Rental Burden Index (RBI) — methodology

What this metric measures

Percentage of average gross weekly earnings required to pay the national median weekly rent. A transparent proxy for rental affordability.

Why it matters: Rental affordability directly affects younger Australians and those who cannot access home ownership. A rising burden indicates worsening rental conditions.

Source & provenance

Publisher

ABS

Update frequency

quarterly

Licence

CC BY 4.0

Visit publisher page →

How the score is computed

The score is a 0–100 normalisation of the latest observation, compared to a baseline window. The traffic-light rating (RAG) reflects both the absolute level and the recent trend.

Direction

Lower is better

Trend window

60 months

Baseline

Last 10 years

{
  "mode": "absolute",
  "red_min": 30,
  "amber_max": 30,
  "green_max": 25
}