Australian households earning less than six figures are increasingly being priced out of the rental market, with new data showing families now need to earn more than $112,000 a year to afford the median-priced house in a capital city.
The Domain report reveals the income required to avoid rental stress—defined as spending more than 30 per cent of earnings on rent—has skyrocketed 51 per cent since 2019, jumping from $74,533 before the pandemic to today’s much steeper threshold.
Rents have surged far faster than wages over the past five years, leaving large parts of the country unaffordable for ordinary households and pushing living standards down.
Employers, particularly in outer and middle suburbs, are also finding it increasingly difficult to attract essential workers who can no longer afford to live nearby.
Across the capital cities, a two-income household on average wages now spends 21.1 per cent of its combined earnings on a typical rental home.
Domain senior economist Joel Bowman told AAP as per Daily Mail single-income renters face the sharpest pressure, with average individual earnings sitting at around $80,200.
“For those single-income renters, it can be quite a struggle to be able to rent a typical-priced house in most markets.”
Unsurprisingly, Sydney remains the nation’s toughest market, where households need $135,200 annually to rent a median house and $130,000 for a median unit. Even in the city’s few remaining affordable pockets—such as Willmot, where an income of $84,933 covers the median rent—options closer to the CBD are out of reach for most. In Vaucluse, Australia’s least affordable suburb, renters need a staggering $511,333 household income to secure a typical property.
Other capitals are not far behind. Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide have all recorded steep jumps in rental costs since 2019, with median house rents now consuming more than 21 per cent of typical household income. Perth has seen the sharpest shift: five years ago, house rents accounted for just 13.9 per cent of median income.
Nationally, median rent hit $671 a week in September, data from property firm Cotality shows—an increase of 53.3 per cent over five years. Over the same period, median incomes rose only 20 per cent, underlining the widening affordability gap.
Support our Journalism
No-nonsense journalism. No paywalls. Whether you’re in Australia, the UK, Canada, the USA, or India, you can support The Australia Today by taking a paid subscription via Patreon or donating via PayPal — and help keep honest, fearless journalism alive.
