Australia vs. Michigan Cost of Living Summary

Australia vs. Michigan Cost Breakdown

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

pay 1.1% more for restaurants

 
Michigan
Australia
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant $18.33
 
$18.42
A$26.21
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
$10.87
 
$10.19
A$14.50
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) $2.56
 
$2.88
A$4.10

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pay 4.0% less for groceries

 
Michigan
Australia
Bread
1 loaf
$3.15
 
$2.64
A$3.76
Local cheese (8 oz) $6.51
 
$4.67
A$6.65
Milk (1 gallon) $3.21
 
$6.28
A$8.93

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pay 14.9% more for transportation

 
Michigan
Australia
Gasoline (1 gallon) $3.73
 
$4.98
A$7.09
Monthly public transit pass $54.17
 
$91.09
A$129.61
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) $34,818.91
 
$27,191.77
A$38,690.63

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pay 4.1% more for housing

 
Michigan
Australia
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
$61.25
 
$57.16
A$81.33
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area $1,272.01
 
$1,309.09
A$1,862.68
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center $1,015.75
 
$1,073.97
A$1,528.13

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pay 16.8% more for childcare

 
Michigan
Australia
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly $1,330.85
 
$1,957.92
A$2,785.89
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters $19,812.04
 
$18,377.12
A$26,148.43

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pay 30.7% more for entertainment and sports

 
Michigan
Australia
Domestic/local beer (1 pint) $5.29
 
$7.20
A$10.24
Cappuccino in mid-range area $5.13
 
$3.95
A$5.62
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
$9.54
 
$36.89
A$52.49

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pay 34.4% more for clothing

 
Michigan
Australia
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
$53.03
 
$77.86
A$110.79
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
$39.60
 
$53.33
A$75.89
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
$83.56
 
$112.59
A$160.20

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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 November 2026). How we calculate this

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