Start here · 10 December 2025 · 9 min read
Moving to Brisbane — the full guide
Areas, lifestyle, housing, commuting and schools, in one place, written for someone who has not lived here.
Brisbane is a river city first
Almost everything about living in Brisbane is shaped by the river and the ridges around it. The river decides which bridges you use, which schools are a sensible run, and why two suburbs that look four kilometres apart on a map can be a twenty-five minute drive.
Start by choosing a side and a corridor — north, east, south, west, bayside, or one of the outer growth corridors — and only then start comparing suburbs. Families who pick a suburb first almost always change their minds.
The climate genuinely changes how you live
Summer is hot and humid with afternoon storms; winter is dry, mild and the reason people move here. Houses are built for it: high ceilings, deep verandahs, cross-breezes, pools. When you inspect a home, look for orientation and airflow before you look at the kitchen.
Storm season runs roughly November to February. Hail, flash flooding and the occasional cyclone remnant are part of life, which is why insurance and flood overlays matter more here than in most Australian cities.
What a household actually costs
Housing is the main variable. Established inner suburbs now sit well above a million dollars for a family home, while the Ipswich and Logan corridors still deliver a new four-bedroom house for a fraction of that.
Beyond housing, expect lower day-to-day costs than Sydney or Melbourne, similar groceries, higher summer power bills, and school fees that range from around $13,000 a year at a regional independent college to more than $30,000 at the Grammar schools.
Give yourself a decision order
Work and school locations first. Then corridor. Then rent or buy. Then suburb. Then house. Families who follow that order tend to make one move; families who reverse it tend to make two.