Cost of living in Canberra
Australia's capital. Strong public-sector employment supports above-average median income, partly offsetting house rents that sit near Sydney levels.
The numbers
| Item | AUD | Period | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median unit rent | $580 | weekly | $30,160 |
| Median house rent | $700 | weekly | $36,400 |
| Weekly groceries (one person) | $150 | weekly | $7,800 |
| Public transport | $140 | monthly | $1,680 |
| Utilities | $240 | monthly | $2,880 |
| Essential outlay (unit rent baseline) | - | $42,520 | |
Careers that can comfortably afford median unit rent here
We define "comfortable" as weekly take-home pay at least twice the median unit rent in Canberra. Take-home pay is estimated with the 2024-25 ATO resident tax scale, the 2% Medicare levy and HECS-HELP compulsory repayment.
Accountant
$1850/week before tax
Actuary
$2750/week before tax
Aerospace engineer
$2500/week before tax
Refrigeration and air-conditioning technician
$1800/week before tax
Architect
$1950/week before tax
Auditor
$2000/week before tax
Barrister
$3000/week before tax
Biologist
$1900/week before tax
Biomedical engineer
$2200/week before tax
Boilermaker
$1850/week before tax
Bricklayer
$1700/week before tax
Carpenter
$1700/week before tax
Case manager
$1700/week before tax
Chemical engineer
$2500/week before tax
Chemist
$1900/week before tax
Civil engineer
$2200/week before tax
Cloud engineer
$2500/week before tax
Concreter
$1700/week before tax
Sources
- https://www.corelogic.com.au/our-data/quarterly-rental-review
- https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/consumer-price-index-australia
- https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population
ExamExplained does not provide financial advice. Rent figures are CoreLogic weekly median asking rents from the Quarterly Rental Review; groceries and utilities are conservative single-person estimates from the ABS CPI basket.