Cost of living comparison

compared to

California is 21.5% more expensive than Australia.

If you lived in California instead of Australia, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 12.3% more for restaurants

 
Australia
California
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $16.79
A$25.60
$19.89
 
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$9.81
A$14.96
$11.74
 
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.56
A$3.91
$2.75
 

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pay 29.5% more for groceries

 
Australia
California
Bread
1 loaf
$2.33
A$3.55
$4.10
 
Local cheese (8 oz) $4.71
A$7.19
$6.78
 
Milk (1 gallon) $5.75
A$8.77
$4.57
 

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pay 0.6% more for transportation

 
Australia
California
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.73
A$7.21
$4.84
 
Monthly public transit pass $84.46
A$128.75
$67.11
 
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $27,859.34
A$42,468.50
$29,950.13
 

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pay 61.1% more for housing

 
Australia
California
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$55.36
A$84.39
$69.38
 
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,258.08
A$1,917.80
$2,333.22
 
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $971.44
A$1,480.86
$2,022.14
 

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pay 60.1% more for childcare

 
Australia
California
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,377.23
A$2,099.43
$1,629.83
 
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $14,720.56
A$22,439.87
$29,739.09
 

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pay 5.0% more for entertainment and sports

 
Australia
California
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.69
A$10.20
$7.06
 
Cappuccino in mid-range area $3.60
A$5.49
$5.27
 
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$28.13
A$42.89
$10.99
 

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pay 18.4% less for clothing

 
Australia
California
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$75.27
A$114.75
$52.63
 
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$54.30
A$82.78
$41.12
 
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$102.43
A$156.14
$84.49
 

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: November 2024
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Compare countries by overall cost of living

See the cost of living in Australia vs. United States. This provides a comparison of the average cost of living from cities within Australia and United States.

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