Moving to Adelaide (SA)

Adelaide is ranked as the fifth-most livable city in the world for the second year running.

Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia. With a Mediterranean climate and relaxed lifestyle, the city offers an amazing quality of life, affordable housing, and good economic opportunities.

Combine Adelaide’s superb climate with the lowest house prices of any Australian major state capital and you discover a proposition that is increasingly attractive to migrants seeking to improve their lifestyles. Adelaide is Australia’s most affordable big city. Adelaide needs the skills of around 5,000 new people from overseas each year to further develop its economy.

Population: 1.36 million people
Climate: sunny, warm, Mediterranean climate with low humidity
First Home Owner Grant (FHOG): $15,000
Top draw cards: amazing climate, foodie heaven, premier wine state (producing 65% of the nation’s wine exports)
Public Transport: mainly cars, traffic easily flows with not a lot of congestion. Good public transport system (trains, buses and trams). In the centre of the city, you can travel by bus free of charge.

The Economy

Adelaide has the lowest average wage and the highest unemployment of any of Australia’s big five cities. It’s old school and suffering from the “Brain Drain”. Education and healthcare jobs are particularly attractive in Adelaide. The salaries are similar to those in other Australian cities, but Adelaide has much cheaper housing.

Industries play a big part in Adelaide’s economy and include automotive manufacturing, bioscience, engineering, ICT, medical research, tourism, and the wine industry. There are the same opportunities in the public sector as elsewhere: hospitals, schools, universities, and local and state governments are major employers.

Adelaide Pros:

• Cheap houses
• Warm, sunny with low humidity
• Lovely beaches
• Pleasant suburbs with little traffic
• Great variety of places to eat out
• Good public transport
• Sprawling green parklands, hills and national parks around the city
• The world-famous Barossa Valley lies just 60 km away
• Known for it’s art festivals
• Adelaide is Australia’s most affordable big city.

Adelaide Cons:

• Sea water temperatures are cooler than other cities, except for Melbourne.
• Some summer days are too hot.
• Adelaide has higher unemployment and, on average, lower wages than other major cities in Australia.
• Too many boy racers on the roads.