Cost of living comparison

Russia

compared to

Australia

Melbourne vs. Moscow Cost of Living Summary

Melbourne is 56.2% more expensive than Moscow.

Restaurants: pay 73.0% more in Melbourne
Groceries: pay 85.4% more in Melbourne
Transportation: pay 54.3% more in Melbourne
Housing: pay 50.8% more in Melbourne
Childcare: pay 82.2% more in Melbourne
Entertainment and Sports: pay 80.0% more in Melbourne
Clothing: pay 22.7% less in Melbourne

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

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Melbourne vs. Moscow Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 73.0% more for restaurants

	Moscow	Melbourne
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$11.70 RUB996.18	$17.41 A$24.92	+48.8%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$7.02 RUB597.71	$12.27 A$17.56	+74.8%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$1.62 RUB137.76	$3.10 A$4.44	+91.5%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$0.84 RUB71.18	$2.49 A$3.56	+197.8%
Average			+73.0%

Moscow vs. Melbourne - Cost of restaurants

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pay 85.4% more for groceries

	Moscow	Melbourne
Bread 1 loaf	$1.02 RUB86.67	$2.93 A$4.20	+188.1%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$7.14 RUB607.83	$5.24 A$7.51	-26.6%
Milk (1 gallon)	$4.61 RUB392.86	$5.80 A$8.31	+25.8%
Eggs 1 dozen	$1.86 RUB158.76	$5.48 A$7.85	+194.0%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$2.98 RUB254.08	$4.44 A$6.35	+48.7%
Apples (1 lb)	$0.93 RUB79.37	$1.84 A$2.63	+97.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$0.81 RUB69.29	$1.38 A$1.98	+70.2%
Oranges (1 lb)	$0.90 RUB76.80	$1.44 A$2.06	+59.7%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.79 RUB152.11	$2.14 A$3.07	+20.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$0.41 RUB34.61	$1.36 A$1.95	+235.8%
Onions (1 lb)	$0.32 RUB27.55	$1.14 A$1.63	+252.7%
Average			+85.4%

Moscow vs. Melbourne - Cost of groceries

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pay 54.3% more for transportation

	Moscow	Melbourne
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$3.31 RUB282.00	$5.46 A$7.82	+64.9%
Monthly public transit pass	$40.65 RUB3,461.72	$139.25 A$199.38	+242.6%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$38,895.19 RUB3M	$28,538.88 A$40,863.23	-26.6%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$10.06 RUB856.71	$15.56 A$22.28	+54.7%
Average			+54.3%

Moscow vs. Melbourne - Cost of transportation

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pay 50.8% more for housing

	Moscow	Melbourne
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$9.88 RUB841.41	$56.47 A$80.85	+471.5%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$1,454.91 RUB124K	$1,726.11 A$2,471.52	+18.6%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$804.40 RUB68,502.01	$1,405.75 A$2,012.82	+74.8%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$142.85 RUB12,164.72	$176.73 A$253.05	+23.7%
Average			+50.8%

Moscow vs. Melbourne - Cost of housing

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pay 82.2% more for childcare

	Moscow	Melbourne
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$809.00 RUB68,893.70	$2,374.95 A$3,400.55	+193.6%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$26,421.03 RUB2M	$29,879.04 A$42,782.12	+13.1%
Average			+82.2%

Moscow vs. Melbourne - Cost of childcare

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pay 80.0% more for entertainment and sports

	Moscow	Melbourne
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$4.68 RUB398.47	$9.75 A$13.96	+108.3%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.70 RUB315.01	$4.02 A$5.75	+8.6%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$3.45 RUB293.87	$44.55 A$63.79	+1191.1%
Monthly membership at local gym	$42.01 RUB3,577.71	$50.38 A$72.14	+19.9%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$9.36 RUB796.94	$15.32 A$21.93	+63.7%
Average			+80.0%

Moscow vs. Melbourne - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 22.7% less for clothing

	Moscow	Melbourne
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$108.46 RUB9,236.82	$80.23 A$114.87	-26.0%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$62.47 RUB5,319.60	$49.88 A$71.43	-20.1%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$145.30 RUB12,373.98	$119.33 A$170.86	-17.9%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$180.19 RUB15,345.00	$132.46 A$189.66	-26.5%
Average			-22.7%

Moscow 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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Size Comparison · See true size

Moscow is about 1.5 times smaller than Melbourne.

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