According to a new report by World First Pty Ltd, Adelaide is currently the best city in Australia to start a business. In fact, all three of the top cities are in South Australia, with number two being Mount Gambier and number three both Victor Harbor and Goolwa.
This comes after another recent report also put Adelaide above Melbourne and Sydney in this category.
The new report from payment solutions experts WorldFirst analysed seven economic factors, including business survival rates, cost of living, and access to talent, to reveal Australia’s best and worst cities for starting a business.
Adelaide ranked the highest in Australia due to its above-average business survival rate of 88.7% and strong access to talent at 79.9%.
According to the report, the city’s lower cost of living, $39,167 for a single person, 19.35% below Sydney, gives residents more disposable income, supporting local businesses and making Adelaide an appealing choice for entrepreneurs.
While both Mount Gambier, and Victor Harbor and Goolwa have lower access to talent than Adelaide, the low cost of living ($32,621 in Mount Gambier and $29,969 in Victor Harbor-Goolwa) and high business success rates make them attractive locations for starting a business.
Head of Commercial ANZ at WorldFirst, Jim Vrondas, says, “It’s important to understand how the wider Australian economy and the economic factors influencing your specific state affect your business. After all, very few things happen in isolation.”
Here is the top 20 list of best cities to start a business in 2025, according to WorldFirst:
- Adelaide, South Australia
- Mount Gambier, South Australia
- Victor Harbor–Goolwa, South Australia
- Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Western Australia
- Launceston, Tasmania
- Hobart, Tasmania
- Darwin, Northern Territory
- Geraldton, Western Australia
- Devonport, Tasmania
- Bunbury, Western Australia
- Perth, Western Australia
- Albany, Western Australia
- Busselton, Western Australia
- Gladstone, Queensland
- Cairns, Queensland
- Ballarat, Victoria
- Bendigo, Victoria
- Wollongong, New South Wales
- Townsville, Queensland
- Wagga Wagga, New South Wales
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