It actually depends, I used to live in the melbourne suburb as a grad student, I used to pay 800$/mo for 1 bedroom apartment. Now I am living in the US (in nort

It actually depends, I used to live in the melbourne suburb as a grad student, I used to pay 800$/mo for 1 bedroom apartment. Now I am living in the US (in northern VA, DC area) I pay 1200$/mo for the same standard of accommodation. In fact, the melbourne accommodation was better, w.r.t. the condition of the apartment and the degree of accessibility to the public amenities. The suburb where I am living now (in the NVA/DC) is literally a ghost town, where the melbourne suburb was very alive.