Purchasing Power Parity · Australia
Cost of living in 🇦🇺 Australia vs the United States
Australia has a US-relative price level of 0.91 (US = 1.0) — about 9% cheaper than the United States. Reference year 2025.
What US salaries are worth in Australia
| US income | Feels like (US-equivalent) | Cost of a US lifestyle |
|---|---|---|
| $50,000 | $54,945 | $45,500 |
| $80,000 | $87,912 | $72,800 |
| $120,000 | $131,868 | $109,200 |
| $180,000 | $197,802 | $163,800 |
| $250,000 | $274,725 | $227,500 |
“Feels like” = income ÷ price level; “cost of a US lifestyle” = income × price level. Try your own number in the interactive calculator.
How the sources compare
Each provider measures Australia's price level slightly differently; a tight spread means high confidence.
Consensus (median) 0.910 2025
World Bank — GDP 0.901 2025
IMF (WEO) 0.919 2025
OECD 0.901 2025
Penn World Table 0.945 2023
World Bank — Consumption 0.944 2025
Big Mac Index 0.957 2026
Cost of living around the world
Every country shaded by its price level relative to the US (darker = more expensive). Australia is outlined.
Cheaper → pricier · click a country to open its page
Countries with a similar cost of living
- 🇩🇰 Denmark — price level 0.915
- 🇹🇻 Tuvalu — price level 0.922
- 🇵🇼 Palau — price level 0.932
- 🇬🇧 United Kingdom — price level 0.881
- 🇳🇴 Norway — price level 0.878
Relocating for work? See the fair salary from the US to Australia or use the Fair Pay Localizer.
Frequently asked questions
- How expensive is Australia compared to the United States?
- Australia has a price level of 0.91 relative to the US baseline of 1.0 (about 9% cheaper than the United States), based on the median of independent votes from the World Bank/IMF (one vote — both use the official exchange rate), the Eurostat-OECD PPP programme and the Penn World Table, reference year 2025.
- What is a $100,000 salary worth in Australia?
- In purchasing-power terms, $100,000 stretches to about $109,890 of US-equivalent lifestyle in Australia; conversely, sustaining a $100,000 US lifestyle there costs about $91,000.
- Where does the Australia cost-of-living data come from?
- Real price-level figures from the World Bank, IMF World Economic Outlook, OECD, Eurostat and Penn World Table, blended as a per-country median of independent votes and refreshed at build time.