The true cost of living across Australia has been laid bare, as new Canstar data reveals how much Aussies need to spend to live in our major capitals.
From a family of four needing to spend just $60,000 in one city to more than $100,000 in another, the disparity across the nation is enormous.
Canstar director of research Sally Tindall said just getting by was getting harder for people.
“Life can be incredibly tough living in an area where cost-of-living pressures place a huge burden on your day-to-day finances,” she said.
“While the cost of housing in some of these areas has been traditionally more affordable, property price rises in some key hot spots has thrown that equation out of kilter.
Canstar director of research Sally Tindall. Picture: supplied.
“Anyone feeling price pressures can try and take matters into their own hands, whether that’s switching their mortgage to a cheaper lender, taking a leap and investing in a longer-term solution such as solar panels, or even being smarter about how, where and when you shop can make a difference in the monthly budget.
“If you’re one financial hiccup away from breaking your budget, take action now before the dam wall breaks.”
Here’s what you need to spend across our four major capital cities:
QUEENSLAND
South East Queenslanders are forking out up to $20,000 more than Melburnians to pay for essentials like rent, groceries, and even beer.
Exclusive research by Canstar shows SEQ homeowners are paying nearly $17,000 more a year for living costs than their Melbourne counterparts, while for tenants, the difference was almost $20,000.
The Canstar analysis looked at median house and rent prices along with annual costs such as groceries, insurance, petrol, electricity, beer, coffee and takeaway.
The results showed Gold Coast tenants were paying $75,394 on average a year in basic living costs, making the region more expensive than any Australian capital city.
Queenslanders are forking out significantly more than Melbournians. Picture: Supplied
In Brisbane, tenants were spending $59,230 a year.
That figure was $55,951 in Melbourne, $55,287 in Adelaide and $50,860 in Adelaide.
Sydney was more expensive than Brisbane at $65,612 a year, but still $9,782 more affordable than the Gold Coast.
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The true cost of living in the Festival State has been laid bare, as new Canstar figures break down the everyday living expenses regular South Australian families are required to stump up just to survive.
And believe it or not, if you’re renting, it’s just $664 less than it you’d be paying to live in Melbourne.
South Australians are feeling the pinch. Picture: Supplied by Colliers
According to its research of the expenses faced by a family of four with two children, mortgage repayments account for $47,811 of the annual household expenditure, and rental payments $32,850.
This puts SA mortgage costs above that of Geelong, Perth, Hobart and Darwin, and rental costs above both Hobart and Geelong, and just behind Melbourne at $33,006.
The average South Australian family’s weekly grocery shop comes to $11,855 a year, petrol $2086, electricity $2170 and water $799.
NEW SOUTH WALES
A six-figure salary used to be the mark of a good income – now it’s the amount the average Sydney family will need to spend each year simply to live in the Harbour City.
New data on the full costs of living in Sydney, including everything from petrol to groceries, energy and housing costs, has revealed a family of four needs to spend $105,000 a year just to get by.
Living in Sydney has also became nearly $30,000 a year more expensive than Melbourne, according to the Canstar research – but incomes in the NSW capital are only marginally higher.
Living costs in Sydney are the highest in the nation. Pic: Supplied by James D. Morgan/Getty Images for Cunard
Sydney was one of Australia’s cheaper places to live when it came to electricity and petrol costs, along with the prices of groceries, but remained by far the most expensive city because of housing costs.
VICTORIA
Melbourne families are delaying kids or plans to upsize their home as growing bills and essential costs piled on top of mortgages now mean it costs $75,000 a year to live here.
Canstar analysis covering everything from typical water bills, petrol costs and groceries for a couple and two kids, as well as a mortgage for a $930,000 typical house, shows the city is now the third most-expensive capital for families to own a home and live in nationwide.
In total, they calculated the annual cost of owning a house in Melbourne at $75,156, just behind Brisbane’s $79,460, though well below the $105,282, typical cost in Sydney.
You need to spend almost $75k to live in Melbourne now. Picture: Sarah Matray
Forecasts that both Victorian rents and home prices will rise in 2025 could make things even worse for breadwinners, with the figure already chewing through almost the entirety of the capital’s average annual wage.
The Canstar analysis does not include council rates or health insurance, meaning that in most parts of the city the cost of owning a home wipes out every cent of the city’s $79,000 average wage, according to January figures from compensation management platform PayScale.
This does not include that a sizeable chunk of that wage would be lost to income tax.
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