Cost of living · 2026

What life in Australia costs

Real figures for five cities: rent, transport, salaries and your starting budget. Pick a city and compare.

Updated: 12 October 2026

Interactive

Compare cities week by week

Median asking rents (Domain, June quarter 2026) and official transport fares. Hover a row to see the source.

Unit rentA$780/wk

Median asking unit rent, Domain Rent Report June quarter 2026. Gold Coast is an estimate from Cotality (Q3 2025); no fresher median exists.

House rentA$850/wk

Median asking house rent, Domain, June quarter 2026. Sydney is at a record A$850/week.

TransportA$50/wk

Fares rechecked 12 October 2026. Opal weekly cap A$50. South East Queensland (Brisbane, Gold Coast) 50 cents a trip. Transperth SmartRider A$2.80, bank card A$3.50. Melbourne is five capped weekdays at the half-price daily cap of A$5.70, until 1 January 2027.

Your starting budget

Indicative ranges for a couple without children. They depend on the city and housing level. Practical estimates, not official statistics.

A$2,400–3,400

Bond (rental deposit)

Standard is 4 weeks of rent. Refunded when you move out if the place is in order, but frozen for the whole tenancy.

A$2,600–3,700

First month of rent

Usually 2 weeks upfront, but with the bond and utility connections the first month is the most expensive.

A$2,000–5,000

Setting up

Furniture, appliances, kitchenware, SIM, internet. Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree cut this dramatically.

A$10,000–20,000

2–3 month buffer

For the job-search period: rent, food, transport, insurance. The bigger the city, the faster it goes.

Money FAQ

Average full-time weekly earnings are A$2,051 before tax (ABS, November 2025 data). The minimum wage from 1 July 2026 is A$26.44/hour, or A$1,004.90 for a 38-hour week. Even entry-level jobs cover the basics.

Of the five in this guide, Melbourne is cheapest: median rents for both units and houses sit around A$600 a week (Domain, June quarter 2026). Sydney is the most expensive: A$780 for a unit and a record A$850 for a house.

The national rental vacancy rate is about 1.2% (SQM Research, May 2026): good apartments attract dozens of applications. A strong application with documents and references matters more than offering extra money.

A practical minimum for a couple is around A$15,000–25,000: bond and first month of housing, setting up, and a 2–3 month buffer while job hunting. With children or in Sydney, plan closer to the top of that range and beyond.

Inflation is running near 4% annually (ABS, May 2026). Rents are re-accelerating in Sydney and Brisbane and plateauing in Melbourne and Perth. Transport is getting cheaper in places: Queensland trips cost 50 cents, and Victoria is half-price until January 2027.

Rents: Domain Rent Report, June quarter 2026. Transport fares rechecked 12 October 2026.

Data sources

All materials are for information only and do not constitute migration or legal advice.