Where to live in Australia
We track 9 cities in Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. Average temperatures run from 12°C to 27°C. We estimate a couple needs €3,520 to €4,100 a month to live centrally. Australia sits in our high tax tier. For citizens from outside Australia and New Zealand, long-term residency is comparatively open.
12 questions, about 4 minutes, no account needed. Taking the quiz is free, and so is seeing your #1 city. Full results for both of you are a one-time US$12 (€12 in Europe).
- Tax tier
- High
- High personal income tax
- Languages
- English
- English everywhere
- Safety
- 58/100
- country-level
- Healthcare
- 78/100
- country-level
- Internet
- ~70 Mbps
- median fixed broadband
The 9 cities we track
| City | Size | Setting | Avg temp | Rain a year | Est. cost a month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adelaide | large | coastal | 16°C | 511 mm | €3,890 |
| Brisbane | large | coastal | 20°C | 1,159 mm | €3,990 |
| Canberra | mid-sized | near the coast | 13°C | 624 mm | €3,672 |
| Darwin | smaller | coastal | 27°C | 1,858 mm | €3,520 |
| Gold Coast | mid-sized | coastal | 21°C | 1,396 mm | €3,759 |
| Hobart | mid-sized | coastal | 12°C | 718 mm | €3,613 |
| Melbourne | major | coastal | 15°C | 616 mm | €4,094 |
| Perth | large | coastal | 19°C | 710 mm | €3,961 |
| Sydney | major | coastal | 17°C | 1,133 mm | €4,100 |
Source: City size from GeoNames, temperature from the Open-Meteo archive (2019 to 2023 averages), rainfall from TerraClimate (1991 to 2020 normals), coast distance from Natural Earth. Cost is our model estimate for a couple living centrally.
Taxes
Australia sits in our high tax tier: high personal income tax. The tier applies to every city here, and couples who cap tax below it will not see these cities in their results.
Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.
Residency and visas
Comparatively open, for people from outside Australia and New Zealand. Long-term residency runs through points-based skilled migration (independent, state-nominated, and regional streams), employer sponsorship, and an invitation-only national innovation/talent visa; the old investor and retirement visas are closed to new applicants.
Citizens of Australia and New Zealand have freedom-of-movement or simplified residency rights here.
For short visits, 1 of 198 passports can enter visa-free, 196 can get an e-visa or visa on arrival and 1 need a visa in advance.
Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).
Moving here from
What our data says for a couple who both hold one of these passports: entry, residency, taxes, costs and the cities that rank first.