✦ Compare
Melbourne vs
Montreal
Cost-of-living comparison and salary equivalence. Enter your current salary to see what you'd need to earn to live equally well.
To keep the same standard of living in Montreal, CA, you'd need
$62,846 / year
Montreal, CA is 16% cheaper overall
Category breakdown (Montreal, CA vs Melbourne, AU)
- Housing-26%
- Food & groceries-5%
- Transport-20%
- Utilities-9%
- Healthcare-16%
- Goods & services-9%
Median 1-bed rent
$1,800 /mo
Melbourne, AU overview →
Median 1-bed rent
$1,150 /mo
Montreal, CA overview →
◎ How Melbourne, AU and Montreal, CA compare
Index vs the US average — the line marks 100. Lower is cheaper.
▤ Full comparison
| Melbourne, AU | Montreal, CA | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost of living | ||
| Overall cost index | 118 | 99 |
| Housing | 138 | 102 |
| Food | 112 | 106 |
| Transport | 100 | 80 |
| Utilities | 108 | 98 |
| Healthcare | 95 | 80 |
| Goods & services | 116 | 105 |
| Housing | ||
| Rent, 1-bed centre | $1,800/mo | $1,150/mo |
| Rent, 1-bed outside | $1,350/mo | $900/mo |
| Rent, 3-bed centre | $3,400/mo | $2,200/mo |
| Buy price / m² centre | $9,000 | $5,500 |
| Money & purchasing power | ||
| $1,000 goes as far as | $847 | $1,011 |
| Inexpensive meal | $17 | $18 |
| Monthly transit pass | $110 | $70 |
| Taxes | ||
| Income tax (top rate) | 45% | 33% |
| VAT / sales tax | 10% | 5% |
| Corporate tax | 30% | 26.5% |
| Economy & salaries | ||
| Avg net salary | $3,900/mo | $3,300/mo |
| Minimum wage | $2,600/mo | $1,900/mo |
| GDP per capita | $65,130 | $55,698 |
| Inflation (annual) | 2.9% | 2.1% |
| Work & digital nomad | ||
| Digital-nomad visa | No | Yes |
| English proficiency | Native | High |
| Coworking spaces | 70 | 50 |
| Time zone | UTC+10 | UTC-5 |
| Quality of life | ||
| Safety index | 68 | 72 |
| Healthcare index | 85 | 78 |
| Pollution index | 30 | 35 |
| Internet speed | 90 Mbps | 180 Mbps |
| Walkability | 78 | 78 |
| Public transport | 80 | 78 |
| Family-friendly | 74 | 74 |
| Tap water | Safe to drink | Safe to drink |
| Life expectancy | 83 yr | 82 yr |
| LGBTQ+ acceptance | High | High |
| Climate | ||
| January avg | +20 °C | -9 °C |
| July avg | +10 °C | +21 °C |
| Sunny days / year | 180 | 160 |
| Rainfall / year | 600 mm | 1,000 mm |
| Connectivity | ||
| Flight to nearest hub | 1.5 h | 2 h |
Taxes & Economy & salaries: Australia vs Canada. Estimates use approximate cost-of-living indices (US average = 100) and are for general guidance only.
Good to know before you move to Melbourne
Coffee, laneways and a famously liveable city — cheaper than Sydney, with famously changeable weather.
- Currency
- Australian dollar ($ AUD)
- Languages
- English
- Time zone
- UTC+10
- Internet
- 90 Mbps
- English
- Native language
- Safety
- 68/100
- Climate
- ❄ 20°C · ☀ 10°C · 180 sunny days/yr
- Tap water
- Safe to drink
- Power
- I · 230V
- Driving
- Left-hand side
- Popular areas
- Fitzroy · St Kilda · Carlton
Good to know before you move to Montreal
A bilingual, European-flavoured metropolis and the most affordable of Canada's big cities — rents well below Toronto or Vancouver, a huge festival and food culture, and cheap universities. The catch is the long, brutally cold winter and Quebec's French-first bureaucracy.
- Currency
- Canadian dollar ($ CAD)
- Languages
- English, French
- Time zone
- UTC-5
- Internet
- 180 Mbps
- English
- Widely spoken
- Safety
- 72/100
- Climate
- ❄ -9°C · ☀ 21°C · 160 sunny days/yr
- Tap water
- Safe to drink
- Power
- A/B · 120V
- Driving
- Right-hand side
- Popular areas
- Plateau-Mont-Royal · Mile End · Griffintown · Rosemont
Plan your move to Melbourne
Everything you will book for the move — sorted, and updated as we add partners.
- FlightsCheapvuelos
- FlightsAviasales
- Car rentalEconomybookings
- Airport transferKiwitaxi
- Tours & ticketsKlook
- InsuranceSafetyWing
- eSIM / dataAiralo
- Luggage storageRadical Storage
Sponsored
Plan your move to Montreal
Everything you will book for the move — sorted, and updated as we add partners.
- FlightsCheapvuelos
- FlightsAviasales
- Car rentalEconomybookings
- Airport transferKiwitaxi
- Tours & ticketsKlook
- InsuranceSafetyWing
- eSIM / dataAiralo
- Luggage storageRadical Storage
- Parking & carWay.com
Sponsored
? Frequently asked questions
Moving from Melbourne to Montreal: cheaper or more expensive?
Moving from Melbourne to Montreal, your cost of living will be roughly 16% cheaper. Montreal’s cost-of-living index is 99 versus 118 for Melbourne (US = 100). Use the salary tool above to see the income you’d need to keep the same lifestyle.
Is Melbourne cheaper than Montreal?
Montreal is about 16% cheaper than Melbourne overall — its cost-of-living index is 99 versus 118 for Melbourne.
How much do you need to earn in Montreal to live like in Melbourne?
To keep the same standard of living, a $75,000 salary in Melbourne is worth about $62,846 in Montreal. Enter your own figure in the calculator above.
Which has lower taxes, Melbourne or Montreal?
Canada has the lower top income-tax rate — 33% versus 45% in Australia.
◷ More comparisons from Melbourne
Estimates use approximate cost-of-living indices (US average = 100) and are for general guidance only.