What is the cost of living in Melbourne? Find out more about what it’s like to live in this city
The cost of living in Melbourne is one of the concerns for people or families who want to move to live in this city, which is the second largest in all of Australia.
This is because, in addition to Melbourne being a large urban center, it still offers several gastronomic and cultural attractions, as well as close contact with nature.
In this article, we are going to talk a little about some data that estimate the cost of living in Melbourne considering, mainly, two scenarios:
- an adult single person with a university degree
- a family with two adults and two children of school age
Want to know more? Read on! 👇
Basic items that determine the cost of living in Melbourne
Before analyzing the scenarios, let’s talk a little about the cost of living in Melbourne based on the average value of some basic items, they are:
- rental;
- electricity/cooling/water/waste;
- home internet;
- public transportation;
- fuel;
- basic purchase.
Speaking of values ​​then, the cost of living in Melbourne for these basic items is estimated like this:
| Item | Medium cost |
| Monthly rent of a 1 bedroom apartment in the city center. | 2.020,94 A$ |
| Monthly rental of 1 bedroom apartment in the suburbs | 1.692,90 A$ |
| Monthly rent of a 3 bedroom apartment in the city center. | 3.811,55 A$ |
| Monthly rent of a 3 bedroom apartment in the suburbs. | 2.603,34 A$ |
| Electricity/cooling/water/garbage for 85m² apartment | 249,63 A$ |
| 60Mbps home internet | 81,50 A$ |
| Groceries | 1.992,94 |
Other factors influencing the cost of living in Melbourne
We know that the cost of living in Melbourne cannot be based only on the data provided above, as these are values ​​for basic items, and the daily life of a person or family may contain other expenses.
So we separate for demonstration other important elements to live in Melbourne and its average cost:
| Item | Medium cost |
| public transport prices | 4,60 A$ |
| 1-minute call charge for prepaid plan | 0,51 A$ |
| Monthly gym fee for 1 person | 73,99 A$ |
| Domestic beer (0.5L) | 6,56 A$ |
| 1 pair of jeans | 122,67 A$ |
| Cinema – international release | 23,00 A$ |
| Cheap restaurant meal | 25,00 A$ |
| Water (300ml bottle) | 3,45 A$ |
Scenarios to understand the cost of living in Melbourne
Here are two scenarios where we averaged the cost of living in Melbourne, so you can have a baseline
Single person
The cost of living in Melbourne for a single person is approximately A$3,606.18*.
For this, we consider a scenario in which this person has a lifestyle with moderate expenses:
- 1 bedroom apartment for rent in the city center.
- Lunch or dinner in restaurants about 3 days a month.
- Coffee away from home in moderation.
- Non-smoking.
- Entertainment with a frequency of once a week (cinema, nightlife).
- Alcoholic beverages consumed in moderation.
- Practicing sports and gym recurrently.
- No own car.
- Without using taxi.
- Public transport with about 5 round trips per week.
- Purchase clothes and shoes in moderation.
- No vacations and trips.
*This amount does not include insurance, health expenses, parking fees or domestic cleaning help, nor income tax.
A family
The cost for a family with 4 members, two adults, one teenager and one child is approximately 16,126.97A$*.
For this, we consider a scenario in which this family has a lifestyle with moderate expenses:
- 3 bedroom apartment for rent in the suburbs of the city.
- Lunch or dinner in restaurants about 3 days a month.
- Coffee away from home in moderation.
- No smoking members.
- Entertainment with frequency of once a week for each family member (cinema, nightlife).
- Alcoholic beverages consumed in moderation.
- All members practice sports and gym on a recurring basis.
- With own car.
- Without using taxi.
- Public transport with a monthly plan for 1 family member.
- Purchase clothes and shoes in moderation.
- With 1 vacation trip scheduled per year.
*This amount does not include insurance, health expenses, parking fees or domestic cleaning help, nor income tax.
After all, how is the cost of living in Melbourne?
In general, we can say that the cost of living in Melbourne is high, being the 2nd most expensive city to live in Australia, second only to Sydney.
But, if you or your family are looking for quality of life, jobs and entertainment in a large urban center, moving to Melbourne may be the ideal scenario!
Thinking of moving to Melbourne? Cool, we can help you! Talk to an ELP consultant, and request a free quote for your move.👇
