Cost of living comparison

New Zealand

compared to

Australia

Melbourne vs. Auckland Cost of Living Summary

Melbourne is 20.4% more expensive than Auckland.

Restaurants: pay 33.2% more in Melbourne
Groceries: pay 15.2% more in Melbourne
Transportation: pay 2.9% less in Melbourne
Housing: pay 23.2% more in Melbourne
Childcare: pay 80.8% more in Melbourne
Entertainment and Sports: pay 26.0% more in Melbourne
Clothing: pay 18.1% more in Melbourne

The cost of childcare, restaurants, entertainment and sports, housing, clothing, and groceries in Melbourne are more expensive than in Auckland. Notably, childcare is significantly more expensive in Melbourne.

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Melbourne vs. Auckland Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Melbourne instead of Auckland, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 33.2% more for restaurants

	Auckland	Melbourne
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$14.01 NZ$24.96	$17.41 A$24.92	+24.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$8.96 NZ$15.97	$12.27 A$17.56	+36.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.98 NZ$3.53	$3.10 A$4.44	+56.6%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$1.76 NZ$3.14	$2.49 A$3.56	+41.2%
Average			+33.2%

Auckland vs. Melbourne - Cost of restaurants

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pay 15.2% more for groceries

	Auckland	Melbourne
Bread 1 loaf	$2.20 NZ$3.93	$2.93 A$4.20	+33.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.29 NZ$7.65	$5.24 A$7.51	+22.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$7.26 NZ$12.94	$5.80 A$8.31	-20.1%
Eggs 1 dozen	$6.26 NZ$11.16	$5.48 A$7.85	-12.5%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.51 NZ$8.03	$4.44 A$6.35	-1.5%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.30 NZ$2.31	$1.84 A$2.63	+41.7%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.70	$1.38 A$1.98	+45.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.34 NZ$2.39	$1.44 A$2.06	+7.6%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.63 NZ$4.68	$2.14 A$3.07	-18.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.95 NZ$1.70	$1.36 A$1.95	+43.3%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.70 NZ$1.24	$1.14 A$1.63	+63.3%
Average			+15.2%

Auckland vs. Melbourne - Cost of groceries

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pay 2.9% less for transportation

	Auckland	Melbourne
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$6.98 NZ$12.44	$5.46 A$7.82	-21.7%
Monthly public transit pass	$121.78 NZ$217.03	$139.25 A$199.38	+14.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$25,206.41 NZ$44,919.20	$28,538.88 A$40,863.23	+13.2%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$17.93 NZ$31.95	$15.56 A$22.28	-13.2%
Average			-2.9%

Auckland vs. Melbourne - Cost of transportation

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pay 23.2% more for housing

	Auckland	Melbourne
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$50.70 NZ$90.35	$56.47 A$80.85	+11.4%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,312.12 NZ$2,338.28	$1,726.11 A$2,471.52	+31.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,217.10 NZ$2,168.94	$1,405.75 A$2,012.82	+15.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$138.93 NZ$247.58	$176.73 A$253.05	+27.2%
Average			+23.2%

Auckland vs. Melbourne - Cost of housing

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pay 80.8% more for childcare

	Auckland	Melbourne
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,121.14 NZ$1,997.93	$2,374.95 A$3,400.55	+111.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$19,362.77 NZ$34,505.53	$29,879.04 A$42,782.12	+54.3%
Average			+80.8%

Auckland vs. Melbourne - Cost of childcare

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pay 26.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Auckland	Melbourne
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.72 NZ$11.98	$9.75 A$13.96	+45.0%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.41 NZ$6.07	$4.02 A$5.75	+17.9%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$27.17 NZ$48.42	$44.55 A$63.79	+64.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.47 NZ$79.26	$50.38 A$72.14	+13.3%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$12.88 NZ$22.96	$15.32 A$21.93	+18.9%
Average			+26.0%

Auckland vs. Melbourne - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 18.1% more for clothing

	Auckland	Melbourne
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$79.70 NZ$142.03	$80.23 A$114.87	+0.7%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$40.10 NZ$71.46	$49.88 A$71.43	+24.4%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$92.74 NZ$165.28	$119.33 A$170.86	+28.7%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$109.54 NZ$195.21	$132.46 A$189.66	+20.9%
Average			+18.1%

Auckland vs. Melbourne - Cost of clothing

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We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Sources: MyLifeElsewhere's cost-of-living dataset (prices updated October 2026). How we calculate this

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Auckland is about 1.2 times bigger than Melbourne.

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