Cost of Living in Adelaide

Adelaide is a myopic backward place The entire Adelaide environment is infested with mates of mates, a privileged "boys" club and they are just not good enough for the job, the incompetence is staggering, the hubris, arrogance and entitled disregard for the public left me speechless (after 25 years in the private sector) it does not matter if they are labour or liberal, there is a core underlying way of doing business in adelaide that is substandard and the symptoms of this dysfunctional economic and social structure are in plain sight for those who wish to look.

as the saying goes "In adelaide, Its not what you know , its who you know"

Working out well then for the state of SA and adelaide the place is backward and getting worse

To Hunnie.

I arrived in Feb on 190 Finance Mgr Visa. Found job in a week. My predecessor in his role said it is very hard to find decent people in payroll and accounting positions. A strong candidate who is switched on with the right attitude shoudl do fine.

NOTE - I stayed up late at night in the UK to call recruiters in the morning Aus time. This paid off dividends, as one of the relationships I built off the back of this got me a job. It shows you have the right attitude to go the extra mile.

Do some research on schools and boroughs. People have told me the belt from left to right is the safest. Don't stray too far north or south.

2500AUD per month is more than enough for a single person to live in Adelaide

I am from INDIA . Hope all r doing fine
I have 3 months plan to Adelaide and my company is paying me me $2500AUD PM for my accommodation food and transport.
My question will 2500 AUD is sufficient for 1 person to live in Adelaide for 1 month.
Can I save any thing in this.

Thanks
Ramesh

adelaide is quite dead in terms of work and opportunity, and its almost as expensive to live as Sydney, Houses are cheaper, but they are cheaper for a reason, there are no comparable work salaries available in adelaide as they are in sydney

Hi everyone. I'm a PhD candidate student, newly I'm offered a AUD$ 27,000 annually from the university of Adelaide. Now I'm moving there with my wife. Please help me with the real living cost there. Is that money proper to make a good living there?
My other question is about a rental house. Because I will live in Gawler, What price is economic for us? Is AUD$ 300 proper for our situation?

Thank you

We just went on a 6 days stay in Adelaide and 3 days stay in Sydney. I can say that the costs above are accurate or close to what we've paid for in Adelaide. It's winter time and it's a bit cold compared to Sydney. But we like it more there, quiet, green city, friendly people, wide park and spaces, good transportation plan, easy to get around places, pretty relaxing place, traffic was OK, great place to raise a family.

We stayed around the places near the CBD.

Looking forward in staying here for good by March next year. :)

Matt, thank you for all this info. It's very helpful and makes us more excited in moving to Adelaide! Hope you would still be around by the time we get there.

Gurveen! Great! and hope to see you as well!

Ray, Just for your information, Adelaide is about 1,000 miles / 1,600 kilometres from Sydney. I have lived in Adelaide most of my life and it is a great place to live. It is a relatively safe, quiet and secure city that is easy to get around with great beaches, wineries and other tourist attractions close by. Most of the time we also have great weather; only a few weeks of cold weather in Winter and a handful of super hot days over 40 degrees C in Summer.

Lysh, Flagstaff Hill is a beautiful area and is all private housing as far as I am aware. It is only about 25-30 minutes to the CBD of Adelaide depending on traffic and a great environment to raise a family. You might also have some great views over Adelaide or the beaches depending on the property you purchase. Additionally you are only 10-15 minutes away from Flinders University if you have children interested in going to Uni. Adelaide is the City of Churches, so I am sure you will find the right church for you and your family close by. There are also some pretty good schools around the place. Compared to Sydney Adelaide is very affordable with a high standard of living and pretty good weather for most of the year.

I lived in Adelaide and all the surrounding suburbs for 4 years. absolutely loved it over the other states like Melbourne and Sydney but hey it depends what you prefer. I preferred a quite place. Yes every place has its negatives but peace of mind is what i got from Adelaide. My only and one concern was the genetically modified food. Made good friends from different backgrounds. I still regret leaving Adelaide.

We are to migrate on March 2017 with my wife and a kid. I am on IT job here in Philippines, we are thinking if it's worth the risk in moving to Adelaide... Thank you Anonymous!

Adelaide is like a country town, except not as social. It used to be a centrally focused city with the CBD as the main hub (1 sq mile), but city planning over the recent years has tried to make other hubs in the suburbs (Marion, Norlunga, Golden Grove, etc). Employment is hard to find (usually 100's of applicants per advertised job), but there can be some choice jobs around if your lucky to find them (some low-end IT/call-centers, government, etc. as well). Business owners are finding it very hard to survive here. The cost of living is low compared to the Eastern states (rent is about 1/2 - 3/4's Sydney, but jobs aren't as available). It has some decent educational facilities (universities, private colleges,) which attracts a lot of international students, esp from Asia.

I'm from Sydney and curious as to what Flagstaff Hill area is like, it looks like a lovely environment on google maps. Is it mainly private homes or is there government housing in that area?

Is it suitable for starting a family there? And what's the general population there like? Are there churches in the area?

Sorry for the questions, but we're hoping to move the Adelaide for a more affordable lifestyle. Sydney's just impossible.

I'm possibly moving to Adelaide with my family. We are coming from Vancouver, BC, Canada where soccer is a pretty popular sport for kids. How big is soccer for kids in Adelaide? I have 9yr olds and a 13yr old.

What is the pace of family life like? If anyone from there that has a family and you'd help give a "real" idea of what daily life looks like, I'd appreciate it.

I moved from Paris to Adelaide in 1977 and I thought then that Adelaide was a great place to live.
My yearly income was $35,000 and the first house I bought cost $32,000...You'd have to make $450,000 a year nowadays!!No way!
The price of food was quite affordable and life, over all was good and relaxed, compered to the life in Paris..
Now, I live abroad 5 months a year and every time I return to Adelaide, I feel like being taken hostage and to be ripped off right, left and center.
Australia has become the most crooked country in the world and the government doesn't seem to do much about it.
They create new rules everyday to narrow down your freedom of movements and do whatever they can to robotize society in general.
...The air is clean though.

The Negs:
1. Summer it's too damn hot
2. Lot's of unemployed bums, robbers, druggies, bashers/muggers and crooks
3. Water has horrid taste
4. Lack of diversity/cultures
5. Narrow minded bogans/chavs/rednecks

Good Points:
1. Less traffic congestion
2. Cheaper houses (than Melbourne/Sydney)
3. More relaxed lifestyle (potentially)
4. Parts of the countryside are very nice
5. Affordable lifestyle of house/car/trips

Terry, seriously. You're an absolute flog! Never read so much nonsense. You sound bitter. Best you POQ imo

One only needs to look at the climate statistics to see that Adelaide is warmer than the east coast states. 18 days of Summer? Absolute rubbish. I've lived across the east coast and Adelaide and BY FAR the most warm and wild climate is Adelaide. For anyone who wants the real story, Adelaide has mild winters, warm-to-hot summers and relatively low humidity, hence it can often be dry. You can get quite warm weather for around 4 months of the year, Dec-March.

As for the beaches, how precious do you want to be Terry!? Hypothermia? You've got to be kidding. Toughen-up princess! I've never, ever heard anyone say that about the water temperature in over three decades. Victorian friends who visit are always at pains to say how much nicer the beaches are here and I would agree, having lived in both states. If Brighton beach or eating dinner on the beach at Henley Square doesn't do it for you then you are very hard to please indeed!

Admittedly, the current unemployment situation is relatively poor due to the slowdown in mining (Olympic Dam) and the slow decay of the manufacturing industry, which has been a staple of this state's economy in previous times. It really depends what your field is. I had no trouble returning to Adelaide (from Vic) with a good salary but if you won't nearly as many finance jobs as a Melb or Sydney. Adelaide does have a large public service sector (I believe the highest per capita in Australia) and they adopt very liberal diversity policies for recruitment, which may aid those migrating. Other than that, the usual trades and health professionals are always in demand and the three large universities are quite active employers for those with an education background. IT is OK without being huge like a Melb or Sydney.

Hope that helps clear a few things up.

Long story short, No Employment, No future prospects- I would advise Anybody considering making Adelaide their home, be ready to learn how to exist on govt/welfare. No amount of tertiary Quals will overcomethe inward nature of the psche of adelaide. Adelaide has disgusting weather & beaches, In summer it is too hot, but the problem is the water in the beaches is Antarctic cold as it comes up from the southern ocean, not the pacific. So you feel oprressed by the heat, so decide to cool off at the beach, then get hypothermia from swimming at the beach on a 40+ degrees celsius day. But thats OK Summer only makes an appearence for a few days then it is back to winter weather. Adelaide feels like it is Constantly Winter, & then has about 18 days of blistering opressive heat from which there is no respite, as the ocean is too cold to swim in. All well & good to say plenty of study etc, problem is No Employment opportunities, the Schools are all "Below average" or in the Lower percentile for academia (versus eatern states), Real Estate is overpriced, The traffic network is reliant on cars as Adelaide has not grasped the idea of providing reliable public transport. Adelaide is the only city in the world that built a One-way Freeway, Two lane major arterial roads grind to a halt when a bus stops & blocks one lane of traffic, because there are no pull-in bays to pick up & set down passengers

I've always been slightly fascinated with Adelaide and wouldn't mind trying out living there one day .. say a year long project..

Now that Melbourne and Sydney (and I think Brisbane too) are so amazingly expensive for housing.. it's making me look at the B-List
of capital cities on offer.

The downside of Adelaide is that in summer it gets damn hot .. and I mean HOT !! 40~45~50 degrees...!!

People say the water is terrible and some parts of S.A. have high background radiation levels because of all the nuclear testing
back in the day...

Hi All.

We are on the verge of shifting to SA. Most probably Adelaide. A little skeptical about the move as currently we are in a relatively good position in India. Hubby is a self taught businessman, wife is professionally qualified in pharma field and in a managerial position with an MNC. Both husband and wife combined earns a respectable 6 figure salary. Has a house of our own though not the current upscale versions. Have a club membership where our kids can swim, play tennis, indoor games etc. etc., have our fair share of McDonalds and Pizzahut outings. And being a basic lifestyle types - not heavily into partying, tripping, shopping kind, saves a pretty penny every month. Kids are going to an excellent IB type schools and is currently in 9th and 5th grade. We are at a moments notice from our aged parents and close relatives, so at hand for any eventualities mutually. Moving to SA would mean a total new place - for everyone. Age wise we are in older side of the 40s. Will this move be wise? Can our children cope? Can we?
Comments welcome.

Minimum wages only gives minimum standard of living in the country one lives and earn money. Developed countries like Australia, Canada, USA or European countries have very high standards of living as compare to third world countries but still people find it very hard to save money and enjoy because of high cost of living, an average earning person is always on the hook. Compare taxes, rent, insurances, cost of groceries and then how much an average person can earn and then make a decision to move to any city. In Toronto, Canada people pay outrageously high car insurance and direct taxes and find themselves in a trap so make an informed decision.

Sad to hear DD's comment on racism , I am from India and plan to immigrate there before Christmas this year. I am a healthcare management MBA and hope to get a good job but the cost of living seems to be outrageous.
With two school going kids things could be tough any words of wisdom would be helpful
Thanks