Cost of living comparison

Australia

compared to

United Kingdom

Edinburgh vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Edinburgh is 14.0% cheaper than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 8.8% more in Edinburgh
Groceries: pay 20.1% less in Edinburgh
Transportation: pay 13.7% more in Edinburgh
Housing: pay 25.4% less in Edinburgh
Childcare: pay 15.4% less in Edinburgh
Entertainment and Sports: pay 16.6% less in Edinburgh
Clothing: pay 11.6% less in Edinburgh

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

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Edinburgh vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

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

Display currency: USD

pay 8.8% more for restaurants

	Sydney	Edinburgh
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$17.41 A$24.92	$23.79 £17.96	+36.7%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$11.84 A$16.95	$10.51 £7.94	-11.2%
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.81 A$4.02	$2.44 £1.85	-13.0%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.22 A$3.17	$2.20 £1.66	-0.9%
Average			+8.8%

Sydney vs. Edinburgh - Cost of restaurants

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pay 20.1% less for groceries

	Sydney	Edinburgh
Bread 1 loaf	$2.85 A$4.08	$2.32 £1.75	-18.4%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$5.93 A$8.50	$4.60 £3.47	-22.5%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.42 A$9.19	$6.52 £4.92	+1.5%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.56 A$7.95	$5.04 £3.81	-9.3%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$4.34 A$6.21	$4.24 £3.21	-2.2%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.81 A$2.59	$1.36 £1.03	-24.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.45 A$2.08	$0.87 £0.66	-40.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.56 A$2.23	$1.51 £1.14	-3.2%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$1.98 A$2.84	$1.64 £1.24	-17.0%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.48 A$2.11	$0.92 £0.69	-38.0%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.07 A$1.53	$0.71 £0.53	-34.0%
Average			-20.1%

Sydney vs. Edinburgh - Cost of groceries

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pay 13.7% more for transportation

	Sydney	Edinburgh
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$5.40 A$7.73	$7.96 £6.01	+47.4%
Monthly public transit pass	$151.36 A$216.72	$96.46 £72.85	-36.3%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$28,893.97 A$41,371.65	$38,182.92 £28,835.78	+32.1%
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$16.24 A$23.25	$20.09 £15.17	+23.7%
Average			+13.7%

Sydney vs. Edinburgh - Cost of transportation

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pay 25.4% less for housing

	Sydney	Edinburgh
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$56.21 A$80.49	$42.37 £32.00	-24.6%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,517.32 A$3,604.41	$1,603.85 £1,211.23	-36.3%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,743.66 A$2,496.65	$1,179.13 £890.48	-32.4%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$168.46 A$241.21	$248.86 £187.94	+47.7%
Average			-25.4%

Sydney vs. Edinburgh - Cost of housing

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pay 15.4% less for childcare

	Sydney	Edinburgh
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,195.71 A$3,143.91	$1,774.03 £1,339.75	-19.2%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$28,441.13 A$40,723.26	$25,173.70 £19,011.21	-11.5%
Average			-15.4%

Sydney vs. Edinburgh - Cost of childcare

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pay 16.6% less for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Edinburgh
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$7.66 A$10.97	$7.93 £5.99	+3.5%
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.97 A$5.69	$5.10 £3.85	+28.3%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$44.55 A$63.79	$23.46 £17.71	-47.4%
Monthly membership at local gym	$75.28 A$107.79	$44.82 £33.85	-40.5%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$17.41 A$24.92	$14.54 £10.98	-16.5%
Average			-16.6%

Sydney vs. Edinburgh - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 11.6% less for clothing

	Sydney	Edinburgh
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$78.68 A$112.65	$81.16 £61.29	+3.2%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$69.62 A$99.69	$49.62 £37.47	-28.7%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$111.40 A$159.51	$106.48 £80.41	-4.4%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$133.24 A$190.77	$116.01 £87.61	-12.9%
Average			-11.6%

Sydney vs. Edinburgh - 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

Compare further: Sydney vs. Edinburgh

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Size Comparison · See true size

Sydney is about 15 times bigger than Edinburgh.

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