Australia · Cost of living by city

Cost of living in Sydney

Prices for October 2026

Monthly living costs in Sydney, Australia, built from prices read directly at the original sources. Choose the number of adults and children to calculate by household size; every price opens its list of sources.

Calculate by household size

Currency

Total per month AUD 3,850 ≈ US$2,696

  • Rent (1-bedroom) AUD 2,868
  • Electricity, water, gas AUD 252
  • Internet & mobile AUD 127
  • Groceries AUD 148
  • Eating out AUD 253
  • Transport AUD 202

Amounts are rounded to the nearest unit, so the parts may differ from the total by 1 or 2 units. International school fees and other reference items are not included. How households are built is explained in How it is calculated.

Housing & utilities

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Rent, 1-bedroom apartment, outside the centre AUD 2,868 / month AUD 2,167 – 3,293 14
14 sources
Rent, 3-bedroom apartment, outside the centre AUD 3,787 / month AUD 3,142 – 4,658 10
10 sources
Electricity, 200 kWh AUD 117 / month AUD 117 – 117 3
3 sources
Electricity, 450 kWh AUD 200 / month AUD 200 – 200 3
3 sources
Water, 4 m³ AUD 85.23 / month AUD 85.23 – 85.23 2
2 sources
Water, 15 m³ AUD 123 / month AUD 123 – 123 2
2 sources
Gas, 100 kWh AUD 50.39 / month AUD 49.06 – 52.85 3
3 sources
Gas, 225 kWh AUD 74.66 / month AUD 72.79 – 78.19 3
3 sources

Internet & mobile

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Fixed internet, 100 Mbps or faster AUD 87.00 / month AUD 74.99 – 99.00 2
2 sources
Mobile plan, 10 GB or more AUD 40.20 / month AUD 32.59 – 47.80 2
2 sources

Groceries

Online retail prices of everyday items; a fixed basket of 15 items.

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
White rice AUD 2.40 / kg AUD 1.80 – 3.00 4
4 sources
Sandwich bread, 500 g loaf AUD 2.16 / loaf AUD 1.84 – 3.00 4
4 sources
Fresh milk AUD 1.85 / litre AUD 1.65 – 2.35 4
4 sources
Hen eggs AUD 0.48 / egg AUD 0.41 – 0.56 3
3 sources
Chicken breast fillet AUD 12.11 / kg AUD 10.99 – 14.46 4
4 sources
Fresh beef AUD 14.34 / kg AUD 12.98 – 15.40 4
4 sources
Tomatoes AUD 6.64 / kg AUD 3.99 – 8.70 4
4 sources
Potatoes AUD 3.56 / kg AUD 2.00 – 4.49 4
4 sources
Onions AUD 2.93 / kg AUD 2.50 – 3.49 4
4 sources
Lettuce AUD 3.45 / head AUD 2.99 – 3.90 2
2 sources
Apples AUD 6.19 / kg AUD 3.69 – 7.90 3
3 sources
Bananas AUD 5.20 / kg AUD 4.49 – 5.90 2
2 sources
Oranges AUD 2.87 / kg AUD 1.83 – 3.49 4
4 sources
Vegetable cooking oil AUD 3.94 / litre AUD 2.75 – 5.00 4
4 sources
Bottled water, 1.5 litres AUD 0.91 / bottle AUD 0.83 – 1.00 3
3 sources

Eating out

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Meal at an inexpensive restaurant (main course, soft drink) AUD 20.33 / meal AUD 18.00 – 23.00 3
3 sources
Meal at a mid-range restaurant (starter or dessert, main course, soft drink) AUD 45.33 / meal AUD 39.00 – 49.00 3
3 sources

Transport

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
Monthly public transport pass, adult AUD 202 / month AUD 191 – 217 3
1 source
Monthly public transport pass, child AUD 101 / month AUD 95 – 108 3
1 source

School fees (reference)

For reference only; not added to the total.

Item Average price Low – high Samples Sources
International school tuition, Grade 3 AUD 26,046 / year AUD 17,221 – 34,900 3
3 sources

How it is calculated

  1. Prices: each item is the average of samples read straight from the original source: supermarket web shops, official tariffs of electricity, water, gas, mobile and transport operators, rental listings and restaurant menus. No price-aggregator sites are used. Every item opens its list of sources. Rents are for apartments outside the city centre.
  2. Housing: 1 to 2 people rent a 1-bedroom apartment; 3 to 6 people rent a 3-bedroom apartment. The calculator accepts households of up to 6 people because the largest apartment in the data has 3 bedrooms.
  3. Electricity, water, gas: linear interpolation by household size between the 1-person level (electricity 200 kWh, water 4 m³, gas 100 kWh) and the 4-person level (electricity 450 kWh, water 15 m³, gas 225 kWh); above 4 people the same slope is extended. Gas is left out where most apartments cook on electricity.
  4. Groceries: a fixed basket of 15 everyday items at online retail prices, one basket per adult and 0.6 of a basket per child. It is not a household’s full food spending.
  5. Eating out: per adult, 8 meals at an inexpensive restaurant and 2 at a mid-range restaurant a month; children are not counted.
  6. Internet and mobile: one internet plan per household and one mobile plan per adult.
  7. Transport: one adult monthly pass per adult and one child monthly pass per child.
  8. International school fees and other reference items are shown for information and are not added to the total.
  9. Where an item lacks enough data, that part and the total read “Not enough data”. Prosperous Intelligence does not estimate in its place.
  10. Conversion to US dollars uses central-bank exchange rates fixed to one day for the whole batch; the rate date and the dates prices were read are on the Data sources page.

Methodology · Data sources

See also

Cost of Living Index (0–⁠100 scale)  · Country profile: Australia  · Cities in Australia  · All cities

Reference data, not financial advice. Prices change over time; this page shows the prices of the month stated at the top.