 months in Sydney compared to 2.1 months in Washington. Sydney ranked 2nd best city to live in Australia vs Washington ranked 6th in the United States, while ranked 2nd and 31st among best cities to live in the world.

Salary adjustment calculator
the estimated difference in money purchasing power

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Prices in Sydney vs Washington

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

	Sydney	Washington
Eating Out
🍱 Lunch Menu	$15.4	$22.9
🥂 Dinner in a Restaurant, for 2	$81.6	$101
🥪 Fast food meal, equiv. McDonald's	$11.6	$12
🍻 Beer in a Pub, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$7.3	$8.68
☕ Cappuccino	$3.97	$6.1
🥤 Pepsi / Coke, 0.5 L or 16.9 fl oz	$2.71	$3.39
Rent & Utilities
🏙️ 1 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$2215	$2374
🏡 Cheap 1 bedroom apartment, 40 m2 or 430 ft2	$1420	$1850
🏙️ 3 bedroom apartment in Downtown, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$3992	$4205
🏡 Cheap 3 bedroom apartment, 80 m2 or 860 ft2	$2582	$3379
🔌 Utility Bill one person, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$126	$136
🔌 Utility Bill for a Family, electricity, heating, water, etc.	$193	$206
🌐 Internet plan, 50 Mbps+ 1 month unlimited	$50.1	$68.2
🏦 Mortgage Interest Rate for 20 Years	5.83%	6.12%
🏙️ Apartment price to Buy in city Center, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$12962	$8429
🏡 House price to Buy in Suburbs, 1 m2 or 10 ft2	$7403	$3565
Transportation
🚌 Local transport ticket	$3.96	$3.03
🎟️ Monthly ticket local transport	$117	$115
🚕 Taxi Ride, 8 km or 5 mi	$20.2	$18.6
⛽ Gas / Petrol, 1 L or 0.26 gal	$1.39	$0.99
Groceries
🥛 Milk, 1 L or 1 qt	$1.74	$1.17
🍞 Bread, 0.5 kg or 1.1 lb	$2.28	$3.61
🍚 Rice, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.09	$6.22
🥚 Eggs, x12	$5.78	$5.43
🧀 Cheese, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$13.6	$18.9
🐔 Chicken Breast, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$9.72	$15.9
🥩 Round Steak, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$15.5	$19.7
🍏 Apples, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.62	$5.8
🍌 Banana, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.08	$2.3
🍊 Oranges, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$3.19	$5.02
🍅 Tomato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$4.73	$5.56
🥔 Potato, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.9	$2.74
🧅 Onion, 1 kg or 2.2 lb	$2.27	$3.62
🌊 Water, 1 L or 1 qt	$0.72	$1.66
🍹 Coca-Cola / Pepsi, 2 L or 67.6 fl oz	$2.95	$3.62
🍾 Wine (mid-priced), 750 mL bottle	$16.4	$17.5
🍺 Beer, 0.5 L or 16 fl oz	$4.08	$4.52
🚬 Cigarette pack	$28.3	$13.6
💊 Cold medicince, 1 week	$8.18	$9.34
🧴 Hair Shampoo	$4.65	$4.75
🧻 Toilet paper, 4 rolls	$3.58	$4.31
👄 Toothpaste, 1 tube	$3.34	$2.57
Other
🏋️ Gym Membership, 1 month	$66	$113
🎫 Cinema Ticket, 1 person	$17.6	$16.5
👩‍⚕️ Doctor's visit	$70	$196
💇 Haircut, simple	$21.4	$35.5
👖 Brand Jeans	$77.3	$70
👟 Brand Sneakers	$111	$116
👶 Daycare or Preschool, 1 month	$2275	$1892
🏫 International Primary School, 1 year	$25164	$24903

Cost of living in other countries

Cost of living

Cost of Living in the nearest cities

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

Cities near Washington

Distance	City	Cost of living
2.5 km or 1.5 mi	Georgetown	$3031
9.5 km or 5.9 mi	Bailey's Crossroads	$2572
10 km or 6.3 mi	Alexandria	$2913
11 km or 6.8 mi	Bethesda	$2769
12 km or 7.5 mi	Silver Spring	$2223
15 km or 9.2 mi	College Park	$3016
17 km or 11 mi	Springfield	$2367
17 km or 11 mi	Greenbelt	$2774
23 km or 14 mi	Rockville	$2678
24 km or 15 mi	Fairfax	$2803
26 km or 16 mi	Bowie	$2596
27 km or 17 mi	Laurel	$2377
28 km or 17 mi	Reston	$2801
30 km or 19 mi	Waldorf	$2508
31 km or 19 mi	Gaithersburg	$2512
32 km or 20 mi	Herndon	$2799
34 km or 21 mi	Woodbridge	$2696
34 km or 21 mi	Marumsco	$2608
36 km or 22 mi	Centreville	$3338
37 km or 23 mi	Germantown	$2695
38 km or 23 mi	Columbia	$2856
41 km or 26 mi	Manassas	$2379
42 km or 26 mi	Ashburn	$2793
47 km or 29 mi	Annapolis	$2862
49 km or 31 mi	Catonsville	$2484
51 km or 32 mi	Leesburg	$2341
57 km or 35 mi	Eldersburg	$2554
57 km or 35 mi	Baltimore	$2224
61 km or 38 mi	Owings Mills	$2603
68 km or 42 mi	Frederick	$2318
76 km or 47 mi	Fredericksburg	$2363
83 km or 52 mi	Charles Town	$1977
87 km or 54 mi	Edgewood	$3012
92 km or 57 mi	Bel Air South	$2787
93 km or 58 mi	Bel Air North	$2694
102 km or 63 mi	Hanover	$2275
102 km or 63 mi	Hagerstown	$2037
103 km or 64 mi	Winchester	$2252
106 km or 66 mi	Waynesboro	$2109
122 km or 76 mi	York	$2088