Cost of living comparison

compared to

Gold Coast vs. Sydney Cost of Living Summary

Gold Coast is 11.8% cheaper than Sydney.

Restaurants: pay 11.3% more in Gold Coast
Groceries: pay 3.2% less in Gold Coast
Transportation: pay 36.3% less in Gold Coast
Housing: pay 1.8% less in Gold Coast
Childcare: pay 28.7% less in Gold Coast
Entertainment and Sports: pay 11.9% less in Gold Coast
Clothing: pay 12.3% less in Gold Coast

Expenses including transportation, childcare, clothing, entertainment and sports, groceries, and housing are lower in Gold Coast.

Gold Coast vs. Sydney Cost Breakdown

If you lived in Gold Coast instead of Sydney, you would:

Display currency: USD

pay 11.3% more for restaurants

	Sydney	Gold Coast
Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant	$16.35 A$24.62	$17.99 A$27.08	+10.0%
Fast food combo meal McDonalds, or similar	$9.81 A$14.77	$9.81 A$14.77
Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz)	$2.60 A$3.91	$2.78 A$4.19	+7.1%
Bottle of water (11 fl. oz)	$2.00 A$3.01	$2.34 A$3.52	+16.9%
Average			+11.3%

Sydney vs. Gold Coast - Cost of restaurants

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pay 3.2% less for groceries

	Sydney	Gold Coast
Bread 1 loaf	$2.63 A$3.96	$2.58 A$3.88	-1.9%
Local cheese (8 oz)	$4.92 A$7.41	$3.78 A$5.69	-23.2%
Milk (1 gallon)	$6.66 A$10.03	$5.29 A$7.97	-20.6%
Eggs 1 dozen	$5.21 A$7.84	$4.68 A$7.05	-10.1%
Boneless chicken breast (1 lb)	$3.86 A$5.81	$4.04 A$6.08	+4.6%
Apples (1 lb)	$1.46 A$2.19	$1.62 A$2.44	+11.5%
Bananas (1 lb)	$1.25 A$1.88	$1.29 A$1.95	+3.3%
Oranges (1 lb)	$1.39 A$2.09	$1.68 A$2.53	+21.4%
Tomatoes (1 lb)	$2.07 A$3.12	$1.78 A$2.67	-14.4%
Potatoes (1 lb)	$1.10 A$1.65	$1.04 A$1.56	-5.4%
Onions (1 lb)	$1.06 A$1.59	$1.06 A$1.59	+0.1%
Average			-3.2%

Sydney vs. Gold Coast - Cost of groceries

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pay 36.3% less for transportation

	Sydney	Gold Coast
Gasoline (1 gallon)	$4.66 A$7.01	$4.42 A$6.65	-5.1%
Monthly public transit pass	$142.21 A$214.11	$52.33 A$78.79	-63.2%
New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition)	$29,060.36 A$43,752.43	$29,060.36 A$43,752.43
Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles)	$23.55 A$35.46	$14.01 A$21.10	-40.5%
Average			-36.3%

Sydney vs. Gold Coast - Cost of transportation

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pay 1.8% less for housing

	Sydney	Gold Coast
Internet connection 50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl	$52.18 A$78.56	$55.20 A$83.10	+5.8%
1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area	$2,157.42 A$3,248.15	$1,818.60 A$2,738.04	-15.7%
1-Bedroom apartment outside city center	$1,515.46 A$2,281.64	$1,341.06 A$2,019.06	-11.5%
Utilities for two (700 sq ft apartment) including electric, gas, water, heating	$147.91 A$222.69	$169.08 A$254.57	+14.3%
Average			-1.8%

Sydney vs. Gold Coast - Cost of housing

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pay 28.7% less for childcare

	Sydney	Gold Coast
Private preschool for 1 child, monthly	$2,079.13 A$3,130.27	$2,150.05 A$3,237.05	+3.4%
Middle school for 1 child, two semesters	$18,278.49 A$27,519.57	$7,156.66 A$10,774.86	-60.8%
Average			-28.7%

Sydney vs. Gold Coast - Cost of childcare

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pay 11.9% less for entertainment and sports

	Sydney	Gold Coast
Domestic/local beer (1 pint)	$6.54 A$9.85	$6.54 A$9.85
Cappuccino in mid-range area	$3.48 A$5.24	$3.52 A$5.29	+1.0%
Pack of cigarettes Marlboro or similar	$32.71 A$49.25	$32.05 A$48.26	-2.0%
Monthly membership at local gym	$66.50 A$100.12	$38.60 A$58.11	-42.0%
Movie ticket to theater/cinema	$13.74 A$20.68	$13.08 A$19.70	-4.8%
Average			-11.9%

Sydney vs. Gold Coast - Cost of entertainment and sports

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pay 12.3% less for clothing

	Sydney	Gold Coast
Regular jeans Levi's brand	$75.03 A$112.97	$60.84 A$91.60	-18.9%
Regular dress from H&M or similar store	$61.01 A$91.85	$48.28 A$72.69	-20.9%
Running shoes Nike or Adidas	$101.79 A$153.25	$90.28 A$135.92	-11.3%
Men's business shoes (leather)	$122.15 A$183.91	$124.29 A$187.13	+1.8%
Average			-12.3%

Sydney vs. Gold Coast - Cost of clothing

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The statistics used to build this comparison are calculated using data from users just like you. We average the price of thousands of data points entered by users across the world. Learn more about our data sources. Page last updated: December 2025

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