Cost of Living in Sydney

krusty2101

Hi I have been offered a job in Sydney and I am trying to work out what salary I should look for. I would be looking for something that would equate to about €50,000 in Ireland. I have been told that rent is very high. I am single so I am thinking I might have to share. If you could let me know the cost of rents in Sydney for a one bed apartment in a nice part of Sydney and also the similar cost of rent sharing in a similar area. I have found lots of sites with price comparisons for shopping and utlities which helps but I would really like to get to know how much rent will cost. Also is it like here that I will pay one month in advance and one month deposit? Many thanks K

augustus gloop

http://www.allhomes.com.au/ah/nsw/rent-residential/335-6-cowper-wharf-road-woolloomooloo-sydney/1316832878111


thats an expensive one but well located and pretty flash, use that website, it will give you an idea. 1 month down and rent in advance is the norm, not near as many places furnished as here.
good luck

krusty2101

Thanks Augustus. That's a good starting point, although probably a bit too expensive for me.

augustus gloop

bit too expensive for the most of us!:D that site is prob the most popular one in Oz.

statina

Depends on where your job is and the area you want to live in. An unfurnished apartment is generally cheaper than a furnished, and its pretty easy to pick up 2nd hand furniture

If you are looking in the Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West-its usually between 400-500 per week for a half decent 1 bed apartment. For sharing an apartment, the usual is between 220/300 per week.
If you go further out west, it will be cheaper.

Domain.com.au and realestate.com.au are good websites as well as gumtree.

lavelle72

statina wrote: »

If you are looking in the Northern Beaches, Eastern Suburbs, Inner West-its usually between 400-500 per week for a half decent 1 bed apartment. For sharing an apartment, the usual is between 220/300 per week.
If you go further out west, it will be cheaper.

In the Eastern suburbs, I would say you're looking at $500+ minimum for a 1 bed apartment in a modern building with gym/pool etc, and you wouldn't get much in a share place for $220 p/w...I would expect closer to $300 per week in a decent shared place

Batgurl

I agree with Lavelle. $500+ for an unfurnished one bed is the norm.

$250-300 for a double room in a share house.
Bills are obviously extra on top of this.

Don't forget bills ... our last Energy bill came in at $800 for the Winter quarter - Damn carbon tax!

mandrake04

krusty2101 wrote: »

Hi I have been offered a job in Sydney and I am trying to work out what salary I should look for. I would be looking for something that would equate to about €50,000 in Ireland.

If you want to equate to something around €50,000 in Ireland then you would be looking at about at least $100K -$110K, $120K+ would definitely give you a good lifestyle.

Dont make the mistake of confusing the exchange rate with the cost of living.

krusty2101

Thanks Mandrate. That is the problem - I think the exchange rate doesn't reflect the cost of living comparison. The Australian Dollar is strong at the moment. I want to make sure I get it right. A friend of mine who lives in Australia but not Sydney mentioned a figure of 90,000 would be adequate in Sydney.

krusty2101

That's all great. Very helpful !!! I want to live in a nice part of Sydney. I'd rather spend a bit more on where I live if I can afford it.

Feelgood

krusty2101 wrote: »

A friend of mine who lives in Australia but not Sydney mentioned a figure of 90,000 would be adequate in Sydney.

You could definitely live off 90k very comfortably. Paying 5-600 a week in rent totals around 30-35% of your gross salary.

Compare that to home, on a salary of 50k. Rent around 800 a month?. I am sure its gone down at this stage. You would be paying in or around 20% of your gross.

As Mandrake rightly pointed out, theres is a big difference between the cost of living and the exchange rate.

The_Hustler

I think $100K is going overboard, never mind $120K+. Remember you get a higher net pay here but besides that, €50K at home would not let you live as comfortably as $100K here.

kraggy

Jaysus, and people complain about Dublin prices. 500 dollars a WEEK?! That's exactly €400 per week, or €1600 per month!!

For a one bedroom?

Bloody hell. Worse than London.

The_Hustler

kraggy wrote: »

Jaysus, and people complain about Dublin prices. 500 dollars a WEEK?! That's exactly €400 per week, or €1600 per month!!

For a one bedroom?

Bloody hell. Worse than London.

If you're paid 1,600 a week, is it that bad?

krusty2101

1600 before tax I presume?

mandrake04

The_Hustler wrote: »

I think $100K is going overboard, never mind $120K+. Remember you get a higher net pay here but besides that, €50K at home would not let you live as comfortably as $100K here.

Definitely not ....it's rougly the rule of 2, average wage in Ireland is €37K

Where as Australia's average salary is $73K


If you are making €50K in Ireland then double it and add a bit extra as Sydney is above average prices and you are not far of the mark. Sure you don't pay as much tax but you are paying more for fruit and vegetables for example.

Skilled work would be at least $40+ per hour, Skilled/Professional work $50 ph is decent enough. Anything over $60 ph and you are defnitely laughing.

hussey

Going by mandrake figures,$50 is 35% above average wage, and 98.5 is 35% above 73.

statina

Yeah the price of accomodation over here per week is crazy, especially when you compare it to home. But such is life! Have you found out where your job is yet?

Some really nice subarbs to live in are Neutral Bay, Cremorne, and Mosman on the Northern Beaches. 10 minutes to the city and close to Balmoral Beach, you have the best of both worlds.

krusty2101

Thanks Statina. It's near a place called Rozelle. Do you know it? Is it handy for the places you mentioned?

hussey

krusty2101 wrote: »

Thanks Statina. It's near a place called Rozelle. Do you know it? Is it handy for the places you mentioned?

Rozelle and balmain are pretty nice suburbs and not too far from city. North shore places would be difficult to get to Balmain from
e.g. Google map

statina

Yeah the north shore suburbs i mentioned would be awkward to get to. As Hussey said, Rozelle and Balmain are lovely suburbs. Loads of nice restaurants and bars.

Theres also Pyrmont, Ultimo, Drummoyne, Glebe, Leichardt Annendale which are close enough to Rozelle and are really nice.

Feelgood

statina wrote: »

Theres also Pyrmont, Ultimo, Drummoyne, Glebe, Leichardt Annendale which are close enough to Rozelle and are really nice.

Pyrmont is great, been living in it for close to 2 years now. Can't see myself living in any other part of Sydney at this stage.

Rozelle would be a very easy cycle to work.

Diddler82

kraggy wrote: »

Jaysus, and people complain about Dublin prices. 500 dollars a WEEK?! That's exactly €400 per week, or €1600 per month!!

For a one bedroom?

Bloody hell. Worse than London.

It's all relative

Mellor

kraggy wrote: »

Jaysus, and people complain about Dublin prices. 500 dollars a WEEK?! That's exactly €400 per week, or €1600 per month!!

For a one bedroom?

Bloody hell. Worse than London.

Your conversion is meaningless. You can't just convert it with the exchange rate. The assume dollar is strong, the euro isn't.

A few years ago $500 was €250.

The_Hustler

mandrake04 wrote: »

If you are making €50K in Ireland then double it and add a bit extra as Sydney is above average prices and you are not far of the mark. Sure you don't pay as much tax but you are paying more for fruit and vegetables for example.

Skilled work would be at least $40+ per hour, Skilled/Professional work $50 ph is decent enough. Anything over $60 ph and you are defnitely laughing.

I lived in Sydney a few months ago and I am a professional worker and you would be very lucky to get $50 ph. And that's on contract rates where you get more ph than salaried wages because of the lack of annual leave etc.

Despite what I said earlier, I think I have been taking the wrong viewpoint, you are right that you would need that much to live as comfortably, but my point is I don't think you will get that much, which is why people complain about the cost of living here. I think you may still disagree with me on that point based on your post. I've been given the impression that there has been a bit of a slowdown and wages have dropped over the last year.

I'm surprised the average wage is that high, maybe my recruiter screwed me over! I've moved to Melbourne now where the rent is cheaper but nothing else seems to be, unfortunately the wages are less.

mandrake04

The_Hustler wrote: »

I lived in Sydney a few months ago and I am a professional worker and you would be very lucky to get $50 ph. And that's on contract rates where you get more ph than salaried wages because of the lack of annual leave etc.

$50 ph for normal time is just under $100K per year, I don't think you would have to be really lucky to be earning a salary of around the ton I reckon it would be pretty normal for most professional occupations. According to to that survey posted above the average gross wage in Sydney is $89K (that was over a survey of 329 people which is broad enough) As for contract rates I know people getting $80+ ph and one of them is a another poster in this thread.

Maybe you should do a poll to get a better idea.