Cost of living comparison

compared to

Melbourne vs. Gainesville Cost of Living Summary

Melbourne is 13.6% more expensive than Gainesville.

Restaurants
pay 26.2% more in Melbourne
Groceries
pay 26.4% more in Melbourne
Transportation
pay 14.3% more in Melbourne
Housing
pay 4.4% more in Melbourne
Childcare
pay 29.1% less in Melbourne
Entertainment and Sports
pay 38.6% more in Melbourne
Clothing
pay 21.9% more in Melbourne

The cost of entertainment and sports, groceries, restaurants, clothing, transportation, and housing in Melbourne are more expensive than in Gainesville.

Melbourne vs. Gainesville Cost Breakdown

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

pay 26.2% more for restaurants

 
Gainesville
Melbourne
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $15.00
 
$17.41
A$24.77
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.00
 
$12.27
A$17.45
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.00
 
$3.10
A$4.41

Improve prices ·

pay 26.4% more for groceries

 
Gainesville
Melbourne
Bread
1 loaf
$2.42
 
$2.93
A$4.17
Local cheese (8 oz) $8.26
 
$5.24
A$7.46
Milk (1 gallon) $3.17
 
$5.80
A$8.25

Improve prices ·

pay 14.3% more for transportation

 
Gainesville
Melbourne
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.10
 
$5.46
A$7.77
Monthly public transit pass ?? $139.25
A$198.13
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $32,000.00
 
$28,538.88
A$40,607.41

Improve prices ·

pay 4.4% more for housing

 
Gainesville
Melbourne
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$88.33
 
$56.47
A$80.34
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,660.67
 
$1,726.11
A$2,456.05
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,363.33
 
$1,405.75
A$2,000.21

Improve prices ·

pay 29.1% less for childcare

 
Gainesville
Melbourne
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $2,577.11
 
$2,374.95
A$3,379.26
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $54,725.00
 
$29,879.04
A$42,514.29

Improve prices ·

pay 38.6% more for entertainment and sports

 
Gainesville
Melbourne
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $6.00
 
$9.75
A$13.87
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.25
 
$4.02
A$5.71
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$7.50
 
$44.55
A$63.39

Improve prices ·

pay 21.9% more for clothing

 
Gainesville
Melbourne
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$63.75
 
$80.23
A$114.15
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$45.00
 
$49.88
A$70.98
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$100.00
 
$119.33
A$169.79

Improve prices ·

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

Share this

Compare countries by overall cost of living

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

Help us improve these prices

MyLifeElsewhere is a collaborative project. Please enter price information for your location to help assist us in making these comparisons more accurate. Learn more

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Melbourne or Gainesville. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.