Renting in Australia used to be a stepping stone. Now, for millions of households, it has become a trap. Since 2021, median rents have surged across every state and territory, and the share of low-income renters spending more than 30% of their income on housing has reached its highest level in decades.
Chart 1 of 5Australian rents rose sharply from 2021 — and haven’t stoppedMedian weekly rent by state and territory, June 2018 to April 2025. Hover a line to see values.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Latest insights into the rental market. ABS.
From 2018 to mid-2021, rents across Australia were largely stable. New South Wales and the ACT were the most expensive markets, both sitting around $480–$490 per week, while Tasmania remained the most affordable at just $270. Then the surge began. Western Australia recorded the steepest climb of any state — rising from $350 per week in April 2019 to $613 by April 2025, a 75% increase. Tasmania, despite starting from the lowest base, rose 59% over the same period. Even the ACT, which saw the smallest increase, still recorded a 24% rise. By April 2025, New South Wales had reached $650 per week — the highest median rent in the country — while no state remained below $430.
Chart 2 of 5Every state recorded a double-digit rent increase — WA by far the steepestPercentage change in median weekly rent, April 2019 to April 2025. Hover a bar for exact figures.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Latest insights into the rental market. ABS.
Not a single state escaped the surge. Western Australia leads at +75.1% — the most dramatic rent increase of any state between April 2019 and April 2025. Tasmania (+59.3%) and South Australia (+52.3%) follow, both markets that were historically affordable but have seen that advantage rapidly erode. Even the ACT, which recorded the smallest increase at +24%, still saw rents rise by nearly a quarter in six years. NSW and Victoria, despite being Australia’s two largest rental markets, sit in the middle of the pack — not because rents didn’t rise, but because they were already expensive before the surge began.
Chart 3 of 5 · MultivariateRegional renters felt the surge first — then cities caught up and overtook themAnnual rent inflation (%) in capital cities vs regional areas, 2019–2025. Hover for exact values.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Latest insights into the rental market. ABS.
The pandemic split Australia’s rental market in two. While capital city rents fell to -2.1% annual inflation in February 2021 — as international students and CBD workers left — regional rents held steady and began climbing, reaching 6.4% by early 2023 as remote workers relocated. But cities hit back hard. From mid-2021, capital city inflation accelerated relentlessly, peaking at 8.5% in December 2023 — well above the regional peak of 6.4%. The two lines crossing around mid-2022 marks the turning point: cities overtook regions and haven’t looked back. By April 2025, capital city inflation sat at 5.5% and regional at 4.6% — both still elevated, with no sign of returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Chart 4 of 5 · MultivariateInner-city suburbs hit hardest — a boomerang effect as workers returned to CBDsAnnual rent inflation (%) by distance from CBD, 2019–2025. Click legend items to show or hide bands.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Latest insights into the rental market. ABS.
The rental crisis didn’t hit all suburbs equally. During the pandemic, inner-city areas within 12.5 km of the CBD fell the hardest — dropping to -3.8% annual inflation in February 2021 as apartments emptied. Meanwhile, areas beyond 100 km from the CBD were already rising, reflecting the remote work migration wave. The reversal was dramatic. From 2022, inner-city inflation accelerated faster than any other band, peaking at 9.4% in October 2023 — the highest of all distance bands. By contrast, areas over 1000 km from the CBD peaked earlier at 7.2% in mid-2023 and have been easing since. By April 2025, the bands have largely converged, all sitting between 4% and 6.3% — suggesting the geographic disparity is narrowing, but pressure remains across the board.
Chart 5 of 5 · MultivariateNew and existing renters alike — almost no one is seeing rents fallShare of properties with rising, stable or falling rents by tenant type, 2019–2025. Hover for exact values.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Latest insights into the rental market. ABS. Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022). Housing occupancy and costs, 2019–20. ABS.
The two charts above tell the same story from two angles — and together they show how completely the rental market has flipped. For new tenants, the share of properties with rising rents peaked at 94.1% in February 2023. At the same time in 2020, 53.4% of new tenancies were actually getting cheaper. That reversal — from more than half falling to nearly all rising — happened in less than three years. Existing tenants held on longer. As recently as February 2021, 64.2% of existing leases saw no change at renewal. But that protection evaporated rapidly. By November 2023, 82.3% of existing tenants faced a rent increase. By April 2025, 82.8% of new tenants and 72.6% of existing tenants were still seeing rents rise — with no meaningful relief in sight.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2022). Housing occupancy and costs, 2019–20. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/housing-occupancy-and-costs/2019-20
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2025). Latest insights into the rental market. ABS. https://www.abs.gov.au/articles/latest-insights-rental-market
This data story was developed by the author, with Claude (Anthropic) used for assistance with code scaffolding, CSS formatting, and document structure. All data selection, analysis, visualisations, narrative writing, and analytical decisions were made and finalised by the author.
Claude (claude-sonnet-4-6) [Large language model]. Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com