Which city is better: Adelaide or Brisbane?

Adelaide is better than Brisbane in terms of cost of living, transportation, and safety.

Meanwhile, Brisbane is better than Adelaide in terms of job opportunities and salaries.

Ultimately, the choice of the better city is up to your preference. Each city has its strengths and weaknesses, and it will be up to you to decide which strengths you value more.

Adelaide is known for its festivals, foods, wines, coastlines, and hills. On the other hand, Brisbane is famous for its 280 days of sun a year and its friendly residents.

With two great cities to choose from, deciding where to move or visit can be challenging. To make it easier for you, we’ve compared the differences and similarities between Adelaide and Brisbane.

Adelaide vs Brisbane: Weather

Weather is an essential factor to consider when moving or visiting a country. This can affect your way of living and your overall experience in the place.

We gathered information from Tourism Australia to compare the weather in Adelaide and Brisbane.

Adelaide Weather

Adelaide experiences mild weather throughout the year. According to Tourism Australia, Adelaide experiences comfortable winters and a warm, dry summer with temperatures ranging from 16.7°C to 28.6°C during summer and 8°C to 16°C in winter.

Autumn in Adelaide presents the city with crimson, orange, and golden tint. The weather remains lovely, with average temperatures ranging from 12.7°C to 22.7°C (55°F to 73°F) and minimal rainfall.

Spring also sees similar weather to autumn. Spring temperatures still maintain within the range of 11.8°C to 22°C, the perfect weather to go sightseeing and appreciate nature. 

There is also minimal rainfall, making the city an even better place to go out and have fun.

Brisbane Weather

Brisbane has a subtropical climate, which means it is warm or hot for most of the year. As it is farther north than Adelaide, it’s understandably hotter and more tropical.

During summer, the temperature ranges from 21°C to 30°C, whereas it’s 10°C to 22°C during winter.

Brisbane also experiences higher humidity during summer, as compared to Adelaide. They have 9 to 10 days of monthly rainfall, significantly higher than Adelaide’s three days a month.

In autumn, the temperature drops to 15°C to 25°C, which is still warmer than Adelaide’s autumn season. The humidity also decreases, and the city experiences less rain.

The weather remains the same in spring, where the city maintains a temperature range of 15°C to 25°C.

Is Adelaide hotter than Brisbane?

On average, Adelaide is not hotter than Brisbane. Sunseekers would love Brisbane more as it has warm sunny days, 280 days a year. 

Adelaide’s summer temperature, which ranges from 16.7°C to 28.6°C, is cooler than Brisbane’s, where the temperature goes from 21°C to 30°C. Adelaide’s summer temperature is actually similar to Brisbane’s autumn.

Adelaide vs Brisbane: Cost of Living

The cost of living is another important consideration when choosing your next home. This determines whether you can afford to live in the area and how comfortable your lifestyle will be.

Is Adelaide cheaper than Brisbane?

In general, Adelaide is cheaper to live in than Brisbane.

According to Numbeo, you would need around 7,748.88A$ in Brisbane to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 7,500.00A$ in Adelaide.

The table below shows a comparison of the average cost of living and basic expenses in Adelaide and Brisbane.

The average monthly cost of a family of four in Adelaide is estimated to be around 5,170A$, while the average monthly cost for a single person is 1,487A$. 

In both cases, they are cheaper than Brisbane, where a family of four will cost 5,459.43A$, and a single individual will cost 1,522.35A$.

In Adelaide, the monthly rent for a one-bedroom apartment in the City Centre is 1,867.62A$, which is 5.57% lower than in Brisbane, which costs 2,142.24 A$.

If you want to purchase an apartment, it is significantly more expensive in Brisbane than in Adelaide. Adelaide’s price per square meter is 6,555.47A$, 43.86% cheaper than Brisbane’s 11.677.92A$-per-square-meter price.

The utilities, however, are a different case. Basic utilities in Adelaide are 42.10% more expensive than in Brisbane.

When it comes to food and restaurants, both cities are similar. Adelaide’s grocery prices are only 0.07% higher than Brisbane’s. The same goes for their restaurant prices, where Adelaide’s restaurants typically cost only 0.23% more than Brisbane’s.

If you want a more affordable city, Adelaide is the better choice of the two.

Adelaide vs Brisbane: Safety

We understand how important it is to consider safety when deciding where to visit or live.

The table below shows a comparison of the crime index and safety scale of Adelaide and Brisbane, as computed by Numbeo.

Is Adelaide safer than Brisbane?

Adelaide and Brisbane are pretty similar when it comes to safety. Both cities are generally safe to live in, and their crime indexes are lower than the average crime index nationwide. 

But if we have to choose, the slight difference in safety scale and crime rates will help determine which city is safer.

Technically, Adelaide is slightly safer than Brisbane. Crime rates in Adelaide are consistently lower than in Brisbane, and people feel safer walking alone both during daylight and during the night in Adelaide than in Brisbane.

Adelaide vs Brisbane: Transportation

Adelaide and Brisbane are big cities, and you won’t be able to truly explore everything the cities have to offer without transportation. Knowing each city’s transportation system will make your stay significantly better.

Adelaide Transportation

Adelaide’s public transportation consists of trains, buses, and trams. All of these are run by Adelaide Metro, which provides a Metrocard that can be used in all types of public transportation available in the city, making transportation convenient and accessible.

There are a lot of buses going around the city, so it’s not hard to ride one. You can also ride a bus in the centre of the town for free.

Adelaide also has numerous bike lanes connecting the city to other suburbs. In fact, there are free bicycles available in CBD.

While public transport is good, most people still drive to work. Even so, traffic jams don’t frequently happen. Drives are usually smoother than in other highly populated cities.

Brisbane Transportation

Brisbane’s public transportation includes buses, trains, and ferries. Visitors and tourists can purchase a TransLink Go Card that they can use to access these rides. 

Busses in Brisbane have their separate busway to avoid causing traffic jams and are a great way to go around the city.

If you want to drive around the city, the traffic in Brisbane flows relatively well, so you should be fine. It is not as congested as other major cities like Sydney, so traffic jams occur less.

Who has better transportation between Adelaide and Brisbane?

Adelaide and Brisbane have excellent transportation systems even when held to a global standard. However, Adelaide is slightly better than Brisbane.

Adelaide offers a lot of free public transportation rides, and the Metrocard also makes it easier for commuters. Adelaide also has fewer traffic jams than Brisbane, though it is not that congested.

Brisbane is also bigger than Adelaide, so going from one place to another may take more time.

Adelaide vs Brisbane: Job Opportunities

Does Adelaide have good job opportunities?

Adelaide presents many promising job opportunities for locals and expats in different industries. The top industries providing good job opportunities in Adelaide are

• Defence and space
• Food, wine, and agribusiness
• Health and medical sciences
• Resources and energy
• Technology
• Creative

Adelaide is the perfect place for those looking to have a great work-life balance. It’s more laid-back than other major cities but still has a relatively better job market than some suburbs.

The most notable industry to work for in Adelaide is the defence industry. 

Still, the State Government has recently determined other sectors that are expected to grow and produce more jobs.

By 2030, the defence industry is expected to have over 4,000 ship-building jobs, the tourism industry is set to generate 16,000 jobs, and 23,000 jobs are expected from international education.

In addition, the food, wine, and agribusiness industry is set to generate an estimated net revenue of $23 billion. The technology industry is also expected to grow by 6% per year.

Other growing industries identified by the South Australian government are health and medical, energy and mining, space, and creative.

While many of these industries are growing, the chances of a fresh graduate landing a job in Adelaide are lower than in other major cities. The salaries are also slightly lower than the other four major cities, but it’s compensated by its lower living cost. 

Many graduates move to other cities in search of a higher salary and better opportunities. Because of this, more jobs are left open for expats.

Does Brisbane have good job opportunities?

Brisbane’s booming economy also comes with many good job opportunities. The top industries providing good job opportunities in Brisbane are

• Business services
• Construction
• Tourism
• Healthcare and medicine
• Construction
• Manufacturing
• Education

The business services alone account for more than $13.4 billion of Brisbane’s economy. You can expect to have an abundance of job opportunities in this sector.

The healthcare and medicine industry generated $29.2 billion from 2019 to 2020, and it’s expected to grow more post-pandemic, so those interested in working in healthcare will find many opportunities in Brisbane.

Brisbane’s tourism industry is also expected to generate numerous job opportunities for locals and expats. Priced at $28 billion, Queensland has the second-largest tourism market in Australia.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Brisbane’s median weekly household income is $2,068, which is 28.77% higher than Adelaide’s. Hence, you can expect better salaries in Brisbane.

Which city has better job opportunities?

In general, Brisbane is better than Adelaide in terms of job opportunities. The same goes when it comes to salaries and employment rates. 

However, there are some industries, like defence, where Adelaide is better.

Final Verdict: Which city is better: Adelaide or Brisbane?

The better city between Adelaide and Brisbane will depend on your preferences. Both cities are beautiful, but they have their own charms that set them apart from each other. 

Which of these charms matters more to you will decide which city is better.

In terms of cost of living, Adelaide is better than Brisbane, as it’s more affordable. Additionally, Adelaide has a lower crime index than Brisbane and is safer.

Brisbane, in turn, is better than Adelaide in some areas. For example, Brisbane has better job opportunities and salaries than Adelaide.

Both cities have different weather too, so deciding which among the two will depend on what you want.

Before making a decision on where to move or visit, go over the categories that we compared and weigh the value of each category. Base your decision on which category matters most to you so you choose the city best suited for your lifestyle and goals.