A data story by Trudey Nguyen (s4165961) | Sources: ABS (2025), ABS (2022)
Since 2011, Australian dwelling prices have risen dramatically faster than wages, a gap that has only widened since 2020.
This gap is pretty alarming when you think about it. Wages have barely budged in real terms while dwelling prices have nearly doubled since 2011. If you’re a student or young worker trying to save for a house, you’re essentially running on a treadmill that keeps speeding up.
Workers in Western Australia earn the most; South Australia lags behind, but housing costs in every state have grown faster than wages.
It’s interesting that even WA workers, who earn the most, still can’t escape the affordability crunch. Higher wages help, but they haven’t kept pace with how fast prices have climbed. For students graduating into the SA or TAS job market, the numbers are especially tough to look at.
The lowest-income households devote nearly half their income to housing costs, regardless of whether they own or rent.
Note: The 30% threshold is the standard definition of housing stress, spending more than 30% of gross income on housing.
The 30% line is the point where housing stops being manageable and starts crowding out everything else: groceries, healthcare, uni fees. The fact that the poorest renters are at 50% is shocking. That’s not a housing cost, that’s a housing crisis playing out in someone’s bank account every fortnight.
Lone-person households and single-parent families face the steepest housing cost burdens, compounding existing inequalities.
As a student still living at home, the lone person row hit differently. It’s not just about income, your household structure determines how hard housing hits you. Single parents and people living alone are getting squeezed from both ends: lower pooled income and no one to split the rent with.
States with lower median wages also show higher private rental cost burdens, showing that the squeeze is worst where workers can afford it least.
NSW is in a league of its own, with high prices, only average wages, and the biggest bubble on the chart. At current prices, a full-time NSW worker would need over 13 years of gross income just to match the mean dwelling price. That’s before tax, before food, before anything else.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022). Housing occupancy and costs, 2019–20 (Cat. no. 4130.0). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/housing-occupancy-and-costs/2019-20
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Employee earnings, August 2025 (Cat. no. 6337.0). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/earnings-and-working-conditions/employee-earnings-and-hours-australia/latest-release
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Total value of dwellings, December 2025 (Cat. no. 6432.0). https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/price-indexes-and-inflation/total-value-dwellings/latest-release