Cost of living comparison

Japan

compared to

Australia

Melbourne vs. Kobe Cost of Living Summary

Melbourne is 93.5% more expensive than Kobe.

Restaurants: pay 2.6 times more in Melbourne
Groceries: pay 1.8% less in Melbourne
Transportation: pay 40.9% more in Melbourne
Housing: pay 2.5 times more in Melbourne
Childcare: pay 6.0 times more in Melbourne
Entertainment and Sports: pay 2.2 times more in Melbourne
Clothing: pay 2.0 times more in Melbourne

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

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Melbourne vs. Kobe Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.6 times more for restaurants

	Kobe	Melbourne
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$7.59 ¥1,202	$17.41 A$24.92	+129.3%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$4.87 ¥771	$12.27 A$17.56	+151.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.17 ¥185	$3.10 A$4.44	+165.8%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.60 ¥95	$2.49 A$3.56	+314.1%
Average			+155.1%

Kobe vs. Melbourne - Cost of restaurants

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pay 1.8% less for groceries

	Kobe	Melbourne
Bread 1 loaf	$1.29 ¥204	$2.93 A$4.20	+127.2%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$6.33 ¥1,001	$5.24 A$7.51	-17.1%
Milk (1 gallon)	$5.78 ¥915	$5.80 A$8.31	+0.4%
Eggs 1 dozen	$2.05 ¥325	$5.48 A$7.85	+166.8%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.16 ¥500	$4.44 A$6.35	+40.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$3.53 ¥559	$1.84 A$2.63	-47.9%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.36 ¥216	$1.38 A$1.98	+1.6%
Oranges (1 lb)	$2.28 ¥360	$1.44 A$2.06	-36.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$3.54 ¥560	$2.14 A$3.07	-39.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.72 ¥273	$1.36 A$1.95	-20.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.58 ¥250	$1.14 A$1.63	-27.7%
Average			-1.8%

Kobe vs. Melbourne - Cost of groceries

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pay 40.9% more for transportation

	Kobe	Melbourne
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.10 ¥649	$5.46 A$7.82	+33.2%
Monthly public transit pass	$63.27 ¥10,014	$139.25 A$199.38	+120.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$20,061.49 ¥3M	$28,538.88 A$40,863.23	+42.3%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$28.47 ¥4,506	$15.56 A$22.28	-45.3%
Average			+40.9%

Kobe vs. Melbourne - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.5 times more for housing

	Kobe	Melbourne
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$31.16 ¥4,932	$56.47 A$80.85	+81.2%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$687.49 ¥109K	$1,726.11 A$2,471.52	+151.1%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$463.95 ¥73,436	$1,405.75 A$2,012.82	+203.0%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$111.27 ¥17,613	$176.73 A$253.05	+58.8%
Average			+148.6%

Kobe vs. Melbourne - Cost of housing

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pay 6.0 times more for childcare

	Kobe	Melbourne
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$322.65 ¥51,071	$2,374.95 A$3,400.55	+636.1%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$6,149.41 ¥973K	$29,879.04 A$42,782.12	+385.9%
Average			+498.0%

Kobe vs. Melbourne - Cost of childcare

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pay 2.2 times more for entertainment and sports

	Kobe	Melbourne
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$2.06 ¥326	$9.75 A$13.96	+372.6%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$2.34 ¥371	$4.02 A$5.75	+71.5%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.48 ¥551	$44.55 A$63.79	+1180.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$46.39 ¥7,344	$50.38 A$72.14	+8.6%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$11.39 ¥1,803	$15.32 A$21.93	+34.5%
Average			+115.6%

Kobe vs. Melbourne - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 2.0 times more for clothing

	Kobe	Melbourne
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$50.30 ¥7,961	$80.23 A$114.87	+59.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$25.31 ¥4,006	$49.88 A$71.43	+97.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$45.97 ¥7,277	$119.33 A$170.86	+159.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$65.37 ¥10,348	$132.46 A$189.66	+102.6%
Average			+101.7%

Kobe 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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