Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

United Kingdom

Cambridge vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Cambridge is 4.1% cheaper than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 2.9% more in Cambridge
Groceries: pay 23.4% less in Cambridge
Transportation: pay 17.5% more in Cambridge
Housing: pay 2.8% less in Cambridge
Childcare: pay 20.4% more in Cambridge
Entertainment and Sports: pay 7.6% less in Cambridge
Clothing: pay 11.9% less in Cambridge

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

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Cambridge vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 2.9% more for restaurants

	Sydney	Cambridge
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.41 A$24.76	$21.14 £15.81	+21.5%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.84 A$16.84	$10.57 £7.90	-10.7%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 A$4.00	$2.74 £2.05	-2.4%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 A$3.15	$1.87 £1.40	-15.5%
Average			+2.9%

Sydney vs. Cambridge - Cost of restaurants

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pay 23.4% less for groceries

	Sydney	Cambridge
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 A$4.05	$1.75 £1.31	-38.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.93 A$8.44	$4.86 £3.63	-18.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 A$9.13	$6.09 £4.55	-5.2%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.56 A$7.90	$4.48 £3.35	-19.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 A$6.17	$4.29 £3.20	-1.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 A$2.57	$1.35 £1.01	-25.3%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.07	$0.77 £0.58	-46.9%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 A$2.22	$1.64 £1.22	+5.0%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 A$2.82	$1.57 £1.17	-20.8%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.10	$0.81 £0.61	-45.1%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 A$1.52	$0.83 £0.62	-22.7%
Average			-23.4%

Sydney vs. Cambridge - Cost of groceries

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pay 17.5% more for transportation

	Sydney	Cambridge
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 A$7.68	$7.96 £5.95	+47.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$151.36 A$215.30	$95.14 £71.14	-37.1%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,893.97 A$41,100.95	$38,182.92 £28,549.06	+32.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.24 A$23.10	$29.07 £21.74	+79.1%
Average			+17.5%

Sydney vs. Cambridge - Cost of transportation

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pay 2.8% less for housing

	Sydney	Cambridge
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$56.21 A$79.96	$42.28 £31.61	-24.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,517.32 A$3,580.82	$2,071.90 £1,549.15	-17.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,743.66 A$2,480.32	$1,744.30 £1,304.20
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.46 A$239.63	$256.84 £192.04	+52.5%
Average			-2.8%

Sydney vs. Cambridge - Cost of housing

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pay 20.4% more for childcare

	Sydney	Cambridge
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,195.71 A$3,123.34	$2,551.12 £1,907.45	+16.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,441.13 A$40,456.80	$35,505.69 £26,547.32	+24.8%
Average			+20.4%

Sydney vs. Cambridge - Cost of childcare

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pay 7.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Cambridge
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.66 A$10.89	$7.80 £5.83	+1.8%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 A$5.65	$4.53 £3.39	+14.1%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$44.55 A$63.37	$22.46 £16.80	-49.6%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.28 A$107.09	$65.08 £48.66	-13.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.41 A$24.76	$17.11 £12.79	-1.7%
Average			-7.6%

Sydney vs. Cambridge - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.9% less for clothing

	Sydney	Cambridge
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.68 A$111.91	$89.28 £66.75	+13.5%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.62 A$99.04	$47.12 £35.23	-32.3%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.40 A$158.46	$91.76 £68.61	-17.6%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.24 A$189.52	$126.79 £94.80	-4.8%
Average			-11.9%

Sydney vs. Cambridge - 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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