Last update: Oct 2026

Cost of Living Comparison Between Melbourne and Brighton

For one person, living costs are similar in Melbourne and in Brighton: $2,853 and $2,950 a month, rent and utilities included.

138

Cost of Living Index in Melbourne
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Melbourne Living Index
143

Cost of Living Index in Brighton
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Brighton Living Index

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Melbourne

🇦🇺 Australia

$2,853

/mo nomad

Brighton

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

$2,950

/mo nomad

Monthly Cost of Living

How much you'll spend in Melbourne and in Brighton

Real prices from locals and on-the-ground checks – rent, groceries, transit and the daily extras. Here's what a month in Melbourne and in Brighton actually costs, broken down by who's living it.

Monthly costs for one person with rent: $2,853 in Melbourne versus $2,950 in Brighton.

Melbourne $2,853
Brighton $2,950

Estimated couple costs with rent: $4,275 in Melbourne versus $4,214 in Brighton.

Melbourne $4,275
Brighton $4,214

Monthly costs for a family of three with rent: $5,697 in Melbourne versus $5,479 in Brighton.

Melbourne $5,697
Brighton $5,479

Living in Melbourne costs roughly 3% less than in Brighton, and outside of rent the biggest gap is in eating out.

Both cities are pricier than the global median: Melbourne 111% above, Brighton 118% above.

Meal at Budget Restaurant

$17.20 A$24.75

$25.54 £19.16

-32.65%

Three-Course Dinner for Two, Mid-Range

$83.1 A$120

$92.8 £69.6

-10.43%

Fast Food Meal (McDonalds, etc)

$12.43 A$17.88

$9.77 £7.33

27.23%

Cappuccino

$4.05 A$5.82

$5.33 £4.00

-24.02%

Coke/Pepsi/Fanta/Sprite (0.33 liter bottle)

$3.12 A$4.50

$3.93 £2.95

-20.61%

Water (0.33 liter bottle)

$2.46 A$3.54

$3.33 £2.50

-26.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter draught)

$9.52 A$13.71

$8.96 £6.72

6.25%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$8.16 A$11.74

$9.49 £7.12

-14.01%

Milk (1 liter)

$1.56 A$2.25

$1.95 £1.47

-20.00%

White Bread (500g)

$2.90 A$4.18

$2.06 £1.54

40.78%

Rice (white) (1kg)

$2.66 A$3.82

$2.12 £1.59

25.47%

Eggs

$5.37 A$7.72

$4.53 £3.40

18.54%

Local Cheese (1kg)

$10.67 A$15.36

$12.10 £9.08

-11.82%

Chicken Fillets (1kg)

$9.85 A$14.17

$9.40 £7.05

4.79%

Beef Round Steak (1kg)

$15.36 A$22.11

$15.08 £11.31

1.86%

Apples (1kg)

$4.17 A$6.00

$2.95 £2.22

41.36%

Banana (1kg)

$3.15 A$4.53

$1.91 £1.43

64.92%

Oranges (1kg)

$3.26 A$4.69

$2.90 £2.17

12.41%

Tomato (1kg)

$4.76 A$6.85

$3.76 £2.82

26.60%

Potato (1kg)

$3.06 A$4.41

$2.24 £1.68

36.61%

Onion (1kg)

$2.47 A$3.55

$1.80 £1.35

37.22%

Lettuce (1 head)

$2.45 A$3.52

$1.20 £0.90

104.17%

Water (1.5 liter bottle)

$1.63 A$2.34

$1.65 £1.24

-1.21%

Cigarettes 20 Pack (Marlboro, Camel)

$45.17 A$65.0

$23.98 £17.99

88.37%

Wine (Bottle)

$12.68 A$18.25

$11.11 £8.33

14.13%

Local Beer (0.5 liter bottle)

$5.69 A$8.18

$3.08 £2.31

84.74%

Imported Beer (0.33 liter bottle)

$5.23 A$7.53

$3.24 £2.43

61.42%

One-way Ticket (Public Transport)

$3.87 A$5.57

$3.94 £2.96

-1.78%

Public Transport Monthly Pass (Regular Price)

$142 A$204

$128 £96.4

10.50%

Taxi Start (Normal Tariff)

$4.54 A$6.53

$5.07 £3.81

-10.45%

Taxi (Normal Tariff) (1km)

$1.42 A$2.04

$2.62 £1.96

-45.80%

Taxi 1hour Waiting (Normal Tariff)

$30.59 A$44.01

$39.62 £29.72

-22.79%

Gasoline (1 liter)

$1.47 A$2.11

$2.09 £1.57

-29.67%

Midsize Hatchback 1.4l (Volkswagen Golf, Toyota Prius, Honda Civic, etc)

$28.9K A$41.5K

$38.4K £28.8K

-24.85%

Compact Sedan 1.6l (Toyota Corolla, Mazda3, Kia K4, Hyundai Elantra, etc)

$25.9K A$37.3K

$41.1K £30.9K

-37.00%

Utilities for 2 People in 2-bedroom Apartment (Heating, Electricity, Gas, Water, Garbage) (85m2)

$235 A$338

$291 £218

-19.23%

SIM Card Monthly Plan (Calls and 10GB+ Data)

$27.45 A$39.51

$16.90 £12.68

62.43%

Internet (50+ Mbps, Unlimited Data)

$56.1 A$80.8

$44.87 £33.66

25.09%

Gym Membership (Monthly)

$50.1 A$72.1

$51.2 £38.38

-2.05%

Tennis Court (1 Hour on Weekend)

$21.49 A$30.93

$26.89 £20.17

-20.08%

Cinema Ticket

$17.76 A$25.56

$17.32 £12.99

2.54%

Preschool or Kindergarten, Full Day, Private, 1 Child (Monthly)

$2,385 A$3,432

$2,062 £1,547

15.67%

International Primary School, 1 Child (Yearly)

$29.7K A$42.7K

$30.8K £23.1K

-3.56%

Jeans (Levis 501 Or Similar)

$79.2 A$114

$89.9 £67.5

-11.98%

Summer Dress (H&M, Zara, etc)

$49.49 A$71.2

$45.51 £34.14

8.75%

Sport Shoes (Adidas, Nike)

$118 A$170

$102 £76.8

15.67%

Men's Leather Business Shoes

$132 A$190

$90.7 £68.1

45.66%

1-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$1,763 A$2,537

$1,887 £1,416

-6.56%

1-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$1,411 A$2,031

$1,480 £1,110

-4.63%

3-bedroom Apartment, City Center (Monthly)

$3,522 A$5,069

$2,833 £2,125

24.35%

3-bedroom Apartment, Outside City Center (Monthly)

$2,525 A$3,634

$2,233 £1,675

13.10%

Buy Apartment in City Center (m2)

$7,136 A$10.3K

$8,467 £6,352

-15.72%

Buy Apartment Outside City Center (m2)

$6,355 A$9,144

$6,148 £4,612

3.37%

Average Monthly Net Salary (After Tax)

$4,258 A$6,128

$3,380 £2,536

25.97%

20-Year Fixed Mortgage Interest Rate (Annual %)

5.9

5.12

15.23%

CityCost data is based on AI and user input – minor inaccuracies may occur.

Last update for Melbourne: October 17, 2026

Last update for Brighton: October 18, 2026

Monthly budget structure

Share of the monthly basket for one person, rent included.

Accommodation & Living

Melbourne

$1.4K 49.5%

Brighton

$1.5K 50.2% 4.9% $69

Groceries & Markets

Melbourne

$388 13.6%

Brighton

$331 11.2% 14.8% $57

Monthly Utilities & Internet

Melbourne

$319 11.2%

Brighton

$353 12% 10.7% $34

Eating Out

Melbourne

$310 10.9%

Brighton

$390 13.2% 26.1% $81

Clothing & Footwear

Melbourne

$171 6%

Brighton

$148 5% 13.4% $23

Getting Around

Melbourne

$169 5.9%

Brighton

$162 5.5% 3.9% $6.7

Sport & Entertainment

Melbourne

$86 3%

Brighton

$86 2.9% 0.2% $0.2

Cost Breakdown

A one-bedroom apartment in the center runs $1,763 in Melbourne and $1,887 in Brighton. Housing cost is often the main lever when comparing two cities.

Melbourne pays 26% more on average while also being the cheaper of the two. The combined effect is a noticeably stronger local purchasing power.

Dining out: $83.0 in Melbourne vs $93.0 in Brighton. Groceries flip the comparison at $388 vs $331, with Brighton cheaper for home cooking.

Good to know

🇦🇺 Melbourne

🇬🇧 Brighton

🕒 Local time

23:29 11:29 PM

13:29 1:29 PM

10 h behind Melbourne

🌤 Weather

👥 Population

5,031,195

256,000

💱 Currency

Australian Dollar AUD $

British Pound GBP £

📈 Exchange rate

1 AUD = 0.695 USD

1 AUD = 0.618 EUR

1 GBP = 1.33 USD

1 GBP = 1.19 EUR

Exchange rates and currency converter

GBP, USD, EUR to AUD – Australian Dollar Converter

🇺🇸 United States Dollar ($)

🇦🇺 Australian Dollar ($)

Australian Dollar exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 1.44 AUD (1 AUD = 0.695 USD). 1 EUR = 1.62 AUD (1 AUD = 0.618 EUR).

British Pound exchange rates as of October 20, 2026: 1 USD = 0.75 GBP (1 GBP = 1.33 USD). 1 EUR = 0.843 GBP (1 GBP = 1.19 EUR).

USD to AUD in detail →

On the map

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Between locations

Melbourne Brighton 16,920 km ≈ 22 h nonstop flight

From you

Melbourne
Brighton

Distances are measured in a straight line. Your location is detected approximately.

City Median Internet Speeds Comparison (Updated April 2026)

The chart highlights the Precision Threshold for mobile and fixed broadband internet speeds, updated quarterly.

Digital Nomad Cost of Living Index

Melbourne vs Brighton: Cost of Living - Frequently Asked Questions

Melbourne and Brighton differ by about 3% in total monthly costs ($2,853 vs $2,950 including rent). Melbourne is meaningfully more affordable – a gap that matters a lot on a fixed or modest income.

Average pay runs 26% higher in Melbourne, which matters when comparing affordability. Whether that higher income actually nets you more depends on your spending habits and housing choices.

Rent for a central apartment: $1,763 in Melbourne versus $1,887 in Brighton. Housing is usually the single largest factor when comparing overall living costs between the two.

Childcare runs $2,385 in Melbourne versus $2,062 in Brighton. Over years of preschool, even a modest monthly gap compounds into a major financial factor for families.

Shoppers in Brighton pay roughly 17% less for everyday groceries. It's an unusual reversal that partly offsets higher costs elsewhere.

Both cities are expensive relative to $3,000. Melbourne is the more realistic option, but even there you'll need to be disciplined with housing, food, and fun money.

Both cities offer a good standard of living with different trade-offs. Neither is objectively better – the right pick depends on what matters most: affordability, career, cultural scene, or climate.

Safety-wise, Melbourne and Brighton are on par. Petty crime is typical for cities this size, and most residents feel comfortable going about their daily routines in either place.

Expats usually find Melbourne gentler on the wallet – expenses run 3% less than in Brighton. Beyond cost, consider language, visa policies, and how big the international community is in each city.