Australia has some of the least expensive cities in the world. The economy is somewhat influenced by Western culture but the per capita gross domestic product (GDP) when it comes to the purchasing power of the country is higher compared to the United Kingdom.
In the United Nations Human Development Index in 2006, Australia made third place while also making sixth place in The Economist 2005 quality-of-life index. In the meantime, economists are foreseeing an upcoming crisis due to the poor performance of GDP. It has increased by 7% and has the fourth biggest deficit in terms of current accounts.
However, due to other areas that Australia has been excelling very much in recent years, foreign debt is still significantly low and the economic state is generally as stable as it can get. Thus the cost of living in the country is still dependent on the individual’s circumstances and lifestyle. As reported last June 7 2009 in the Australia Expat Forum:
Food prices are running at 2.5 x UK cost of goods ( logistical costs / population density cited as reason why ?? )
Wine / Beer & Spirit prices ( retail ) currently running at up to 300 % !
Some of the notable cities that boast quality living and expenses are Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne. All of Australia’s major cities made it in the top 30 best places for expatriates. In Western Australia, the cost of living is even lower. Migrants can expect nothing less when it comes to rent space, transportation, education, commodities and leisure.
Compared to any other place in the United Kingdom, all of the cities and provinces in Australia significantly offer much cheaper living conditions not to mention the added financial and educational benefits provided to every citizen. In 2004, the World Competitiveness Yearbook remarked that Australia is the third best worldwide country when it comes to low cost of living.
Food and Drinks Cost in Australia
An average family of four would expect to spend around 500 euro every month for food and drinks. Usual meats in Australia are either lamb or beef which is acquired and processed locally. Fish is generally cheap but cities located near the sea and ocean will charge more for their catch.
Fruits and vegetables are very easy to come by. Milk and beef are probably the cheapest commodities in the country since there are virtually several hundreds of cow ranches located throughout the country. Australian wine is also very affordable and water is fresh, clean and free. One of the biggest industries in Australia is their alcoholic beverage industry, owing to the penchant for wine and merriment at any time of the day.
What would cost more are imported products like cereals, biscuits, beer and imported fish. Australia is widely popular for exporting milk, beef for world-famous steaks and some exotic products like kangaroo meat and King Island cheeses. New South Wales offers rock oysters and Illabo milk-fed lamb, Victoria offers Meredith lamb and Gippsland beef, South Australia is known for its scallops and tuna while Queensland has great fruits like Bowen mangoes and papaya that are commonly exported. Other exotic food products are crocodile, shark, ostrich and emu meat. Everything that is acquired locally is very affordable.
Clothing and Accessories Cost in Australia
Locally made Australian clothes and items are cheap while imported ones are expensive. Citizens equally wear traditional and modern fashion wear. People can find several products available, especially clothes made from local Chinese material. A lot of the preferred cut and color of Australian clothes today stemmed from Chinese culture brought by early migrants during the 1800s. Silk, chiffon and velvet are some examples that are still used to make shawls and coats. In terms of local accessories, there are several cheap items in flea shops and bazaars like bead necklaces and bracelets as well as wooden earrings and anklets that all have aboriginal roots.
Australia also doesn’t lag behind when it comes to modern fashion. Although the locals typically prefer a more casual appearance, several designers can be found in most of the major cities. Victoria is still considered as the most fashionable place in Australia. The clothes and accessories designed by local designers are expensive since most are created for exportation purposes. The products are still made available to locals if they want to and can be purchased after fashion festivals and publicized catwalk shows. The Australian fashion industry is doing very well which is why the country is known worldwide for textile and ingenious creation of design. As posted on Australia Expat Forum last January 24, 2009, the average costs for casual clothes are as follows:
Clothes
– Mens business suit – $600
- Mens business shirt – $80
- Mens business shoes – $120
- Surfy brand TShirt = $50
- Surfy brand boardshorts = $90
- Pair of “surfy thongs” (flip/flops) = $20
- Pair of “Bonds” underwear = $14
- Pair of running/gym shoes – Asics/****/Reebok etc = $100-300
Housing Costs in Australia
Australia is in need of more immigrants, and this is the reason why there are several housing options available for everyone’s comfort and preferences. People can choose from single room apartments to small houses with yard space to huge areas or condominiums downtown. Most Australians prefer having a house and lot in suburban neighborhoods.
Land is very much in excess in comparison with the actual number of residents in any given state. Housing in major cities will generally cost more compared to living out in the province and farmlands. On average, a family of four will spend around 400 euro every month for rental or mortgage. If you are in the hunt for a house and lot, here are the latest price figures from the major cities are indicated below:
- Sydney $528,500 (£215,400)
- Melbourne $398,200 (£162,300)
- Brisbane $388,200 (£158,200)
- Adelaide $355,800 (£144,800)
- Canberra $488,800 (£199,000)
- Perth $503,300 (£205,200)
- Darwin $421,000 (£171,700)
- Hobart $258,000 (£105,200)
Utilities are very affordable and some states provide free clean water to residents. A typical family will have a bill of around 100 euro every month for electricity and water consumption. Generally, middle class citizens get to buy their own house and lot after eight years. Giving an initial deposit and applying for a bank loan is common practice. Renting apartments and condominiums are not common practice compared to the United Kingdom. Public housing is also offered for lower class citizens. Part of their income automatically goes to rent.
Services Costs in Australia
The Australian government gives national health policies to all citizens and immigrants. Health services are subsidized and all medical services, pharmaceuticals and health institutions are provided financial assistance. Almost 10% of the country’s per capita GDP goes to the health sector. Technology and professional training is generally up to date.
Australia also gives importance to education and every individual up to 17 years of age is ordered to stay in school. Public schools are free with additional allowances provided to students. The costs are partly or wholly subsidized by the government. Students can also opt to study in private institutions and universities provided that they pay back their tuition once they start working.
Employment Costs in Australia
At present, Australia is in great need of health care professionals especially nurses. Other jobs available for expatriates are positions in the fields of information technology, pharmaceuticals, accounting, education, domestic travel and transportation as well as marketing. Tourism and export are the two main things that comprise the bulk of the nation’s finances. The taxing scheme in Australia makes high-income earners pay over 45% of their income as tax. Over ten million people in Australia are employed with the unemployment rate at 5.8% as of 2009.
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I believe in most people's comments: the fundamental differences are: COMPETITION & SMALL ECONOMY (Economy of Scale)
I think Government's interference is one thing, but not really the main factor – however, Australian Governments are usually short-visiioned evidenced by the lack of infrastructure.
But whether Labor or Liberal – we only have Coles & Woolworths – this was what, over the past 20 years. For many Aussies, u do not even know how much monopoly companies have controlled Australia. For example: Toll Holdings controls almost all the transportations, which is why transportation cost is so high, then we have Caltex which controls the refinenary, then we have Cabcharge which controls all of the credit card payments for taxis…and there are only 2 credit card processing companies in Australia.
All these mean consumers have no powers at all.
North America & Europe, on the other hand – consumers have much more power, too much power perhaps. You will see Costco competes with Wal-Mart, or Target, or Sears…etc almost every corner. I run a biz here, and credit card payment charge is 1/10th to that in Australia.
When comes to mortgage and banking, service here is top-notch, branches are usually open 7 days, not much queue at all, you get a personal banker even if u just have 1 account with $100…what about OZ? Call centres after call centres…
Insurance is the same thing – I was buying my auto insurance, and I got 25 quotations…everyone is different – how about in OZ: NRMA, QBE and AAMI??
I moved here from the US after reading news how strong Australian economy is and took the job offer here.
It is not – the middle class here is struggling so bad, many families are struggling, sure, they don't have the meltdown, but those who have mortgage are paying 7% or 8% mortgage, and the housing price is way over-priced and not very good quality house as well.
We used to complain about our education system in the US – here…no school-bus, no lunch, nothing..and you still have to pay several hundred dollars a year.
Just about everything is 2 to 4 times more expensive here. Australian people are very nice people in general, but all these cost of living stress have been very hard for many families here – many families are on 3 jobs now, but because of the high tax, high living cost issues – many are struggling to even have the ends meet.
The whole health insurance is a completely misconception – most families are paying $300 to $400 a month (say family or 4 or 5) in private insurance – but that does not cover a lot. My colleague took an ambulance last month and he paid $600 for it, which is amazingly expensive…lucky he has the private healthcare to cover some.
I went down to Bondi Beach last week, and before I knew it, I had to pay a lot for parking..in OZ, you can only enjoy life if you are on very high salary…
hi all i have been given the chance to live and work in oz (Perth) but im not shore if we will be able to afford it. i have no savings to bring with me but the first 8 weeks rent is free and then will will rent for the first 12 months. how much are we looking at paying out on bills each month including rent on a 2 bed house out side the cite . also my wife has a condition so she needs medical drugs on a regular basis would we pay for these or have they got a nhs service the uk
Better find out the cost first – and if your wife is eligible for the healthcare here, otherwise, medical cost is very expensive in Australia without medicare – and medicare only covers ver few conditions – you may need a private healthcare as 95% of Australian families have and it is very expensive. Perth is the most expensive city to live, my friend was renting a 2 bedroom apartment for over $2500 a month – and it was a very small apartment. Check out http://www.realestate.com.au on prices…grocery in Perth is the most expensive in Australia; but depends on your job – typically, we will say, unless your before tax income is $100,000, otherwise, forget about living here if you have a family. Don't forget the tax rate is also higher here.
In my honest and personal opinion – Australia is amongst the most expensive place to live on earth, but New Zealand being much higher. Over the past 10 years, I have lived around the world…here is the rank of living cost of the 6 places I have lived in.
USA: Most affordable
Canada: 2nd
Taiwan: 3rd
UK: 4th
Australia: 5th
New Zealand: Worst
Australia gets you in multiple hidden taxes – they don't even reveal what kind of taxes are being imposed. In addition to GST, they actually get in you all sorts of import tariff, sales tax for some items, I have no idea..it's so complicated and not transparent, and the banks in Australia are absolutely bandits, worst service, and highest cost…in North America and Asia, you have personal bankers to help you out – in Australia, there are no personal bankers…and the monthly fee is 3 times to my bank account in US & Canada.
I left Australia in 2009, and not looking back at all..
USA & Canada remain the best place to live despite of the problems they face now…yes, cost is rising as well, but at least not to the extent like NZ or Australia.
I moved here from UK last January, boy, it is a real struggle here…it is so expensive, and summers are so hot and long…food is really bad here for the price you have paid. Maybe I should move to other parts of UK instead of immigration, that is problem most people do not realize, you should consider where to move within your country first..I now have lived in Sydney & Melbourne, frankly, there are no differences. Yes, there are jobs, but the living cost is so high that it is impossible to make any savings. I think I will be moving back to UK or USA next year when I finished this contract, I won't be renewing it…
Gotta do more research before you came here, this forum provides a lot of honest opinions about the true cost in Australia. I wished this forum was around when we moved here – the reality and the expectation is so big in Australia that is way beyond our imagination. Even though we had brought in extra 20% of savings to cover the initial set-up cost, the living cost is so high that our savings had just disappeared so fast on essential items.
For the price they sell their furniture, cars here…you can just get 2nd hand furniture, clothing, cars in Australia and you pay higher price than what you pay for new ones in Europe or North America.
The portion here is very small for food, grocery items, they sell the same food as in Europe or North America but change to smaller packaging…
Australian businesses are very greedy businesses, they make a margin when they introduced GST, when they allowed banks to pass on transaction fees, they use every excuse to increase their price all the time "Oh..to cover our cost"…
It is sad, it is not the same Australia we once really loved before, I think I will be the next on the move, most of our friends (both Aussies and immigrants) have left last 5 years…
I live in Melbourne which is considered as a the most affordable city in Australia..and you call this affordable?
I have lived many of what considered as the most expensive cities in North America like Boston, San Jose, San Francisco – which are much higher than average American cities, but their salary are also much higher.
Big problem in Australia is tax is much-much higher, both the income tax, and the hidden taxes. The healthcare just covers the basic, it does not even cover ambulance, my friend was in Sydney on ambulance ride, and he got a bill for $500!
This means, everybody also needs private healthcare, when u compare this, around $300 to $400 a month for private healthcare for family, we paid around $500 in the US per month – that's just $100 difference a month, but we pay much higher tax in Australia, the average would be close to 30% easily.
That's just tax, things like gasoline is above $4.70 per gallon often, even above $5.00, food is very expensive here due to lack of competition.
I am moving back this year, nice experience, but not worthwhile to live here.
This site has some good input on current situation. I am a dual citizen of Australia and USA and have been offered a job in Perth for about $150,000 in mining/oil sector. When I look at the housing costs they look pretty high as you need to spend at least $750K for a decent place which is 20+K from the Perth CBD. Costs of cars, appliances is also higher. Probably will take alot of start-up costs to try to equal what we already have here in California (e.g. 3 cars, albeit older, with no car loans). There is also a stamp duty of about $30K when you buy a house. Tax rates are higher. I was thinking that this might be a good experience for my 2 boys (ages 14 & 16) who are Australian citizens but have not lived there yet (as we have been overseas). So, on one hand it sounds like a good experience. On the other hand probably will not save much as it may take time to recover all the start up costs. This is even with a fairly decent income. A tough call as to what to do. We could just rent the place in California and try but not sure if kids will enjoy having their life turned upside down. May or may not be worth it.
I would suggest a summer vacation – maybe twice. I am having the same issue as well, it's not worth it to move from USA to Australia, especially if you are in California. We were there a few years ago, decided moving back to Australia, really regret it, now we are moving "back" to Australia. Yes, it is a nice experience – but if it is just for experience – long term holiday is a good idea.
Especially that summer vacation in the US = winter in WA, the best time to live in WA.
If you go for renting, and probably shared accommodation or some kind of sharing / exchange…
If your family really really likes it – then you can take the offer.
I know, $150,000 – you can get so much in California, but in Australia, just a modest life in an average suburb. My friend just moved from Brisbane, CA to Brisbane, QLD…she really regret it…
Mind you, stamp duty on cars are also very high in Australia…we figured that for a life that on $65,000 in the USA, you need around $150,000 to $180,000 in Australia, which is why we decided to move.
We decided not to move to Perth and stay in California. I figured my income would need to be double in Perth relative to California as interest rates are much higher, taxes higher and housing costs higher and cost of living higher. In addition, travel costs are much higher when you go on vacation overseas. Would have made sense 20 years ago when homes were cheap in Perth but no longer. Cheers, John
Someone just sent me that Australia is the Happiest Place in the World…what a joke, how do people take these surveys?
These people must have not taken surveys from Aussies…I thought I am a big loser as I am struggling, then I ask around my mates and family members, literally, everyone is struggling financially even for doctors, and those on high income earners.
Recent survey shows that the majority of Australians are worried about cost of living. Their biggest concerns now are : 1) Living Cost, 2) Healthcare, 3) Mortgage / Property..
Most people also disagree on Government's published CPI rate, most people feel that the actual inflation is between 8% to 10%.
Immigration is now a very popular topic in Australia, one industry is booming, which is the migration agency – as Australians are increasingly looking to move elsewhere.
Last year, it broke 100,000 – which was up from 45,000 just a few years ago. This year, they are expecting 120,000 Australians will leave permanently – and most of these are skilled professionals..and for the first time, more "local Aussies" are leaving, so not just immigrants returning home for various reasons (like taking care of family members, business..etc).
Yes, we are getting people into Australia, but most of them are international students, or professionals with limited experience…so the talent is flowing out, which is a bad news. I think someone used the word "Brain Drainage" as a problem in Australia…
Hi to everyone..would like to seek your friendly advice.
I am a Filipino with just 1 wife =) and 3 kids and leaving in Philippines. There is an offer for me to work in Sydney with 457Visa.
The offer is AUD97k and they shoulder the education fee of my 3 kids. Will this be enough to live comfortably in Sydney?
Thank you in advance.
Find out the following:
1) How much would be the tax? I think it will be at least 30% tax as I was on $95,000 before, but only gets $60,000+ ..
2) Work out if $97,000 includes your pension (superannuation), which is around 10% of income, if that includes your pension, you are getting 10% less
3) Find out about medical insurance – if they can include private healthcare, I am a family of 4, we paid $330 per month with MBF, I heard if you are an expat or with 457, you could be paying much more …better confirm that
Find out how these 3 items will impact on your net income.
It's good they will shoulder the education fee as it is very expensive in Australia.
$97,000 would be enough for a mid-tier area, but not for a top tier areas – find somewhere that is convenient for commuting so u can save in transportation as gas price is very high in Australia. I was on $98,000 package before, enough for the family but hardly saved anything each month…
As an expat, I had been fortunate able to work in different places, my average income is around $120,000 to $150,000 p.a. Here is my observation: I had lived in Australia, Canada, Singapore and USA last few years.
First, you have to compare apples to apples – so it's point less to compare Singapore to USA for instance, or New York City to Adelaide…
1. Cost of living: As most have said: Australia's living cost is very high, and high tax system makes even much higher. Housing cost is lower than Singapore, but that's incomparable equation.
2. Education: Hard call – depends on your school really. North America: plenty of schools to choose from (from best to worst), good school-bus, meals systems. Cons: North America is very competitive, which can be a disadvantage for some…coaching is very common in North America, exams all the time…actually, North American education is almost like Asian education system. If you end up in a bad class (by grading), then it's hard to move up.
3. Quality of life (eg. entertainment, travel): Well, Australia is only Australia, and it's a small country – you can't compare it to the USA which has 20 times more population than Australia. Australia will NEVER have a New York City, and never will have a Disney World…it's not viable for businesses like that.
Each country has its own natures – USA has plenty of landscapes and very distinct 4 seasons, just like Canada, Australia does not have winter which is a good thing for some people.
Living cost alone, Australia is certainly amongst the highest compared to Canada and USA, but who isn't? USA & Canada continue to be the 2 most affordable societies / countries to live, and this is likely to continue for many many more years…so, why bother to compare?
This is my personal experience, just for your comparison
Originally from Sydney, but I had also lived in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Canberra.
Moved to Toronto, Canada last year.
Difference?
1) I now own a house in Toronto as opposed to owing a house in Sydney
2) For the price I paid, it is 60% less than what it would cost me in Sydney
3) For the size: It is bigger than a house I can get in Sydney
4) We paid $550,000 for this house, distance wise, it's probably to Allambie Heights (northern beaches), it's kind of northern beaches feel type of area.
5) It is 5 bedrooms, 3 levels, double garage, 400sqm inside the house…house is bigger here, but land is slightly smaller than Australia
6) Income wise: Same as in Australia but slightly less tax
7) Mortgage wise, I pay 2.5% a year..so that's like 5.5% difference if I stay in Australia
8) Other cost wise: Grocery: Way cheaper, gasoline: about 10% cheaper, utilities: much cheaper…you can buy or go to US for other items like clothing, electronics..etc..
So on the like-for-like basis, we save ourselves 50% in cost of living by moving here..
So that's our personal experience, and mind you, Toronto is an expensive city in North American standard, but not as high as Vancouver.
I am a US/Australia dual citizen who has lived in US, Canada, UK & Australia. Currently, in California. I have had a few offers to go back to Australia at $180K per year but am still in California. I researched housing costs and figured my 5 bedroom, 5 bathroom, 4600 square foot home with pool which is worth about $750K in California would cost over $2 million in Sydney or Perth. In addition, my current interest rate is 2.5% and a new loan in Oz would be about 8%. If you put down 20% on a $2M home the loan would be $1.6M. The monthly payment (interest only) would be $10,666 per month (or, $128,000 per year). That is way too much. So, if I look around for what I can get for $750K in Sydney or Perth then I have a 1 hour commute about 30 km from CBD and a 3 brdm, 2 bath home without all the bells and whistles. I have 2 kids also and clothes are real cheap in California. Basically, we would have to take standard of living cut or alternatively, get paid over $360K per year. So, the premium is at least 80% I think.
As an Indian living in Melbourne since my University days, Australia had indeed changed a lot. Cost of living is certainly the No.1 concern here anymore – in the past, the concern was more to do with mortgage stress, so a lot people simply choose to rent. Now, the rental is even higher than the mortgage cost, for many families, housing cost now equates to 65% to 80% of their household income which is very scary, it leaves families with very little for other items. All you need is a child gets sick for a few days, then your budget will blow out…so just local petrol price goes up by a few cents.
Our cousins live in Canada and USA, they say their housing cost equates to around 35% of their household income which is much more reasonable. I am going to check those out myself, many of my friends and families have sold their house in Australia and moved to Canada or USA last few years, with the current exchange rate and cost of living comparison, I think that's quite a smart move.
I moved from NZ to Australia about 15 years ago, life was tough in NZ, and much tougher now. Life is still not easy in Australia but at least some hopes. I then moved to the USA, and it was the lifetime changing moment.
In the USA, one can have good life especially if you work for yourself. It has so much choice. I am not rich, but now I own 2 houses in Florida, I have my own souvenir shop in Orlando. I am living, I think a good life…maybe I can not afford to buy a house in NYC or San Francisco, but life here is very good for me compared to Australia and NZ already.
My point is – everyone has different life, and only you will find out yourself. We have lots of Aussies and Kiwis living in the US now, I met so many people just like me everywhere on flight from LA to Australia or New Zealand.
I don't see myself going back to Australia or NZ for a very long time…if Australia does not work for you, try somewhere else, that's my experience.
So poor and So rich..that's the best way to describe about Australia now
The top 5% is getting much richer, middle class has disappeared and the poor 15% are now struggling to even find a roof on top.
One only needs to type in "family living cost" on Google and you can see hundreds of articles about it.
The middle class in Australia is those on $50,000 to $100,000 family income – and unfortunately, this is hardly enough for a family in Australia.
Unless you can be on the top 5% when you come here – otherwise the cost of living will be crashing you.
Australia is not Canada, nor USA – it is a small economy without self sufficient agriculture, it is isolated by seas, so everything is of course expensive, smaller population also means higher tax.
Apart from mining industry, there isn't a lot of industries in Australia that is growing…many companies are actually shutting down their operations here and moved to Asia..
Im an Australian living in the UK. My House in Northumberland,a beautiful.serene part fo the world with culture and friendly people cost just £140,000. Fo that,ii got 3 bedrooms,2 bathrooms,a fully modified kicthen/dining room,2 lounges,2 acres of land,original fiire places and beams and a hot tub. I would pay double that for a terrible Sydney sqaut. Brits who moan about high prices need to wake up and realise it could be worse. Pints at the pubs here cost £1.99. Perth? $8 cigarettes cost around £3.30 here. Perth? $14. The groceries are mainly grown locally and are fresh and tasty. I pay 20p YES 20p for 10 tomatoes from my neighbour and the grocer i only spend around £70 per week for my family of 4. Days out are cheaper and better,theres more to do within 8 hours of land and travek prices are next to nothing. Any Brit whom wants to move to Oz,DONT!!! its a over taxed nanny state dump,and most brits in know whom live in Oz would move back if they could,and most of my friends who are from OZ would join me here in the U.K if they could!
Agreed..I have many Australian friends moving to UK now. People in OZ misunderstand that UK is not just London, like US is not just New York. In fact, if you live in London or New York, the chance is your income will be substantially higher than in Sydney anyway.
If you live outside London in UK, or New York in US, then your living cost will be way cheaper than OZ. In fact, even if you are in London or New York, the cost of living is not that different from Sydney, Perth anymore because of difference in tax, utilities and grocery cost.
It is sad to see Australia heading this way, and it seems it just gets worse and worse.
I am an Australian living in Toronto, amongst with many more coming this year. I am originally from QLD / NSW, I spent many years in both cities. I left Australia because of rising cost, and it was a real burden for my family. We now work for ourselves, we work from home, we earn around $75,000 a year now from our business…we want to be our boss.
Within a year, we bought our house here using the savings we had in Australia as we could not buy any house in Australia, they are simply too expensive or very low quality housing.
A house we live here now has 3 levels, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, double garage with automatic door, 2 living rooms, 2 dining rooms, excellent neighbourhood with school amongst top 10 in GTA. All that, we paid around $580,000 which is considered as very expensive here. If we want to save, we could buy a smaller house across the road for around $500,000, but we like this area and the school is really reputable, so the premium.
On monthly basis, our mortgage is 2.5%, which just went up, we could get a loan for 2.2%, but we prefer to deal with big banks. On month-to-month, we pay $800 in interest, $500 in principal and $300 in property tax.
Am I going back to Australia, I don't think so..why should I pay for $1m for a run down house that needs renovations and it's 20km away from CBD..Australia offers nothing special than other countries. What makes Australia so special that its housing is the most expensive in the world?
The answer: Useless government (labor or liberal), which means lack of vision and infrastructure..here in Canada, they have 2020 plans, we already know which zones will be developed as next stage once population reaches a certain level…
I had an offer to go to Perth for $150K per year. When I looked at the housing prices they are much higher and interest rates are 8% versus about 3% for same product in USA. Other start up costs (e.g. stamp duty, relo) only make sense if the company pays. In this case, company would not pay so the deal did not make any sense given a much higher cost of living. It may have made sense when Perth was cheap compared to Sydney but not today….John
I moved from UK to Australia 3 years ago and we are now thinking about moving back.. combined wages of $150,000 per year is not enough for a family of four to live comfortably in WA or SA so it would be worse in other states ie Melbourne and Sydney which are a lot more expensive. Housing is incredibly expensive here in SA asnd yes I am talking about suburbs out of the city – a 4 or 5 bed executive house costing 290,000 GBP in UK would get you a sh*tty little 3 bed box with no land here in SA and the cost of food and clothing is ridiculous. People wanting to emigrate to Australia for anything but the summer holidays must be nuts cos it's baltic freezing in the winter going down to 2c with no double glazing, properly insulating or central heating in these houses!!! What does Australia really have to offer expats?! Not a lot in my mind and I have lived here and stuck it out for 3 years
Hi there, I know exactly what you mean. I used to grow up in Adelaide, it was a very racist city, I had very tough time fitting in. We bought a house there, in a very good area, but teenagers are always drunk and throw stones at you. I hated the place, so I moved on. Now they are saying SA is the most affordable place in Australia, what a joke. It is so boring, and cost of living for essential items are more expensive than Sydney & Melbourne. Now we live in North America, our combined income is just $70,000, but the lifesyle is 3 times better, houses are insulated, central heating, schools have A/C, school bus, kids meals..you name them…and of course, much lower tax.
I am from Oregon, and live in Australia because of my wife. We are moving back to USA. It's not just the question of exchange rates, we have local incomes in Australia, it is just comparing all the essential costs like housing, food, gas, utilities, school fees, transportation – and of course tax. The living cost in Australia is way much higher compared to North America, and the salary difference is actually almost non-existent.
I see posts to say Australian income is higher, it's not because tax is also so much higher. Many American families can live comfortably with $50,000 to $75,000 household income, and many American families earn more than that – u can't just compare the min. wages.
I have many friends who are in the US even on min. wages can afford to buy a house or a condo after several years – at least get started, and many have college funds, what about in Australia? Most families don't even have savings for college funds?
Australian families are struggling apart from a few riches, and small businesses are suffering really bad because of the monopoly just about everything in Australia.
I'm an Australian in Adelaide. We've been utterly squeezed, and that's with a sub 350k mortgage and 1.5 incomes. My wage hasn't shifted in 3 years, and my wife's has gone BACKWARDS. I'm in tech, and my company is going to be closing up shop in Adelaide; they're piecemeal getting rid of developers here, and hiring them in the UK. All of the other jobs available in Adelaide are either horrid defence jobs, or complete jokes in tiny unprofessional struggling companies.
We're not in dire straits yet, but the writing is on the wall. It's off to America for us; our friends who live there are doing soooo much better than anyone we know in Australia.
Sure, we could move to Sydney where the jobs are better, but if you're going to move, you might as well do it properly.
I will certainly highly support your decision as a tech developer, it is way much better in America. However, when comes to choices, don't limit yourself just the big tech cities like San Jose, Seattle, try some areas like San Diego, Texas or East Coast – the living cost is much lower, and the life is really good. North Carolina is also building up its tech sectors, and of course, Boston is also excellent.
We moved here last year, our life is now 3 times better compared to Australia (compared to our monthly cost), Australia is no comparison to USA.
One thing just be careful is the healthcare, I am sure you will work out – too many choices to choose from here…
Please aussie tell this to the kiwis. Im from England moved to NZ and I see many kiwis move across the ditch without doing research beacuse the aussie govt lies to NZ saying we pay more and living cost are less. My parents came back from aussie yesturday went their for a few weeks and said the pay is great the living costs are more than London! I hope kiwis are doing ok their.
I am an Irish married to an American – we could not find any job in Ireland, so my husband took up this offer in Australia as IT Programmer. First, we were so excited to see his salary as $90K, which is above what we used to earn…Only then we realized that the living cost is way much higher than in Ireland, $90k also means you are just getting around $55k – 60k after superannuation, tax..the housing cost alone costs around $3000 (very shabby and run-down house), so that left us $2,000 a month for living cost. Utilities including telecom would cost around $500 easily a month already..that left $1500 a month for grocery, fuel and everything else. We have 3 boys, now we have to cut down our food..imagine you have children that need to go to daycare which costs $50 to $120 a day.
We spent almost all the savings moving here – it is so sad, and they don't raise your salary very often. It is an outrageous place to live.
Many Europeans and Americans living here are saying the same – you pay very high price even just for 2nd hand goods…we will move to US as soon as he finds a job there, hopefully it won't be long, a lot of IT jobs are coming out now.
Yes, it is becoming quite bad. Grocery had been rising again, and it is now easily over $200 or $300 a week, and these are really low quality food. Everytime there is an increase of something, the merchants take the excuse and lift their price: First, it was GST, then it was the insurance, then it was the credit card transaction, then it was when they took away 1 cents. They increase their price every year when new utilities rates have been announced – next 12 months, it will be worse than ever- the new carbon tax, the removal of 5 cents. At the best, we are expecting 6% increase in grocery, but based on our experience, it will be at least 10%.
I recently went back to North America for a trip, and I was very surprised to see the food price had not changed much over the past 10 years – some items are more expensive, but many items remain the same price as I had been 10 years ago (on the like-for-like, USD or CAD term).
Not sure about Europe – but I know Australia's food price is now the fastest growing in the world, and that is causing a lot families problems.
I wonder who put together this article. My partner and I are considering moving to Cape Town or Durban in a few years.
I am not sure why Australians are actually happy with their lives… I am lucky I hold multiple nationalities and have other options, i.e. I do not need a visa to enter/work in Malaysia or say, Singapore, though I'm not Malaysian/Singaporean – which means, I could work and save a lot of money there as I'll be paid the same as here at 2% tax on my income, and buy a house here in Oz.
In Oz, we think because we can afford to pay off a second-hand car, repay mortgage on a run-down property that costs ridiculous amounts, put up with the quality and prices of essentials, and drink a lot of overpriced beer, that we are 'lucky'.
In 1963, Donald Horne, who coined the term 'lucky country' and was also once the Chancellor of the University of Canberra, noted in his book – "Australia is a lucky country, run by half-rate people who share its luck".
I rest my case.. I'm moving out by 2015, if all goes well.
The real problem faced by Australians is lack of vision and how to plan and manage the growth – which then turns out to be a nightmare as you can see in population.
I live in Canada now, and even way before the population growth – the local Govt already zoned the growth areas, and have formula in place: By 200,000, we will add another 2 hospitals, by 500, we add another school next door..etc..etc, it is so well planned.
I do not like the property tax system as in US and Canada initially, but seeing what they have spent like schools, hospitals – I think it is the right system instead of relying everything on Federal or State which cut the funding all the time.
Life in Australia is terrible for most families – the price they pay for a 2nd hand car is enough for them to buy a new BMW in US (the ones made in South Carolina), needless to mention that if you live in anywhere that is less than $500,000, then it is actually quite a bad neighborhood with high crime rates – $500,000 in other western countries, you will be great neighborhoods.
Recent article puts Australia as one of the Top 3 most expensive places for expats, and it’s the reason why few will consider moving to Australia as expats.
It's a hard choice. Someone said a nice quote recently "US Treasury Bond is the best investments amongst the bad investments"
If you compare the English speaking markets – the living cost rank will be (lowest to highest): USA, Canada, UK, New Zealand and Australia.
UK is expensive in some aspects, but overall, it is becoming cheaper than Australia which is something we can not imagine in the past.
Changes in currency valuation is one factor, but living cost in Australia has been rising much faster than anywhere else – even faster than China and India.
What's the point of better unemployment rate when your salary is not even enough to cover your cost? That's the question faced by so many immigrants in Australia. In another word, you might as well stay in US or UK then taking up an offer in Australia – it's sad and a shock for many who moved here, but it is a truth.
Also, many argue the reported unemployment rate is not true – apart from the mining sector, most sectors have seen decline in the growth because rising AUD has been hurting Australian exporters really bad..
All comments are correct – while the global media may portray Australia with good unemployment rate, the biggest worry faced by families are rising living cost. It is now commonly accepted that a household must have min. $100,000 income each year just to meet the essentials – which is becoming harder each day. It is a figure that many can not comprehend, $100,000 sounds like a lot of money for some, but this just means a very basic life in Australia, with a small house or apartment, not eating anything fancy, almost no entertainment, not including travel or holiday, and most likely driving a 2nd hand car…
That's it – I will leave that judgment to yourself.
I am sorry, but Australia is now very expensive, unless you are guaranteed to have very high paid jobs, or have a lot of savings – then you are better elsewhere. Please do not compare Australia to USA or Canada, as you will be disappointed in terms of the living cost.
If your job is just somewhere between $50,000 to $100,000, it will be a struggle.
If you plan to be a business owner – unless you are in trades business (known as contractors or tradesman) like plumbers, electricians..then it will be tough as there are many hidden costs.
It is a reality, if you type in Australian families struggling to pay bills on Google, it is alarming to see how many articles about this.
If you can find a stable job or set up a business, it is better to be in USA or Canada.
I moved here from US last year in search for better life and jobs.
The reality is quite disappointing – even though my salary in Australia is $80,000 compared to $60,000 of my job in USA, I am much poorer now.
First, the tax is much higher, so the net income after tax matters little.
Second, I think the cost of living is easily between 60% to 100% more than USA
So, I can't save any money, I was hoping to make some money and send it back to US and buy a house using my income in Australia – this is impossible unless I can get my income up to $100,000 to $110,000 a year, and still, that does not save much.
Families are really struggling here – do you hear families in US with household income $70,000 struggling? Not very often, right? Here in Australia, families with combined income $100,000 or above are still struggling!
There are good areas to live in Australia, but like other countries, once you are outside these areas, crime rate, infrastructure deteriorate a lot – and traffic is really bad in Australia, parking is excessively expensive and gasoline price is 40% more than in US.
I am a whinging American, but I am outta here soon…
I found crime rate quite bad in Sydney & Brisbane – as cost of living is so high, many families can not afford to live in middle or above suburbs. The "middle" range suburbs mean houses around $650,000 to $800,000 range or rental equivalent to $3,000 – $4,000 per month, which is very high. That kind of price can allow you to live in most affluent suburbs in many North American cities.
Anything lower than $650,000 is really bad areas – even some crime ridden areas will need at least $500,000 to buy a house and if you have to worry about shootings and drug trafficking..
It is quite disappointed to live here – the mining industry maybe doing well, but Australian families are struggling really bad at moment.
Facts for you – there has never been a shooting in Brisbane. Drugs – no way. I think you are getting this place confused with England or the US. There is NO CRIME here…….
Bullshit, I lived in Brisbane many years…even Sunnybank now has crime problems…couple of banks got robbed..NO CRIME, you are dreaming, my in-laws' house got broken in 3 times, and they live in a nice area. Have you been to England or US? Don't make comments unless you have lived the place.
…. so , considering the rate of exchange hovers around 62p to the dollar and i have been living in the uk for the past four and a half years and watched the rate of exchange grow from 39p………been living off the income of renting out my lovely two bedroom , detached courtyard home five miniute walk from the beach in the western suburbs of adealide , …always thinking that one day i will go back to visit and or live there again….now would be a good time to sell , profit and invest in the uk's reposessed property market ???……..or should i just raise my rent to the going rate for a fully furnished , well maintained property…($365 current charge and i wonder why the lovely tenants that moved in when they emigrated from the uk four and a half years ago keep renewing the lease instead of buying a house?? )…and wait for australia to be the dream again…?………
not a problem !
I retired and moved back to the UK two and a half years ago after 39 years in Perth and Melbourne. As a pensioner I'm better off here partly because of the favourable exchange rate but also because of the lower cost of living – especially rents. For me the main problem being here is that my family is in Australia and I will go back there to visit them. I think anyone considering migration should try a visit if possible before making a permanent move.
I also lived in Europe (being French), Canada, USA, NZ and Australia now. And seriously disappointed by Australia, I came and worked here in 2006 and it seemed cheaper than what it is now.
NZ is crazy expensive for the wage you get. But here, they trick you with a weekly (high) wage compared to Europe or the USA and Canada, but the rent, food and fuel are so expensive that you barely save any money…. It is a rip off!!!
I have a pr for Canada, just need to sort out the papers of my partner and we're out of this shit hole Australia! It's so expensive to fly to Europe as well that there's no point at all if you need to save your money. We need to save up $5000 for the flight tickets for Xmas trips to see the families (Perth and France). It's hell!
We live in Sydney and pay $370 a week for a 1 bedroom in the Northern beaches. Luckily the electricity and water are included. But we pay $165/ month for internet and phone.
If you don't have a car you are fu…ed and we just have a car for 2. Basically I have to rely on the shity public transport where you have to wait 30 mins after work to catch a bus and THEN have a 15 mins walk for a trip by car that takes only 10 mins.
I'm sick and tired of the attitude of some people here who think that this is THE world and say that elsewhere is UNSAFE etc… When they didn't even travel elsewhere than their own State.
Even France is cheaper for accommodation AND food AND public transport. As for the fuel we only have a slightly higher price in France.
Seriously I cannot wait to go back to Canada and that comes from someone who HATES the cold. But I'd rather have the cold surrounded by friendly people and being able to travel regularly than having a great weather but being stuck in a hole for ever because we couldn't afford to buy some flight tickets.
I agree with most of the people here, OZ is good for a short term and an experience but not to settle and raise a family! Unless your entire family is here don't make the mistake to move here!
Good for you Steph, we moved from Sydney to Toronto last year, this is a great change. Cold winter is nothing, by the way, we had a very dry winter this year – beautiful days everyday, little snow..can't complain. Harbour Bridge, Australian weathers are over-rated, they are nothing compared to say California or Vancouver even Toronto…
You can't eat the weather, right, you can't eat the Sydney Harbour Bridge or Great Barrier Reef..you have to survive.
Canada is a wonderful place – you have a good lifestyle and with US next door also means huge business opportunities, or great place for shopping and holiday.
Welcome "Back" to Good Life.
Bring lots and lots of money as you will need them.
Australia is not USA or Canada, the living cost of Australia is far more higher than Canada or the USA.
Salary wise – depending on your skills – salary level in Canada & USA can actually be higher than Australia in many industries in need – although the min. wage is higher in Australia, but many industries do not pay as well as in North America.
I think Australia is a western country with living cost close to North Asia like Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China…it is certainly far more expensive than North America.
Every industry is monopoly or duopoly, at best, oligopoly, this is what's driving up the cost as consumers have no choice. The government is so "creative" in creating new taxes every year. So do your research, understand the tax implications, check out the "real cost" and not your job agents or government websites tell you as they are misleading..
Yes I fully agree with all the Comments. Australia must be Hell to Live in. Our Son and a friend moved to Perth on the 25th Oct 2011 and brought $6,500. He has Only $900 left and it's just 23rd Nov 2011. There is Very Little information being given out by the Agency's who have been set up to look after People going to Australia for the First Time. Examples:- How to go about Procuring a Job, Securing average affordable Accommodation, Average Cost to actually Feed one Person for say a Week/Month. Average Prices for Restaurants, Cinema, Theater, Pub Grub etc. Average Transport Cost Public/Private. Average Cost of buying A Motor Vehicle New/Used say Car or Car/Van. Average Cost of Fuel Petrol/Diesel/Gas. Average Cost of Electricity/Gas/Solid Fuel. Weather Conditions Winter/Summer on Average. I could mention a lot more but I am sure Everyone will get where I am coming from. It seems to me that this Country Australia is Fair and Square in the Middle of the "Modern Rip Off Market" Young People are Hearing all these Stories about how Great Australia is and the Poor Foolish People are rushing around like Headless Chickens and killing themselves Working to save or getting the Money from their Parents or the Local Credit Union of up to $6,500 to go to Australia to make their Fortunes and before the can Blink an Eyelid the Australian Government or some Screwed/Smart Operator have Pocketed their Hard Earned few Grand and it's Back Home for the Poor Foolish People who thought the were onto a Good Thing. So wake up you Foolish People and Smell the Coffee and unless you are Absolutely Sure and you have done the Required Reconnaissance(Complete Check) don't even Move a Limb to go Next nor Near this God Forsaken Land. It was Correctly Named in bygone days when People called it Van Demons Land when you went there you never Returned. Now you can go there get Fleeced (Robbed) of your few Euros and be Back in about 60hrs give or take an Hour. Current Prices as I Speak :-Monthly Rent for a 3 Bed Apartment in Perth is $2000. 20 Cigs $14. 2ltr Milk $10. Pt of Local Car Wash (BEER) $8. Bread 800g $6.Sun Cream and Bottled Water because one can not Drink Water from a Tap where they are, have become the King Rip Off Items. People who thought Ireland was Bad. We are having a Picnic in this Country, and we could be Ten Times Better if only we had One or Two Decent People to run it.By the way avoid Aussie Territory during the Months of September, October, November, December. Their Winter is Our Summer and Our Winter is their Summer. Everything gets Flooded during the Winter and it takes sometime to Dry out. Farms, Mines, Construction. It's Hard to get Work during the Months mentioned above plus they take Three Weeks Off for Christmas. A Funny old Carry On if you ask me. I am Ex Army 33yrs Service and I held a Senior Rank and they say we should have seen it all, but hearing the latest on Aussie Land I am beginning to Question that Statement seriously. I Hope I have given a Little Insight to Someone about to be caught in the Modern Aussie Rip Off Trap. The only Regret is that our Son and his Mates had to learn the Hard way, but they managed to get an Old Crap Job to tide them over until Late January or early February. The Money is very Bad, but their very Lucky that they are not on a Plane Home. They were Always giving out about the Social Welfare, but they were Comfortable and Always had a few Bob in their Pockets. You know what they say about Far Away Fields Always seem Green. Well in this case it's an Untruth in my Book. Be Warned, and Check it Out and do not Listen to Stories. Nobody ever wants his Mates to Know that he above all People got it Wrong. "RIGHT" Regards and Thanks Peter. NB :- Exchange Rate Approx $1.30 = 1Euro.
Facts for readers: Milk is $0.99 per litre, bread is $2.29 for a 700g loaf, eggs $1.99 a dozen and up. There are minimum wages here that pay $800.00 a week for warehouse work. There is full employment. Fancy the Cooled Heineken? $1.60 to you. Oh yes a few other details… there's no serious crime, no major drug problems, it's warm and sunny and everyone knows that, if you're prepared to adopt a positive mental attitude and work hard, the sky's the limit! Don't smoke here – no-one else does, as they can read and understand that it kills you.
Peter, apart from the price of milk your information is incorrect. The cost of groceries for the average family is sky high. Rent prices stifling and as for no serious crime or drug problems. You've got to be kidding right? I agree with you that in order to make it here you do need to adopt a positive mental attitude, but that doesn't alter the fact that Australia is one of the hardest countries in the world to live in from a financial perspective. All countries have their problems. I have lived in a number of countries over the years with my husband and children and while I really love the people, the climate and the landscape here, it is the one country where I couldn't possible consider staying long term. We simply couldn't afford to.
Warning : – The Current Cost of Living in Perth is Extremely High. Also jobs which Pay a Decent Wage are very Hard to find. Accommodation is Extremely Expensive. Beware of Hostel Prices. Commodities like Bread, Butter, Milk, Bottled Water, Vegetables, Meat, Poultry, Eggs are Extremely Expensive. Examples : – Beer = $8 per Pint, Cigarettes = $14 per pkt , Bread = $6 per Loaf, Milk = $10, 3 Bed Apartment Rent per Month is $2000. 2 Bed $1500, ! Bed $1200. It is estimated that a Person would need to be earning between $5000 and $6000 of a Monthly Salary to have any Quality of Life in Perth. So my advice is do your Homework and do it well, and all should be well. The very Best of Luck.
Seen a Program on Irish TV last Evening which concurs with a lot of the Comments I made earlier about Australia. The Families who have moved to Australia seemed to be far from Happy with their lot. It would seem to me that there's a lot of Hype about Aussie Land that just do not cut it. It's so very sad that People are taken in by this Hype. The old Far Away Fields Theme is again Ringing Aloud. On our worst day Ireland would be miles ahead in a Great Number of ways .Lets Hope with the Proper Information Filtering out into the Public Arena People will think of Traveling to more Acceptable Pastures .Getting Value for Money has never been more Important. I now Rest my Case.
Hello – my name's Peter as well and I came to Australia 25 years ago with nothing apart from a wife and 3 kids. It was the best thing I ever did. Now, don't get me wrong, you have to WORK hard to get ahead. Whinging doesn't do any good. Upside – no heating costs, beer is a dollar a stubbie, food is insanely cheap. Now I own my own home (a proper place – not a dog box semi in suburbia), my kids are all grown up and have professional jobs. There is no prejudice here of class or background – work hard and you'll succeed. Sorry, I used the 'W' word again, but that's what makes winners and in Australia you'll get a fair go…….
"food is insanely cheap"? Which city are you in? I am in Melbourne now. The food price is ridiculous. everything is 2-3 times of what's in USA.
"Food is insanely cheap" – hey what? Just returned from UK where (odd example – it stuck in my memory) a pack of 6 pita breads at the Co-op was 29p (under 50c). Try and find something similar for less than four times that here in Australia. We've been in the grip of severe exchange rate inflation for over two years, where the AUD is trading around 30-50% higher against the USD than the long term (20 year) average. There has been no sign of consumer prices declining commensurately (by 25-33%) over that period though. On the contrary, the ABS records a mean increase in food CPI of 3% in 2009-2010 and 7% in 2010-2011. The overall CPI increased by 3.9% in 2009-2010 and 5.3% in 2010-2011, resulting in a dramatic increase in the apparent cost of local sourced goods to those overseas.Without exchange rate savings being passed on to the Aussie consumer by big retailers, it's little wonder I and about 20 million other Australians now prefer to shop overseas for anything and everything they can!
Food is Insanely cheap??? Rubbish!!!!!!
Food is insanely cheap??? You are insanely out of touch. I live in Canada now, food is 50% cheaper than Australia, and they are all good local or US produced food, not some Chinese food sold in Australia. I just bought a huge watermelon and it costed me $3.99! It's enough for 4 of us to eat for 3 days..that would cost over $15 in Australia….I just bought 6 really nice navel oranges for $2.00…food price is ridiculous in OZ, it is 2 to 3 times more expensive than USA or about 1.5 times more expensive than Canada, and not as fresh.
Agreed on the rest – you have work super-hard to meet the min. We moved from Australia to North America last year and not looking back at all.
You are insane…food in Australia went up by 65% last 3 years which was rated as the biggest rise in the world.
I recently went to Costco in Canada, and I tell you what, they are selling Australian lamb here and Australian burrumundi here at 50% cost to than you see in OZ!!
I now eat more Aussie lambs and burras here than ever back in Australia!! Salmon in North America can drop to as low as $3.99 per kg during good seasons, Australia?? $39 a KG sometimes…oysters here cost at around $0.50 to $1.00 each…fresh from water, I can afford to eat lobsters everyday if I want to…
Most importantly, quality is much better and not eating some cheap Asian imports in Australia..even Chinese people don't eat their own apples, but they are selling them in Aussie supermarkets.
If people work as hard as Aussies do in North America, they can all retire within 10 years…ha.
I am a Canadian living just outside of Toronto, and I am considering a move to Austrailia. I am newly married with no children, but we have a wonderful Wheaten Terrier. I have been approached by a recruiting company looking to bring expirinced people in my industry to Austrailia to fill specific management roles at the major retail company.
Most of the postings on this thread are either posted by Americans, or they are quite old, so I thought I would ask the question…are there any Canucks now living in Austraila that can give me perspective on how cost of living compares to Canada? specifically Southern Ontario? Are housing costs really as high as I have heard? Is there any NHL coverage at all down there?
I am also looking for insight into Salaries and how the average Mid level management type positions are compensated in Australia.
Any help or insight would be appreciated…Thanks Much
I am getting an offer for 60k per annum , for a family of me , my wife and one son ( 4 yrs old ) , since my wife is also educated she can also work perhap part-time
what do u guys suggest , can we live a decent life with that money ?
stay where you are, 60k for family of 3 is not enough.
Don't. I assume $60k is pre-tax, so you probably get like $45K. Housing cost will be at least $24k to $26k a year, grocery will probably around $250/week, insurance…etc…no, you won't get a decent life, maybe just enough, but you won't have much to enjoy. Childcare can be as high as $100 a day – so if your wife goes to work, it won't even cover the childcare cost…
Take a look of if your son would be paying international student rate, also if you are eligible for the medicare, and also your "real" income which is after tax.
Check out realestate.com.au for property price on areas you want to live.
My Perth salary is $230k pre-tax, which works out to a little over $12k/month in my pocket. After reading numerous comments on many forums on this subject, apparently I should feel filthy rich! Truth is with 3 kids and a dependent wife, a $460k mortgage (which incidentally doesn't buy you a decent 4 bed house anywhere within 15 km of the city), food and clothing for five, running costs on two cars, life insurance, home and contents insurance, car insurance, medical insurance, three phone bills (landline + 2 mobiles), cable TV, electricity, gas, water, council rates, water rates, three kids savings accounts (in which I deposit the meagre amount of $100/mo), three kids college funds ($450/mo), not to mention the occasional doctors or dentists bill, flat tyre, burst pipe or other repair job, and all the other stuff one needs to maintain a suburban property in livable condition, there is PRECISELY NOTHING left at the end of the month! Stay where you are!!!
Very true Bob, people do not realize tax is so high, so the net cash is really not much…you are already on the top 0.1% of the Australian population..most families are on around $80,000 household income and majority of them are struggling! This is a joke. I moved to the US and bought 2 properties already, costed me $60,000 each, and they are 4 Bedrooms, I now run a business in the US, I can earn $10,000 a month, tax is less than 10%, so you can see the difference…healthcare cost is higher, so? Tax is way much lower and savings in housing, food, petrol, utilities…etc is far more worthwhile than healthcare.
The problem with Australia is even if you earn a top salary, you still don't feel like living that well..
I moved from Australia to Toronto as I can't stand the stupid high living cost in Australia. The comments here are correct if not under-stated. The cost of living is significantly higher in Australia, for us – relocating from Sydney to Toronto has helped up to cut cost by 50% to 60%, and Toronto is not a cheap city as you know.
Salary may look good – but there are much more hidden taxes there – plus, take a look of the healthcare cost (you need private insurance) and education cost if you have kids.
Every essential item is far more expensive in Australia. Big costs compared to Canada are: housing cost (rental is very high), gas (petrol), electricity, water, food (very expensive). Forget about NHL, they don't even know what NHL is – they will just show rugby and nothing else.
Summers are very hot – so you need A/C, winters are not that mild as houses are not insulated, so it feels colder inside the house than outside.
Most of my Canadian friends had left Australia after spending 1 or 2 years there, just too expensive and not worth it. I only 1 Canadian friend in OZ, he is from Winnepeg, but he wanted to move but wife's family is in OZ.
Take a look of http://www.realestate.com.au for housing costs…forget about buying – it's twice the value, mortgage rate is 7.5% in OZ.
Like I said, for us, on average it is 1.5 times more expensive than Canada or about 2 to 2.5 times more expensive than USA.
What you have here is two groups of people, those who say that Australia is the best place in the world and those who say it is a rip off.
The reality is that it is neither, you have to work no matter where you live and Australia is no different.
If you want high wages and a low cost of living then the USA is the country you should be in. A
Hello Billy i am a UK citizen, and am looking to maybe move to Perth Australia.
I'm a skilled cnc turner (engineering) I'm wondering how expensive is this place really compared to England, as it's not exactly easy to live here either. I know everywhere has it's pros and cons, but it seemed to me that Australia was the place to go before i read the above comments.Any info would be appreciated.
Steve.
Hi Stephen.
No where is easy to live in at the moment mate. My friend in Greece wishes he was in the U.K as there is zero hope for him there. But as an Aussie in the U.K,i can honestly say with no doubt that England is MUCH MUCH cheaper than Australia. Perth is also the most unaffordable areas in Oz,one bar i went into before i left cost me $9.80 (£6.25). In contrast to this,my new local in Durham its only £2.20. Cars are cheaper here,paticulary secondhand and the healthcare is no different to Australia so dont expect changes there. Forget hoildays,you wont have the money to afford them in Oz,i have had a two week holiday in Dorset and a week in Malta this year for LESS than a holiday in Tasmania. The transport systemin Oz is crap as well. Please dont make the mistake many brits have done and think Oz is the land of milk of honey because for a while now the milk has been tasting sour. Stay put in the U.K,i know i will be!
I would suggest Canada, much cheaper than Australia.
Also, engineers are actually in big shortage in USA – especially environmental engineering firms – have you checked websites or some of the engineering firms in USA or maybe LinkedIn? Much better to relocate to North America than Australia. Good jobs, much better cost of living, closer to UK and if you have family, North America is the best place to raise family.
Stephen,
Don't move permanently to Perth – it is SUPER expensive (try 2-3 times the cost of the UK for pretty much everything except cars and petrol). Try and get here on a sponsored 475 visa and rent out your place back home. The place is crying out for engineers, you will most likely land a salary of $200-$300k/yr if you're well qualified, maybe more if you work FIFO up north (but NB you'll pay 45% tax on every $$ over $180k). If you're single, rent as cheap a place as you can, stay for 2-3 years, blow some dough on great holidays in Bali, take the rest back and buy a nice house up north with the proceeds! Way to go!
As I always recommend to other friends, spend at least 3 weeks in Perth first, and go to where local people go – and find out if you are eligible for healthcare, schools or are you going to end up paying much more than the local?
I can't comment as I have not lived in the UK, but Perth is very expensive for me and I also find the place very hard to live during summer times, and actually lack of jobs for many professionals unless you are an engineer or in the mining industry. It is also a very isolated place so it is hard to travel..
Personally, engineers are in good demand everywhere, why not try Canada or US? Lots of engineering firms are hiring over there…and cost of living is far cheaper than UK and Australia.
The USA does not have high wages. The USA has very few high paying positions. If you look at job expectancies in the USA it's in the healthcare, technology and green jobs categories. Even green jobs aren't making as much in the USA as in Australia. In Australia a person can start out with a bachelors degree mining and make 150K Euro. In the USA you are lucky to get a mining job with a bachelors degree. You would need a masters degree and starting out you would not make 150K with a bachelors degree. Secondly, America is a service oriented country so fast food, hotels, theme parks, etc are jobs that the average American has. Those are 7.25/hour jobs. All the jobs that actually made a living like car manufacturing, plumbing, electrical, painting…etc have been taken over by corporations and either shipped overseas or fought unions to the point that an employee never knows if they will be going to work tomorrow or standing in the unemployment line. And healthcare is outrageous! So while people in Australia might get cheaper healthcare prices and have to wait a long time, we get high healthcare prices and still wait. Every specialist I've ever seen made me wait at least 6 months for the first visit. Australia is more expensive to live than America if you just compare the two side by side. But remember, the Euro is worth more so a house in Australia that costs 1200.00 per month to rent would only cost about half that in the USA.
Australia is a godawful country to live in. I moved to the UK 4 years ago to give my children a better life and its the best thing i ever did. The UK is cheaper,in the north the properties you can buy for next to nothing are stunning,much nicer than the disgusting holes in Sydney or Kalgoorlie (Yuck!) . Groceries are cheap and better quality due to close proximity to Europe,as is transport,education,cars and travel. The people in Britain are also a lot nicer and Australians still have that mentality that Australia is the best and everywhere else is rubbish! pah Australia is screwed my children have a much nicer life here in the UK than Oz and i wont be returning! Hateful country!
Howdy, my name is John, moved from Australia to US last year. I was worried because of the recession, it turned out to be US is like everywhere else – it's a bi-polar economy.
If you have a job or a business – then you are having the best time – as living cost is very low especially if you can bring cash from Australia. Living cost in USA is at least 70% less than in Australia for us. I know, you can't compare city-to-city. Cities like San Francisco can be expensive, but their salary is also high – in fact, much higher than Australia.
Things like housing cost, mortgage rate, food, gasoline and consumer products..and of course tax is much lower. Healthcare is the only item that's more expensive, but savings in tax alone can offset that a lot already.
I can't believe the change of lifestyle my family had gone through. When we were in OZ, we could not afford to repair our windows or toilets, as plumbers charged you a fortune. We were in Northern Beaches, which is already a very nice suburb in Australian standard. Now, we live in a 2 storey house with 4 bedrooms, double garage, basement as entertainment area, nice school..and that costed us less than $580,000 to purchase, which is already very expensive here…
For $580,000, what can u buy in Australia??? Nothing or something that is so tiny and needs complete renovation. Our friend just bought a house for $780,000 and he could only use 1 bathroom, 2 bedrooms…the rest need to be redone…so much about Great Australian Life..
We are currently expats in Melbourne (4 years so far). Prior to this we lived in Paris for 7 years. With the expat status and our benefits coming to an end we are opting for a move to Canada. Why? Housing prices, school fees, groceries (mental), health insurance (private is still a joke as they don't give you much back), travel to visit our respective families (Canada/Europe, a unique issue I realize), clothing (either low quality or way too expensive), eating out, attractions, travel in Australia…and the list goes on. On our recent trip to Europe, I stocked up on cheaper, quality clothes for the kids….in Paris!
My husband is a Managing Director with a decent package. Yet, here we now shop for groceries at discount places like Aldi (great btw as it's SO much more reasonable) and go to the markets and we buy second hand whenever possible, including used school uniforms. I drive a car that is 7+ years old. One would think that we would now have enough money for a great house with saving and a great expat package (+250k) but we don't. We could stretch with a large mortgage and buy a house for $1.4M but it wouldn't get us very close to where we currently live. Any house that we purchased for that price in our area (Elsternwick) would be a dump, have a garden the size of a postage stamp or be a half house. No thanks for that price! I'm hoping Canada is better. It's been 12 years since we lived there and things do change.
Australia is an expensive shithole. Escaped to England 2 years ago and have no regrets. The weather is better in Devon than it was in Tasmania!
I presently stay in Italy and work here and my company gave me an offer going to Australia to work. I would like to have an idea of how it works in Australia in terms of rent, bills,food..etc. My company only offered 2400 Euros a month. What do you think?
you will need to rent for $200-$250 per week. This cannot be done unless you share with someone in a capital city. If you are bringing your family, and you are the sole breadwinner, you will not survive.
Don't eat, wear clothes, and be willing to sleep under a bridge, and you'll be OK.
Other than that, you will be on the poverty line. Would you move to Norway or Switzerland for 2400 Euros a month? Same goes for Australia.
Decline it, EUR 2400 a month is barely enough for just accommodation and food..you will struggle very bad, if you have kids..then you will be even worse. Ask for at least EUR 5,000 to 6,000 as a minimum especially EUR is so low now. Allow min. rent AUD$2,000 in major capital city per month..what about tax? Tax is very high in Australia as well.
I just came across this comments and was going through almost all of them. Quite shocked!.. I have got a PR last year and was about to make a move to AU within next month or so. I have a family with two boys ( 6 and 1 year old ). Myself and my wife both works in IT field. I have been looking for job in AU for the last one year while staying in India. Not yet successful so far. So I thought I will go to AU with some money ( hard earned money India ) and find a job then bring the family. Idea was, staying in AU for 5 to 10 years and become rich and come back to India!. Looks like that is a dream after going through this forum. For my luck ( or bad luck? ) I stumbled on this forum at the right time.
I have gone through various other links, and was under the impression that AU is one of the best country to live!. Because AU and Cities in AU always comes on top 10, in various surveys of best countries/cities to live. Are these surveys are not reliable?
My friend ( Melbourne ) indicated that it is expensive in cities to live. But I never thought it is this bad!. I even made a visit last year to Melbourne to validate my Visa. I know it is expensive compared to US, but was under the impression that over all cost of living will be same as USA.
Currently I have dropped my plan to move to AU solely based on the comments on this forum. Hope this will be the right decision. Please help!. Presently I am well settled in India and both of us are earning a decent income. Help needed by experienced hands!.
I am inclined to believe the worst (at least for a individual's financial outlook) from reading all the posts here. Very enlightening. I was looking at a job offer which will pay AUD48K/year and decided to do a research first regarding the cost of living in Australia. It'd have been a nightmare…Thanks to everyone. I am going to look someplace else.
Will go to Australia for a holiday anyway.
Hi
My name is Shahid and im from Pakistan. I am commerce graduate from Pakistan. I am interested for further studies in Australia. Can someone give me some information about cost of living in Australia. And how much i would be paid from a part time job. Can i bear my living, food & other costs by doing a part time job. Wts hourly rate of wage of a cashier or accounts jobs.
I moved from US to Australia because I got approached by recruiters several times. It was not a right decision, while the people are friendly here, life is a real struggle here because of the living cost.
Things we took for granted in the US do not exist in Australia..no school bus, no school lunch programs, you have to pay for uniform for kids even for public schools..you still private insurance as Medicare only covers basic medicals and they are making it less and less covered.
Just about everything is 2 to 3 times more expensive, gasoline itself is already 2.5 times higher.
It has nice landscapes, beautiful beaches, multicultural society. It is like the USA – consider it as the expensive version of California I guess.
It is also a hard place to set up business due to most industries are controlled by monopolies or duopolies.
I guess I am moving back to the US soon especially US economy is picking up and Australian economy is heading south..
To all the US residents who want to move to Australia I have advice. First off my husband and I are both US residents who hold degrees in geology and who are currently being considered for jobs in Australia. We both have applied for visa's and are awaiting their decision. Let me say, just because you want to move does not mean you can. You must be able to offer or perform a trade the country is in need of or else they will not give you a work visa. And to become an actual citizen, you again must be in high demand. A hair dresser isn't on the list. And if you want to move to Australia to escape whatever Christian persecution you think America is going through at the moment, don't. Because I have many Aussie friends and they are not strict conservatives, even those who are Christian. Australia is very liberal as compared to the southern US bible belt. I am an Atheist and so is my husband and trust me, we are leaving America because it's too conservative and Australia is a better fit, not only financially but for our personal non belief system. So you can wish to live here or there, but unless Australia want's you, you cannot just move there.
Well, depends on which angle..I moved from Australia to the US and enjoy every moment of it.
We make more money in the US, US is a much bigger market, much easier to make money, and because of significantly lower living cost in the US, we can save much more.
Why living in Australia where everything is more expensive by 2 to 3 times? I can buy a nice house in Northern Atlanta, nice area for $400,000 which is already very expensive in Atlanta, and the same can only buy a tiny apartment in Australia?
I disagree with your point about salary, that's only lower wages. My friend is in IT, he was on $100,000 in Australia, he got transferred to the US and he is on $200,000 now..most IT and Cleantech companies are US headquartered..ask anyone working in Apple, Google and you can see the difference.
Not so true Susan, hairdressers ARE on the list! They are being allowed in via the 457 scheme through the "Other" category, this has been reported here recently. A few years ago we were allowing students to enter hairdressing courses here which provided an immigration route. Our "skills shortage" and education options for foreigners are just big rackets. Rackets everywhere in Australia though not so obvious unless you've been here a while.
To my fellow Americans or Canadians who want to move to Australia
Don't do it – the living cost is so high that you will actually be much worse off here.
Don't be fooled by the news headlines about Australian economy – a lot of industries are non-existent here like manufacturing, IT services, automotive, cleantech or biotech – they are tiny industries compared to the US of course.
But the real killer is the living cost.
Quote from my American friend living in Australia "The country is not in recession, but we live like we are in recession everyday because of the cost, I can't imagine what the life will be in OZ if it is in real recession!"
Quote from my Australian friend now lives in the US "I know US is in recession, but my lifestyle has improved so much since moving here, I can only imagine my life gets better everyday in the US"
As a professional, I had lived in all 3 countries, I am now settled in Canada and travels to the US constantly. Australia is nice, but you just can't afford living there, we all make a not-so-funny joke about "Sydney Harbour Tax"..you get a very nice harbour and you pay hell a lot of it just so you can see it.
Our living cost in Australia is roughly 2 to 2.5 times higher than in the US..
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