Better Brisbane Index 2023-24
The Better Brisbane Index measures residents’ perceptions of the quality of life in Brisbane, both now and in the future.
The objectives of this study are to:
- understand how Brisbane residents feel about the quality of life in Brisbane
- understand how they think quality of life may change in the future
- benchmark against other capital cities in Australia.
The 2023-24 study included 2,467 online interviews with the target population including:
- a representative sample of Brisbane residents aged 18 years and over
- a representative sample of residents from Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, outer South East Queensland (SEQ) and neighbouring SEQ.
Study highlights
- 92% of Brisbane residents reported a positive quality of life rating – higher than Sydney, Melbourne and neighbouring SEQ.
- 90% of Brisbane residents would recommend Brisbane as a great place to live – higher than Sydney, Melbourne and both neighbouring and outer SEQ.
- 85% of Brisbane residents agree that Brisbane offers a good standard of living – higher than Sydney, Melbourne and neighbouring SEQ.
Better Brisbane Index results
Quality of life
Brisbane residents are more satisfied with the quality of life in their city than residents in Sydney, Melbourne and neighbouring SEQ. The proportion of Brisbane residents rating quality of life positively remains stable and high at 92%.
Alternate text for quality of life - quality of life in my city
This chart shows the proportion of residents who provided a positive rating of 6-10 out of 10 for quality of life in their city.
Residents in Sydney, Melbourne and neighbouring SEQ rated their quality of life lower than Brisbane residents.
In 2023-24 92% of Brisbane residents rated their overall quality of life positively, compared to 92% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 91% of Perth residents rated their overall quality of life positively, compared to 94% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 89% of outer SEQ residents rated their overall quality of life positively, compared to 88% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 84% of Melbourne residents rated their overall quality of life positively (statistically lower than Brisbane), compared to 80% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 80% of neighbouring SEQ residents rated their overall quality of life positively (statistically lower than Brisbane), compared to 79% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 78% of Sydney residents rated their overall quality of life positively (statistically lower than Brisbane), compared to 81% in 2022-23.
Civic pride
Civic pride among Brisbane residents remains very strong and is higher than in Sydney and neighbouring SEQ.
- Three quarters of Brisbane residents would rather live in Brisbane than in any other place in Australia.
- 90% of residents would also recommend Brisbane as a great place to live, which is higher than all tracked locations other than Perth.
Alternate text for civic pride - would rather live in my city than any other place in Australia
This chart shows the proportion of residents who agreed that they would rather live in their city than any other place in Australia (rating 6-10 out of 10).
In 2023-24 78% of Perth residents agreed that they would rather live in their city than any other place in Australia, compared to 75% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 75% of Brisbane residents agreed that they would rather live in their city than any other place in Australia, compared to 74% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 73% of Melbourne residents agreed that they would rather live in their city than any other place in Australia (statistically higher than 2022-23), compared to 58% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 67% of outer SEQ residents agreed that they would rather live in their city than any other place in Australia, compared to 67% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 65% of Sydney residents agreed that they would rather live in their city than any other place in Australia (statistically lower than Brisbane), compared to 67% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 31% of neighbouring SEQ residents agreed that they would rather live in their city than any other place in Australia (statistically lower than Brisbane and 2022-23), compared to 53% in 2022-23 (statistically lower than 2023-24).
Brisbane now and in the future
The proportion of residents who say they are concerned about how Brisbane will change in the future remained stable at 64% and is lower than it was prior to the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic (68% in 2019-20).
Sydney residents are more concerned about how their city will change in the future compared with Brisbane, while Perth residents are less concerned.
Alternate text for Brisbane now and in the future - concerned about future change
This chart shows the proportion of Brisbane residents who agreed that they were concerned about how Brisbane will change in the future (rating 6-10 out of 10).
In 2019-20 68% of Brisbane residents agreed that they were concerned about how Brisbane will change in the future.
In 2020-21 60% of Brisbane residents agreed that they were concerned about how Brisbane will change in the future (statistically lower than 2019-20).
In 2021-22 56% of Brisbane residents agreed that they were concerned about how Brisbane will change in the future (statistically lower than 2020-21).
In 2022-23 62% of Brisbane residents agreed that they were concerned about how Brisbane will change in the future (statistically higher than 2021-22).
In 2023-24 64% of Brisbane residents agreed that they were concerned about how Brisbane will change in the future.
Alternate text for Brisbane now and in the future - concerned about how my city will change in the future
This chart shows the proportion of residents who agreed that they were concerned about how their city will change in the future (rating 6-10 out of 10).
In 2023-24 76% of Sydney residents agreed that they were concerned about how their city will change in the future (statistically higher than Brisbane), compared to 72% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 70% of outer SEQ residents agreed that they were concerned about how their city will change in the future, compared to 70% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 64% of Brisbane residents agreed that they were concerned about how their city will change in the future, compared to 62% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 63% of Melbourne residents agreed that they were concerned about how their city will change in the future, compared to 70% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 60% of neighbouring SEQ residents agreed that they were concerned about how their city will change in the future, compared to 70% in 2022-23.
In 2023-24 55% of Perth residents agreed that they were concerned about how their city will change in the future (statistically lower than Brisbane), compared to 57% in 2022-23.
Future outlook on quality of life
Population growth and planning continues to be the number one issue of concern for Brisbane’s future. The 2023-24 study shows that housing affordability and cost of living are also of considerable concern with 36% of residents now nominating housing as a key issue for the city’s future.
Fewer residents nominate the environment as a key issue for Brisbane’s future.
Alternate text for future outlook on quality of life - most important issue facing Brisbane over the next 10 to 20 years
This chart shows the top 6 themes of important issues facing Brisbane residents over the next 10 to 20 years.
In 2023-24 40% of residents noted population growth and planning as an important issue, compared to 37% in 2022-23 and 45% in 2021-22.
In 2023-24 12% of residents noted environment as an important issue, compared to 29% in 2022-23 and 18% in 2021-22.
In 2023-24 36% of residents noted housing as an important issue, compared to 28% in 2022-23 and 19% in 2021-22.
In 2023-24 22% of residents noted economy as an important issue, compared to 20% in 2022-23 and 13% in 2021-22.
In 2023-24 16% of residents noted transport infrastructure as an important issue, compared to 19% in 2022-23 and 18% in 2021-22.
In 2023-24 28% of residents noted getting around Brisbane as an important issue, compared to 19% in 2022-23 and 27% in 2021-22.