[category]
[title]
Can money buy happiness? It’s a question you’ve likely pondered at some stage in life. Regardless of where you land on the debate, new data from Purdue University confirms that higher salaries do boost “subjective well-being” – up to a certain point. In Australia, however, that threshold is exceptionally high.
According to the study, once a person reaches their “income satiation” level, earning more “no longer produces meaningful benefits to happiness.” Researchers used this benchmark to calculate the price of happiness (measured by overall life satisfaction and positive feelings vs. negative feelings) across 123 countries around the world, adjusting all figures for local purchasing power and inflation.
The data reveals that Australia has the second-highest price of happiness in the world for 2026, sitting at $231,025. This places us only behind Iceland, where the happiness threshold exceeds $233,500. Notably, both figures are double the required income in Japan and China, and more than four times higher than in Greece, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico.
The researchers also looked at how affordable happiness is across the world by comparing each country’s threshold against its average wage. Australia lands 39th on the global list, with the average annual wage covering only 36.6 per cent of the income needed to hit the maximum happiness level.
Among Australia’s seven major cities, Sydney records the highest price of happiness at $255,524 per year – the point at which salary increases stop delivering measurable boosts to life satisfaction. That’s 5.5 per cent higher than second-placed Canberra at $242,254 and 15.9 per cent higher than Brisbane, which has the lowest threshold among major cities at $220,478.
Of course, happiness is totally subjective. While money helps cover our basic needs and buys time and freedom, true joy is a deeply personal experience that wealth can only aid rather than control. Still, it’s always interesting to see what the stats say.
The price of happiness in major Australian cities in 2026:
- Sydney: $255,524
- Canberra: $242,254
- Melbourne: $240,893
- Gold Coast: $239,047
- Adelaide: $232,047
- Perth: $231,366
- Brisbane: $220,478