Cost of living comparison
compared to
San Mateo vs. Wollongong Cost of Living Summary
San Mateo is 58.5% more expensive than Wollongong.
San Mateo vs. Wollongong Cost Breakdown
If you lived in San Mateo instead of Wollongong, you would:
pay 18.2% more for restaurants
|
Wollongong
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic meal with drink at inexpensive restaurant |
$17.06
A$24.27
|
$20.00
|
|
|
Fast food combo meal
McDonalds, or similar
|
$10.44
A$14.86
|
$13.00
|
|
| Bottle of Coca-Cola (11 fl. oz) |
$3.09
A$4.40
|
$3.02
|
|
| Bottle of water (11 fl. oz) |
$2.23
A$3.17
|
$2.75
|
|
Wollongong vs. San Mateo - Cost of restaurants
pay 55.4% more for groceries
|
Wollongong
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bread
1 loaf
|
$2.87
A$4.09
|
$5.88
|
|
| Local cheese (8 oz) |
$5.22
A$7.43
|
$6.80
|
|
| Milk (1 gallon) |
$4.40
A$6.26
|
$6.12
|
|
|
Eggs
1 dozen
|
$4.02
A$5.72
|
$7.39
|
|
| Boneless chicken breast (1 lb) |
$4.26
A$6.06
|
$8.50
|
|
| Apples (1 lb) |
$1.34
A$1.91
|
$2.73
|
|
| Bananas (1 lb) |
$1.14
A$1.62
|
$1.00
|
|
| Oranges (1 lb) |
$1.53
A$2.17
|
$1.83
|
|
| Tomatoes (1 lb) |
$2.08
A$2.96
|
$3.99
|
|
| Potatoes (1 lb) |
$1.07
A$1.52
|
$1.98
|
|
| Onions (1 lb) |
$1.14
A$1.63
|
$1.42
|
|
Wollongong vs. San Mateo - Cost of groceries
pay 23.2% more for transportation
|
Wollongong
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Gasoline (1 gallon) |
$5.07
A$7.22
|
$5.75
|
|
| Monthly public transit pass | ?? |
$96.00
|
|
| New Volkswagen Golf 1.4 (standard edition) |
$26,937.53
A$38,328.88
|
$36,753.89
|
|
| Taxi trip in downtown area (5 miles) |
$16.79
A$23.89
|
$20.31
|
|
Wollongong vs. San Mateo - Cost of transportation
pay 2.3 times more for housing
|
Wollongong
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Internet connection
50 mbps or faster, cable/dsl
|
$50.13
A$71.33
|
$61.24
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment in downtown area |
$1,244.53
A$1,770.82
|
$3,458.33
|
|
| 1-Bedroom apartment outside city center |
$1,089.62
A$1,550.39
|
$2,743.00
|
|
|
Utilities for two
(700 sq ft apartment)
including electric, gas, water, heating
|
$139.13
A$197.96
|
$204.90
|
|
Wollongong vs. San Mateo - Cost of housing
pay 40.7% more for childcare
|
Wollongong
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Private preschool for 1 child, monthly |
$2,167.40
A$3,083.94
|
$3,000.00
|
|
| Middle school for 1 child, two semesters |
$20,280.48
A$28,856.69
|
$29,000.00
|
|
Wollongong vs. San Mateo - Cost of childcare
pay 16.1% more for entertainment and sports
|
Wollongong
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic/local beer (1 pint) |
$6.96
A$9.91
|
$8.25
|
|
| Cappuccino in mid-range area |
$3.48
A$4.95
|
$5.66
|
|
|
Pack of cigarettes
Marlboro or similar
|
$44.55
A$63.39
|
$11.71
|
|
| Monthly membership at local gym |
$81.49
A$115.96
|
$110.00
|
|
| Movie ticket to theater/cinema |
$13.23
A$18.82
|
$18.00
|
|
Wollongong vs. San Mateo - Cost of entertainment and sports
pay 1.0% less for clothing
|
Wollongong
|
San Mateo
|
||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Regular jeans
Levi's brand
|
$69.62
A$99.07
|
$63.17
|
|
|
Regular dress
from H&M or similar store
|
$56.12
A$79.86
|
$46.63
|
|
|
Running shoes
Nike or Adidas
|
$116.35
A$165.55
|
$118.50
|
|
| Men's business shoes (leather) |
$109.08
A$155.20
|
$136.50
|
|
Wollongong vs. San Mateo - Cost of clothing
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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