Cost of living comparison

compared to

Australia is 7.4% cheaper than California.

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

Display currency: USD

pay 10.7% less for restaurants

 
California
Australia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $19.89
 
$16.79
A$24.62
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$11.74
 
$9.81
A$14.38
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.75
 
$2.56
A$3.76

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pay 17.5% less for groceries

 
California
Australia
Bread
1 loaf
$4.10
 
$2.33
A$3.41
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.78
 
$4.71
A$6.91
Milk (1 gallon) $4.57
 
$5.75
A$8.43

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pay 1.3% more for transportation

 
California
Australia
Gasoline (1 gallon) $4.84
 
$4.73
A$6.93
Monthly public transit pass $67.11
 
$84.46
A$123.81
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $29,950.13
 
$27,859.34
A$40,837.50

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pay 34.6% less for housing

 
California
Australia
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$69.38
 
$55.36
A$81.15
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $2,333.22
 
$1,258.08
A$1,844.15
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $2,022.14
 
$971.44
A$1,423.99

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pay 33.0% less for childcare

 
California
Australia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,629.83
 
$1,377.23
A$2,018.80
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $29,739.09
 
$14,720.56
A$21,578.07

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pay 18.3% more for entertainment and sports

 
California
Australia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $7.06
 
$6.69
A$9.81
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.27
 
$3.60
A$5.28
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$10.99
 
$28.13
A$41.24

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pay 24.6% more for clothing

 
California
Australia
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$52.63
 
$75.27
A$110.34
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$41.12
 
$54.30
A$79.60
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$84.49
 
$102.43
A$150.15

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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: October 2024
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