# Living in Sydney, Australia

> Open, sourced figures for Sydney: take-home pay, monthly costs, who may live there, climate, air, safety and health. Figures as of 2026-11-05. Canonical page: https://borgo.abcastor.com/city/sydney-au/

## Key facts

- Sydney has about 5,638,830 residents (GeoNames).
- On a gross salary of A$96,000 a year, an employee in Sydney takes home about A$74,760 a year (A$6,230 a month) after income tax and employee contributions, an effective rate of 22.1% (Australia 2026 rules).
- In Sydney the average daily high (air temperature in the shade) peaks at 25.7 °C in February and the average daily low falls to 8.0 °C in June (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- Sydney has about 78 nice days a year, days that are dry, mostly clear and feel 18 to 30 °C on average from 8 am to 8 pm, most of them in April (12) (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- Between 2021 and 2025 the air in Sydney reached 39.3 °C at its hottest and 2.4 °C at its coldest (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo).
- It rains or snows (at least 1 mm) on about 138 days a year in Sydney (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), Open-Meteo, 2021-2025).
- The shortest day in Sydney lasts 9 h 54 min and the longest 14 h 25 min (computed from latitude).
- Everyday prices in Australia sit at 94.4 on an index where the United States is 100 (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2025).
- Life expectancy at birth in Australia is 83.1 years (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2024).
- Australia records 0.85 intentional homicides per 100,000 people a year (World Development Indicators, World Bank, 2023).
- Besides citizens of Australia, citizens of New Zealand (Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement) can live and work in Sydney without a visa.

## Take-home pay (Australia, 2026 rules)

| Gross a year | Take-home a year | A month | Effective rate |
|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| A$48,000 | A$42,400 | A$3,533 | 11.7% |
| A$96,000 | A$74,760 | A$6,230 | 22.1% |
| A$160,000 | A$116,530 | A$9,711 | 27.2% |

Resident employee, income year 2026-27: income tax with the tax-free threshold and low income tax offset, plus the 2% Medicare levy. Sources: [ATO: tax rates for Australian residents (2026-27)](https://www.ato.gov.au/tax-rates-and-codes/tax-rates-australian-residents), [ATO: low income tax offset](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/income-deductions-offsets-and-records/tax-offsets/low-income-tax-offset), [ATO: what is the Medicare levy](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/medicare-and-private-health-insurance/medicare-levy/what-is-the-medicare-levy), [ATO: Medicare levy reduction for low-income earners](https://www.ato.gov.au/individuals-and-families/medicare-and-private-health-insurance/medicare-levy/medicare-levy-reduction/medicare-levy-reduction-for-low-income-earners).

## A month on the reference profile

Assumed: one person, €60,000 gross a year, a one-bedroom home, everyday spending of €1,200 a month in Lisbon scaled by each country's price level.

- Take-home pay: A$6,205
- Rent: not known (no open rent data yet)
- Everyday spending: A$2,780
- Health care, out of pocket: A$131
- Left each month: not known

## Who can live and work here without a visa

- Citizens of Australia
- Citizens of New Zealand (Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement; source: [Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement](https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/special-category-444))

## Climate (Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis), 2021-2025)

| Month | High °C (air) | Low °C (air) | Lowest °C | Highest °C | Nice days | Wet days | Daylight |
|---|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|---:|
| Jan | 25.6 | 19.0 | 13.7 | 36.8 | 8 | 15.6 | 14 h 10 min |
| Feb | 25.7 | 18.9 | 13.8 | 34.9 | 10 | 15.2 | 13 h 23 min |
| Mar | 24.9 | 18.1 | 13.1 | 37.5 | 9 | 16.4 | 12 h 20 min |
| Apr | 22.3 | 14.1 | 7.9 | 28.1 | 12 | 11.8 | 11 h 15 min |
| May | 19.2 | 11.3 | 6.0 | 25.6 | 3 | 12.0 | 10 h 21 min |
| Jun | 16.7 | 8.0 | 2.4 | 21.7 | 0 | 7.2 | 9 h 54 min |
| Jul | 16.7 | 8.4 | 2.9 | 24.6 | 0 | 8.8 | 10 h 08 min |
| Aug | 18.6 | 9.3 | 4.3 | 29.2 | 1 | 9.0 | 10 h 54 min |
| Sep | 21.4 | 10.9 | 5.1 | 34.0 | 6 | 7.0 | 11 h 56 min |
| Oct | 23.0 | 13.3 | 8.0 | 38.2 | 9 | 11.8 | 13 h 01 min |
| Nov | 23.6 | 15.5 | 9.7 | 36.3 | 8 | 13.2 | 13 h 56 min |
| Dec | 25.5 | 17.3 | 12.1 | 39.3 | 11 | 10.2 | 14 h 24 min |

Nice days: dry, mostly clear and feeling 18 to 30 °C on average from 8 am to 8 pm. Lowest and highest: the extremes of 2021-2025.

## Every figure

| Figure | Value | Period | Level | Source | Licence |
|---|---:|---|---|---|---|
| Childcare fees, one child | A$30,618 a year | 2026 | Australia-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare fees, two children | A$61,235 a year | 2026 | Australia-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: couple, one child | A$9,464 a year | 2026 | Australia-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: couple, two children | A$14,914 a year | 2026 | Australia-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: single parent, one child | A$4,888 a year | 2026 | Australia-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Childcare, net of support: single parent, two children | A$5,825 a year | 2026 | Australia-wide | [OECD Tax-Benefit Models: net childcare costs](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Out-of-pocket health spending | US$1,106 a year per person | 2023 | Australia-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Paid holiday by law | 20 working days a year | 2026 | Australia-wide | [Paid holiday by law, from the labour codes cited](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/src/fetch/family.ts) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Public holidays on working days | 9 days a year | 2026 | region | [Nager.Date public holidays](https://date.nager.at/) | MIT |
| Paid leave for mothers | 9.2 weeks at full pay | 2025 | Australia-wide | [OECD Family Database: parental leave systems (PF2.1)](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Paid leave for fathers | 0.9 weeks at full pay | 2025 | Australia-wide | [OECD Family Database: parental leave systems (PF2.1)](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Price level | 94.4 index, US = 100 | 2025 | Australia-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Wet days | 138 days a year | 2021-2025 | city | [Historical weather (ERA5 reanalysis)](https://open-meteo.com/en/docs/historical-weather-api) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Sunshine | 2,628 hours a year | 1991-2020 | city | [WMO Climatological Standard Normals 1991-2020](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/products/wmo-climate-normals) | No licence attached; NCEI public access, citation requested (WMO Unified Data Policy) |
| Homicides | 0.85 per 100,000 | 2023 | Australia-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Life expectancy | 83.1 years | 2024 | Australia-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Life satisfaction | 7.2 of 10 | 2020 | Australia-wide | [OECD Well-being Database (How's Life?)](https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/well-being-database.html) | OECD terms for data (any use, with citation) |
| Research output | 1,129 works per 100k residents | 2025 | city | [OpenAlex institutions](https://openalex.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Research output per resident | 42 of 100 | 2025 | city | [OpenAlex institutions](https://openalex.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Universities and colleges | 29 organisations | 2026-10-27 | city | [Research Organization Registry](https://ror.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Research institutes | 35 organisations | 2026-10-27 | city | [Research Organization Registry](https://ror.org/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Founders Running Club | no chapter | 2026-10-27 | city | [Founders Running Club communities](https://foundersrc.com/communities) | Public listing (facts of presence only; no licence stated) |
| Coworking spaces | 27 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Climbing gyms | 12 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Public swimming pools | 47 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Hackerspaces and makerspaces | 3 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Green space | 13.6 % of land | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Distance to the sea | 4 km | Natural Earth 5.1 | city | [Natural Earth (coastline, land, countries and populated places)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/) | Public domain |
| Distance to the mountains | 97 km | terrain tiles 2017 | city | [Terrain Tiles (Terrarium) on AWS Open Data](https://registry.opendata.aws/terrain-tiles/) | Public domain (USGS, NOAA) and Open Government Licence – Canada, with attribution |
| Nearest major airport | 9 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OurAirports airports](https://ourairports.com/data/) | Public domain |
| Airports within 100 km | 1 airport | 2026-10-27 | city | [OurAirports airports](https://ourairports.com/data/) | Public domain |
| Rail and metro stations | 60 within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Cycle paths | 320 km within 10 km | 2026-10-27 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| English speakers | 96 % of population | CLDR 49 | Australia-wide | [CLDR territory information](https://cldr.unicode.org/) | Unicode-3.0 |
| English is official | yes | CLDR 49 | Australia-wide | [CLDR territory information](https://cldr.unicode.org/) | Unicode-3.0 |
| Internet speed | 41 Mbit/s | 2023 | city | [M-Lab NDT statistics (daily city aggregates)](https://www.measurementlab.net/data/) | CC0-1.0 |
| Adults with a degree | 47.5 % of adults | 2024 | Australia-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Developers on GitHub | 7.8 per 1,000 residents | 2026-11-05 | city | [GitHub user search](https://docs.github.com/en/rest/search/search#search-users) | No data licence: only total counts of profiles are stored (GitHub Acceptable Use Policies, section 7) |
| Everyday needs on foot | 94 % of streets | 2026-11-05 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Cycle network | 1.18 km per km² of land | 2026-11-05 | city | [OpenStreetMap via the Overpass API: walking and cycling](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) | ODbL-1.0 |
| Out of the dense city | 10.8 km | 2025 | city | [GHS Urban Centre Database 2025 (R2024A), general characteristics](https://human-settlement.emergency.copernicus.eu/ghs_ucdb_2024.php) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Politics, left to right | centre, 5.2 of 10 | 2025-05-03 | region | [Political position from election results](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/pipeline/inputs/politics.json) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Abortion in law | on request, 10 weeks or later | 2026 | Australia-wide | [Abortion in law, from the statutes cited](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/src/fetch/rights-law.ts) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Doctors | 4.1 per 1,000 people | 2022 | Australia-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Unemployment | 4.1 % of the labour force | 2025 | Australia-wide | [World Development Indicators](https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Control of corruption | 1.84 -2.5 to 2.5 | 2025 | Australia-wide | [Worldwide Governance Indicators](https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators) | CC-BY-4.0 |
| Same-sex couples in law | marriage | 2026 | Australia-wide | [Same-sex couples in law, from the statutes cited](https://github.com/ABCastor/borgo/blob/main/src/fetch/rights-law.ts) | CC-BY-4.0 |

No open figure yet for: rent, one bedroom, rent, three bedrooms, your childcare cost, health insurance premium, fine dust (pm2.5), public swimming pools (official), green urban areas (official), commuting by public transport, commute time, monthly transit pass, road deaths, born abroad, walking or cycling to work.

## Comparisons

- [Sydney vs Dubai](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/dubai-ae-vs-sydney-au/index.md)
- [Sydney vs Melbourne](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/melbourne-au-vs-sydney-au/index.md)
- [Sydney vs San Francisco](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/san-francisco-us-vs-sydney-au/index.md)
- [Sydney vs Singapore](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/singapore-sg-vs-sydney-au/index.md)
- [Sydney vs Tokyo](https://borgo.abcastor.com/compare/sydney-au-vs-tokyo-jp/index.md)

## Credits

- Borgo contributors, from the statutes cited in each figure's note ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Unicode CLDR territory information. Copyright © 1991-2026 Unicode, Inc. Used under the Unicode License v3 (https://www.unicode.org/license.txt) ([Unicode License v3](https://www.unicode.org/license.txt))
- Borgo contributors, from the statutes cited in each figure's note ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Founders Running Club communities list (facts of presence and links only) ([No licence from the publisher: only facts of presence are stored](https://foundersrc.com/communities))
- Places, coordinates, populations and time zones from GeoNames (geonames.org), CC BY 4.0 ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- GHS-UCDB R2024A, European Commission, Joint Research Centre, CC BY 4.0, doi:10.2905/1a338be6-7eaf-480c-9664-3a8ade88cbcd; Borgo derives the distance from the centre to the urban centre's edge Shores and lakes from Natural Earth (public domain) decide which directions lead on to land. ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Counts of GitHub profiles by stated location, from GitHub's public user search (counts only, no profile data) ([No data licence from the publisher: only total counts are stored, no record about anyone, as its terms allow public, non-personal information in openly published research](https://docs.github.com/en/site-policy/acceptable-use-policies/github-acceptable-use-policies#7-information-usage-restrictions))
- Borgo contributors, from the labour codes cited in each figure's note ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- The M-Lab NDT Data Set, 2023-01-01–2023-12-31. https://measurementlab.net/tests/ndt ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- Public holidays from Nager.Date (date.nager.at), MIT License, Copyright (c) Nager ([MIT License](https://opensource.org/license/mit))
- Made with Natural Earth (public domain) ([Public domain (dedicated by the publisher)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/))
- OECD (2026), Net childcare costs, OECD Tax-Benefit Models, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/indicators/net-childcare-costs.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. ([OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html))
- OECD (2026), OECD Family Database, PF2.1 Parental leave systems, https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/oecd-family-database.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. ([OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html))
- OECD (2026), OECD Well-being Database (How's Life?), https://www.oecd.org/en/data/datasets/well-being-database.html Reusers must cite the OECD as above and pass this acknowledgement requirement on to anyone they share the data with. ([OECD terms for data: any use, with the OECD citation passed on](https://www.oecd.org/en/about/terms-conditions.html))
- Weather data by Open-Meteo.com (https://open-meteo.com/), CC BY 4.0 Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2021-2025. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use that may be made of the Copernicus information or data it contains. ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- OpenAlex (openalex.org), CC0 ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ([Open Database License 1.0](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/))
- © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL 1.0 (https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright) ([Open Database License 1.0](https://opendatacommons.org/licenses/odbl/1-0/))
- Airports from OurAirports (ourairports.com), public domain ([Public domain (dedicated by the publisher)](https://www.naturalearthdata.com/about/terms-of-use/))
- Borgo contributors, from official election results and ParlGov party positions (Döring, Huber and Manow, ParlGov 2024 release, CC0) ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- Research Organization Registry (ror.org), CC0 ([CC0 1.0 (public domain dedication)](https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/))
- Terrain Tiles on AWS Open Data (Mapzen, a Linux Foundation project): SRTM and GMTED2010 terrain data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey; ETOPO1, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; Canada terrain data contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada ([Terrain Tiles source terms: public domain (USGS, NOAA) and Open Government Licence – Canada, with attribution](https://github.com/tilezen/joerd/blob/master/docs/attribution.md))
- Borgo's summary of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement (Australian Department of Home Affairs) ([Borgo's own summary of the law cited (CC BY 4.0); the official text is cited, not copied](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- WMO Member Nations (2023). WMO Climatological Standard Normals for 1991-2020 (NCEI Accession 0253808), sunshine duration. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. https://doi.org/10.25921/800j-vn07 ([No licence attached: NCEI public access with a requested citation, under the WMO Unified Data Policy](https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/metadata/landing-page/bin/iso?id=gov.noaa.nodc:0253808))
- World Bank, World Development Indicators, CC BY 4.0 (underlying sources named in each figure's note: ICP, IMF, UNODC, UN Population Division, WHO, ILO, UNESCO Institute for Statistics) ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))
- World Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators, Control of Corruption estimate, CC BY 4.0 ([CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/))

## Cite

Borgo, "Living in Sydney", https://borgo.abcastor.com/city/sydney-au/, figures as of 2026-11-05. Name the original source of any figure you quote. JSON: https://borgo.abcastor.com/api/city/sydney-au.json