The short answer
The average electricity bill in Australia is about $1,400 to $1,650 a year
The average electricity bill in Australia is roughly $1,400 to $1,650 a year, but that single number is the least useful figure on this page. A bill is three independent things multiplied together: how much power you use, the rate you pay per kilowatt-hour, and a fixed daily supply charge. A national average blends a one-bedroom flat in Hobart with a four-bedroom home in Adelaide, so it tells you almost nothing about whether your own bill is fair. This guide gives you indicative averages by state, by city and by household size, then shows you the one comparison that actually matters: your rate against the reference price for your state.
Here is the core takeaway in one line: your electricity bill is your usage times your rate, plus a fixed daily supply charge, so a "below average" dollar total can still mean you are overpaying on rate. The average electricity bill in Australia varies from around $1,310 a year in the ACT to about $1,580 in South Australia (indicative survey averages, Canstar Blue 2026), and it shifts again with the size of your home. Because the number you should care about is the rate per kilowatt-hour and the supply charge, not the headline dollar figure, the right question is not "is my bill average?" but "is my rate competitive against the reference price for my state?" Everything below gives you the indicative averages by state, city and household size, then shows you how to make the comparison that actually saves money.
Reframe the assumption: an "average bill" sounds like a fair benchmark, but it averages homes that have nothing in common. A small unit on a sharp plan and a large house on an expensive standing offer can land on the same dollar figure for completely different reasons. The honest comparison is your c/kWh usage rate and daily supply charge against the DMO (or the VDO in Victoria), not your annual total against a national mean.
Indicative averages, 2026
Average electricity bill by state and household size
Indicative annual figures for a single-rate plan, derived from state survey averages scaled by household size. Your own bill depends on your usage, your plan's rate and the daily supply charge.
| State | 1-person | 2-person | 4-person | Usage rate (c/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales NSW |
$900 to $1,050 | $1,300 to $1,500 | $1,950 to $2,300 | 36 to 40 |
| Victoria VIC |
$850 to $1,000 | $1,250 to $1,450 | $1,850 to $2,200 | 26 to 33 |
| Queensland QLD |
$880 to $1,020 | $1,300 to $1,450 | $1,900 to $2,250 | 33 |
| South Australia SA |
$980 to $1,120 | $1,450 to $1,600 | $2,150 to $2,500 | 44 |
| Western Australia WA |
$920 to $1,070 | $1,350 to $1,550 | $2,000 to $2,350 | regulated |
| ACT ACT |
$820 to $950 | $1,200 to $1,350 | $1,750 to $2,050 | 31 |
| Tasmania TAS |
$830 to $960 | $1,200 to $1,400 | $1,800 to $2,100 | 28 |
The blind spot
Why most "average bill" guides quietly mislead you
Most articles about the average electricity bill do one of three unhelpful things, and each one nudges readers away from the comparison that actually saves money.
First, they treat one national number as a verdict. A single Australia-wide average blends a one-person flat in Hobart with a four-bedroom home in Adelaide, two situations with almost nothing in common. Reading your own bill against that mean tells you whether your home is bigger or smaller than the blended average, which you already knew, not whether your rate is fair.
Second, they compare the wrong thing. A bill is usage times rate, plus a fixed daily supply charge, so two households on the same dollar total can be paying wildly different rates. Being "below average" on dollars often just means you use less power, not that you are on a good plan. The rate per kilowatt-hour and the supply charge are what you can actually change by switching.
Third, they quote stale figures without saying so. Survey averages come from a past billing quarter and are published months later, so they lag the rates you are charged today, especially after a 1 July Default Market Offer reset or a 1 January Victorian Default Offer reset. A number presented as "the current average" is usually a snapshot of last year.
What an average actually measures
Expert analysis: the three things an average blends
An "average" mixes usage, rate and supply charge
Every electricity bill is built from three independent inputs. Your usage is how many kilowatt-hours you consume, roughly 3,500 kWh a year for a small home and up to 6,500 kWh for a large one. Your usage rate is the cents you pay per kilowatt-hour, which varies hugely by state: around 26 to 33 c/kWh in Victoria but about 44 c/kWh in South Australia. Your daily supply charge is a fixed fee, commonly 90 c to $1.20 a day, that you pay no matter how little you use. An average bill rolls all three together across thousands of different homes, so the headline figure cannot tell you which input is driving your own number.
Comparing your dollar bill to a mean misleads
Think of it like comparing your grocery spend to a national average without knowing how many people you feed. A frugal four-person household and a wasteful one-person household can land on the same annual bill for opposite reasons. So a dollar comparison answers the wrong question. You can sit comfortably below the average and still be on one of the most expensive rates in your state, simply because you use less power. The dollar total measures your lifestyle as much as your plan.
The right benchmark is your rate against the DMO or VDO
The honest comparison is your usage rate and supply charge against the official reference price for your state. In New South Wales, south-east Queensland and South Australia, that reference is the Default Market Offer (DMO), set by the Australian Energy Regulator and reset each 1 July. Victoria is the exception: it uses the Victorian Default Offer (VDO), set by the Essential Services Commission and reset each 1 January. Good market offers are sold as a percentage below the reference price, so checking how far below the DMO or VDO your plan sits tells you, in one figure, whether you are overpaying, regardless of how big your bill is.
Averages lag the survey quarter
One more trap: published averages describe a past billing period. By the time a survey is collected, processed and released, the rates behind it can be a year out of date, while your own rates may already have moved at the last DMO or VDO reset. That is why a static average is a starting point, not a live benchmark. Your most recent bill, read as a rate rather than a total, is far more current than any published mean.
Interactive explainer
Compare your bill to the average
Pick your state and household size to see the indicative average, then enter your own annual bill to see how you compare. The point is what comes next: compare your rate, not your bill.
How does your bill compare to the average?
Indicative single-rate averages, 2026.
Indicative average for your selection
$/year (indicative)
Now compare your rate, not your bill. A below-average bill can still hide an expensive rate. Check your usage rate and daily supply charge against the reference price for your state.
Indicative only, not a quote. State figures are 2026 survey averages; household-size figures are scaled from them and are indicative. Sources: Canstar Blue 2026, AER Default Market Offer 2025-26.
By capital city, 2026
Average electricity bill by city
City figures are derived from the state average (Sydney from NSW, Melbourne from VIC, Brisbane from south-east QLD, Adelaide from SA) and are indicative for a typical single-rate household.
| City | Reference price | Indicative bill/yr | Usage rate (c/kWh) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sydney | NSW (DMO) | ~$1,450 | 36 to 40 |
| Melbourne | VIC (VDO) | ~$1,380 | 26 to 33 |
| Brisbane | SE QLD (DMO) | ~$1,420 | ~33 |
| Adelaide | SA (DMO) | ~$1,580 | ~44 |
What this means for real households
How "average" misleads four different homes
The analysis above is not abstract. It is exactly how the average figure fools people in different living situations:
The 1-person flat that feels expensive
A single renter in Sydney sees their $1,000 bill is below the national average and assumes they are fine. But a one-person home in New South Wales uses about 0.6 to 0.7 times the state average, so $1,000 is actually high for that usage. The problem is a 39 c/kWh rate they could cut by switching, hidden because the dollar total looked reassuring.
The 2-person home sitting right on the mean
A couple in Melbourne pays close to the $1,380 Victorian average and concludes there is nothing to do. Yet sitting on the average is not the same as sitting on a good plan: half of all households are above the mean by definition, and a sharp Victorian offer can run well below the VDO. Average is not the same as competitive.
The 4-person house blamed on the kids
A family in Adelaide pays $2,300 and puts it down to four people and the air-conditioning. Usage is part of it, but South Australia's 44 c/kWh rate is the real driver. The same household on a plan priced further below the DMO would save hundreds without changing a single habit.
The household that switched and stopped checking
A home compared plans two years ago, switched, and has not looked since. Their bill still looks "about average", so they feel sorted. But their discount may have rolled off at the last DMO or VDO reset, quietly lifting their rate back toward the reference price while the dollar total stayed unremarkable.
The insider insight
"Below average" is a comfort, not a result
Here is the part the average-bill articles never say out loud. The dollar average is a comfort metric: it is engineered to make about half of all households feel fine, because half sit below any mean by definition. That feeling of being "below average" is precisely what stops people checking their rate, which is the one input they can actually change. The average does not reward a good plan; it rewards using less power, and those are not the same thing.
The non-obvious truth: the most useful number on your bill is not the total, it is the usage rate in cents per kilowatt-hour and the daily supply charge. Read those two figures, compare them to the DMO (or the VDO in Victoria) reference price, and you learn in seconds whether you are overpaying, no matter how your dollar total compares to any average. The households that pay the least are the ones who benchmark their rate, not their bill, and re-check it after each 1 July or 1 January reset.
The practical consequence: stop asking whether your bill is average. Pull out your last bill, find the c/kWh and the daily supply charge, and compare those against the reference price for your state. That is the comparison that moves money.
Grounded in the analysis
What you should actually do
Specific moves that follow from how a bill is built, not generic advice to "use less".
Read your bill as a rate
Ignore the dollar total for a moment. Find your usage rate in cents per kilowatt-hour and your daily supply charge. Those two figures, not the average, tell you whether your plan is competitive.
Benchmark against the reference price
Compare your rate to the Default Market Offer for your state (the Victorian Default Offer in Victoria). Good market plans are quoted as a percentage below the reference price, so this single check shows if you are overpaying.
Compare and switch if you can
If you are in a competitive market, compare every retailer for your address and switch to a plan further below the reference price. Re-check after each 1 July or 1 January reset, when discounts can roll off.
One caveat on switching: retail competition only exists in some states. Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and the ACT let you compare and switch retailers. In Western Australia (Synergy) and the Northern Territory (Power and Water), the residential market is not contestable, so there is no retailer to switch to: focus on usage, concessions and tariff type instead.
Read our full guide to understanding your electricity bill to find your rate and supply charge, and compare your average gas bill the same way.
Current figures, last updated 2026-06-15
Indicative average electricity bills and rates for 2026. State and city dollar figures are indicative survey averages and household-size figures are scaled from them. Sources: Canstar Blue 2026, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) Default Market Offer 2025-26, the Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) residential price trends and the Essential Services Commission (ESC) for the Victorian Default Offer. Confirm current rates on your own bill, as figures are reviewed regularly.
The bottom line
Why this matters right now
The average electricity bill in Australia is a useful piece of trivia and a poor decision tool. It tells you roughly where the middle of the market sits, around $1,400 to $1,650 a year, but it cannot tell you whether your own plan is fair, because it blends usage, rate and supply charge across homes that share nothing. The gap that decides your bill is not the distance between you and the average; it is the distance between your rate and the reference price for your state. Read your last bill as a rate, compare it to the DMO or VDO, and switch to a plan further below it if you can. That habit, not chasing the average, is what keeps your electricity bill genuinely low.
Common questions
A Selectra expert answers your average electricity bill questions
The average household electricity bill in Australia is roughly $1,400 to $1,650 a year, depending on the state, the size of the home and the rate you are on (indicative survey averages, Canstar Blue 2026). South Australia tends to sit at the top end (around $1,580) and the ACT and Tasmania at the lower end (around $1,310 to $1,340). Remember that a single national figure blends a one-person flat with a large family home, so it is a poor benchmark for your own bill. The number worth comparing is your usage rate in cents per kilowatt-hour against the Default Market Offer (or the Victorian Default Offer) reference price for your state.
An indicative average electricity bill in Sydney is about $1,450 a year for a typical household, in line with the New South Wales state average (Canstar Blue 2026). New South Wales sits under the Australian Energy Regulator's Default Market Offer, with single-rate usage charges commonly around 36 to 40 c/kWh. A one-person flat in Sydney may pay closer to $900 to $1,050, while a four-person home can run $1,950 to $2,300. Treat these as indicative: your own bill depends on your usage, your plan's rate and the daily supply charge.
An indicative average electricity bill in Melbourne is about $1,380 a year, tracking the Victorian state average (Canstar Blue 2026). Victoria is the one state that uses the Victorian Default Offer, set by the Essential Services Commission and reset every 1 January, rather than the national Default Market Offer. Single-rate usage charges in Victoria are commonly around 26 to 33 c/kWh, among the lower rates nationally. A two-person Melbourne household typically falls in the $1,250 to $1,450 range. These are indicative survey figures, not a quote for your address.
An indicative average electricity bill in Brisbane is about $1,420 a year, in line with the Queensland average (Canstar Blue 2026). South-east Queensland sits under the Default Market Offer, with single-rate usage charges commonly around 33 c/kWh. Brisbane households often run higher air-conditioning loads in summer, which can push a four-person home toward $1,900 to $2,250. As always, the figure is indicative: compare your own rate and supply charge against the reference price rather than your dollar total against the average.
An indicative average electricity bill in Adelaide is about $1,580 a year, the highest of the major capitals, matching the South Australian average (Canstar Blue 2026). South Australia sits under the Default Market Offer and has some of the country's highest single-rate usage charges, commonly around 44 c/kWh. That high rate is exactly why a dollar comparison misleads in Adelaide: a household can be "average" and still be on an expensive plan. Compare your c/kWh and daily supply charge against the South Australian reference price.
An indicative average electricity bill for a 2 person household is roughly $1,200 to $1,600 a year, depending on the state and the plan (Canstar Blue 2026). A two-person home uses about 0.85 to 1.0 times the state average usage, so it sits close to the headline state figure: around $1,300 to $1,500 in New South Wales, $1,250 to $1,450 in Victoria and $1,450 to $1,600 in South Australia. A one-person household typically uses 0.6 to 0.7 times the average, and a four-person household 1.3 to 1.6 times. These are indicative ranges, not a personalised estimate.
