Cost of living comparison

United Kingdom

compared to

Australia

Sydney vs. Edinburgh Cost of Living Summary

Sydney is 16.3% more expensive than Edinburgh.

Restaurants: pay 8.1% less in Sydney
Groceries: pay 25.2% more in Sydney
Transportation: pay 12.0% less in Sydney
Housing: pay 34.0% more in Sydney
Childcare: pay 18.3% more in Sydney
Entertainment and Sports: pay 20.0% more in Sydney
Clothing: pay 13.1% more in Sydney

The cost of housing, groceries, entertainment and sports, childcare, and clothing in Sydney are more expensive than in Edinburgh. Expenses including transportation and restaurants are lower in Sydney.

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Sydney vs. Edinburgh Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Sydney instead of Edinburgh, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 8.1% less for restaurants

	Edinburgh	Sydney
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$23.79 £17.96	$17.41 A$24.92	-26.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$10.51 £7.94	$11.84 A$16.95	+12.6%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.44 £1.85	$2.81 A$4.02	+15.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.20 £1.66	$2.22 A$3.17	+0.9%
Average			-8.1%

Edinburgh vs. Sydney - Cost of restaurants

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pay 25.2% more for groceries

	Edinburgh	Sydney
Bread 1 loaf	$2.32 £1.75	$2.85 A$4.08	+22.5%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.60 £3.47	$5.93 A$8.50	+29.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.52 £4.92	$6.42 A$9.19	-1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.04 £3.81	$5.56 A$7.95	+10.2%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.24 £3.21	$4.34 A$6.21	+2.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.36 £1.03	$1.81 A$2.59	+32.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.87 £0.66	$1.45 A$2.08	+67.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.51 £1.14	$1.56 A$2.23	+3.3%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.64 £1.24	$1.98 A$2.84	+20.5%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.92 £0.69	$1.48 A$2.11	+61.2%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.71 £0.53	$1.07 A$1.53	+51.5%
Average			+25.2%

Edinburgh vs. Sydney - Cost of groceries

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pay 12.0% less for transportation

	Edinburgh	Sydney
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$7.96 £6.01	$5.40 A$7.73	-32.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$96.46 £72.85	$151.36 A$216.72	+56.9%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,182.92 £28,835.78	$28,893.97 A$41,371.65	-24.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$20.09 £15.17	$16.24 A$23.25	-19.2%
Average			-12.0%

Edinburgh vs. Sydney - Cost of transportation

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pay 34.0% more for housing

	Edinburgh	Sydney
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$42.37 £32.00	$56.21 A$80.49	+32.7%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,603.85 £1,211.23	$2,517.32 A$3,604.41	+57.0%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,179.13 £890.48	$1,743.66 A$2,496.65	+47.9%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$248.86 £187.94	$168.46 A$241.21	-32.3%
Average			+34.0%

Edinburgh vs. Sydney - Cost of housing

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pay 18.3% more for childcare

	Edinburgh	Sydney
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$1,774.03 £1,339.75	$2,195.71 A$3,143.91	+23.8%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$25,173.70 £19,011.21	$28,441.13 A$40,723.26	+13.0%
Average			+18.3%

Edinburgh vs. Sydney - Cost of childcare

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pay 20.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Edinburgh	Sydney
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.93 £5.99	$7.66 A$10.97	-3.4%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$5.10 £3.85	$3.97 A$5.69	-22.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$23.46 £17.71	$44.55 A$63.79	+89.9%
Monthly membership at local gym	$44.82 £33.85	$75.28 A$107.79	+68.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$14.54 £10.98	$17.41 A$24.92	+19.7%
Average			+20.0%

Edinburgh vs. Sydney - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 13.1% more for clothing

	Edinburgh	Sydney
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$81.16 £61.29	$78.68 A$112.65	-3.1%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$49.62 £37.47	$69.62 A$99.69	+40.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$106.48 £80.41	$111.40 A$159.51	+4.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$116.01 £87.61	$133.24 A$190.77	+14.8%
Average			+13.1%

Edinburgh vs. Sydney - 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

Compare further: Edinburgh vs. Sydney

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Size Comparison · See true size

Edinburgh is about 15 times smaller than Sydney.

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