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Better Brisbane Index 2025

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Results from this study reveal residents’ views on Brisbane’s liveability and their key concerns for the city’s future.

What is the Better Brisbane Index?

Better Brisbane Index provides insight into the perspective of Brisbane residents regarding:

  • how liveable the city is
  • how they rate their quality of life in Brisbane
  • what they think the future will hold for the city
  • how Brisbane compares to Sydney and Melbourne.

Participant details

1,522 people aged 18 years and over participated in the 2025 online survey, including a representative sample of residents from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Study highlights

92% reported a positive quality of life rating

Higher than Sydney and Melbourne.

90% recommend Brisbane as a great place to live

Higher than Sydney and Melbourne.

90% agree Brisbane is a good place to raise a family

Higher than Sydney and Melbourne.

78% say they prefer to live in Brisbane than any other place in Australia

Higher than Sydney and on par with Melbourne.

Better Brisbane Index results

Quality of life

92% of Brisbane residents rate quality of life in their city positively. This result has remained strong and steady over time.

Sydney and Melbourne residents are less inclined to rate their city’s quality of life positively than Brisbane residents.

This graph shows the quality of life in my city scores for Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

This chart shows the percentage of residents who rated their city's quality of life 6-10 out of 10.

Brisbane residents rated their quality of life higher than those in Sydney and Melbourne.

2025 results:

  • Brisbane: 92% (same as 2023)
  • Sydney: 77% (78% in 2023)
  • Melbourne: 82% (84% in 2023).

Civic pride

Brisbane residents have strong civic pride, exceeding that of Sydney and Melbourne.

  • 90% of Brisbane residents would recommend their city as a great place to live.
  • 91% of Brisbane residents agree it’s a good place to live and work.
  • 66% agree Brisbane is a better place to live and work than 5 years ago.
  • 90% of Brisbane residents agree that it’s a good place to raise a family.
This graph shows the Brisbane Liveability Perceptions v Benchmark Locations for Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

This chart shows the percentage of residents who prefer living in their city over Sydney or Melbourne (rating 6-10 out of 10).

2025 results:

  • recommend own city as a great place to live: Brisbane, 90%; Sydney, 75%; Melbourne, 79%
  • own city is a good place to live and work: Brisbane, 91%; Sydney, 74%; Melbourne, 79%
  • own city is a better place to live and work than 5 years ago: Brisbane, 66%; Sydney, 53%; Melbourne, 49%
  • own city is a good place to raise a family: Brisbane, 90%; Sydney, 70%; Melbourne, 78%.

90% of Brisbane residents agree that Brisbane has festivals and events that bring peopletogether, up from 83% in 2023.

This graph shows resident agreement to Brisbane having festivals and events that bring people together, from 2021 to 2025.

This chart shows the percentage of Brisbane residents that agree that Brisbane has festivals and events that bring people together.​

  • 2025 result: 90% (83% in 2023).

The future of Brisbane

More residents expect Brisbane's quality of life to improve (41%) than decline (36%).

This graph shows the expectations of residents for future quality of life in Brisbane.

This chart shows the percentage of residents that believe the future quality of life in Brisbane will be better, worse or neither.

2025 results:

  • better: 41%
  • worse: 36%
  • neither: 23%.

Key issues for Brisbane’s future

Housing now tops population growth and planning as the most important issue for Brisbane’s future, as identified by residents.

Though stable, population growth and planning remains an important concern.

One-quarter of Brisbane residents see economic conditions, driven largely by cost‑of‑living pressures, as a key issue for the city’s future. This is despite strong confidence in Brisbane’s economy (82%). 

This graph shows key issues for Brisbane's future identified by residents from 2021 to 2025, including housing, population growth and planning, and economy.

This chart shows the key issues facing Brisbane's future, as identified by residents.

2025 results:

  • housing: 49% (36% in 2023)
  • population growth and planning: 36% (40% in 2023)
  • economy: 24% (22% in 2023).

People are more confident in our public transport, with fewer residents identifying congestion and infrastructure as major issues for the city’s future.

This graph shows key issues for Brisbane's future identified by residents from 2021 to 2025, including transport infrastructure and road/traffic congestion.

This chart shows the key issues facing Brisbane's future, as identified by residents.

2025 results:

  • transport and infrastructure: 14% (16% in 2023)
  • road/traffic congestion: 10% (16% in 2023).