The best cities in Australia to start a business in 2026!
Last updated: 23 Sep 2025
Photo by Nathan Hurst on Unsplash
The backbone of the Australian economy is made up of small businesses. With over 2 million SMEs currently in operation across the country, they make up 97.2% of the Australian business landscape. But as the cost of living and goods continues to increase, many businesses are feeling the strain to both make and receive payments, especially in foreign currencies. In March 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released that company gross profits fell by 0.5% as a result of the continued pressures.
In light of these developments, payment solutions experts at WorldFirst have identified the best Australian cities for entrepreneurs to start and run their businesses in. They analysed seven economic factors, including:
- Cost of living
- Business survival after 1 year and after 4 years
- Number of insolvencies per region
- Access to talent
- GDP
- Tax liability
Table of Contents
Key findings and learnings
- Adelaide is the best Australian city to start a business in 2026, thanks to its higher-than-average business survival rate and high access to talent
- Wollongong beats Sydney into the top 10 thanks to a 79.7% lower cost of living
- 6% of businesses in Kalgoorlie-Boulder survive their first year, 11.6% above the national average
- Established businesses are estimated to be 15.2% more likely to survive into 2026 than new businesses
- Western Australia sees 87.6% of businesses survive their first year, 11.1% higher than the national average
- 2,558 businesses in Australia filed for insolvency each week in 2024
The best and worst cities to start a business in Australia in 2026
Three South Australian cities have been named in the top five for entrepreneurs
South Australia has been named as the best Aussie state to start a business after three cities were named in the top five – Adelaide, Mount Gambier, and Victor Harbor-Goolwa.
The state’s cosmopolitan capital, Adelaide, ranks top due to a higher-than-average business survival rate of 88.7% and high access to talent of 79.9%.
Western Australian mining town named one of the best cities in Australia to start a business
The town of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has been named as one of the top five places in Australia to start a business, beating both the nearby city of Perth and larger metropolitan areas like Sydney and Melbourne.
Boasting a 21.36% lower cost of living than the Australian National Average, entrepreneurs in Kalgoorlie-Boulder see a high business survival rate throughout their infancy. 87.6% of businesses in Kalgoorlie-Boulder survive their first year, 11.6% above the national average. Additionally, 64.1% of Kalgoorlie-Boulder businesses survive their first 4 years.
On average, only 50.1% of all Australian businesses survive until their fifth year, suggesting that entrepreneurs who set up their businesses in Kalgoorlie-Boulder are more likely to succeed than if they set up in any other area of the country.
Geraldton is crowned as one of the best coastal cities to start a business in Australia
Located on the coast of Western Australia, Geraldton has been named in the top 10 places to start a business in Australia, beating out other coastal cities such as Bunbury and Perth.
In 2024, there were 3,168 businesses registered within the Geraldton region. Not only has this number increased by 16.6% since the previous year, but of those registered businesses, 87.6% survived their first year, and a further 64.1% had survived their first 4 years.
Wollongong beats Sydney to be one of the top 10 places for Aussie entrepreneurs
Despite being less than 100km from the major city, Sydney, the small town of Wollongong has beaten the South Wales metropolis by 15 points when it comes to starting a business.
Entrepreneurs in Wollongong can enjoy 79.7% lower cost of living while still maintaining a high business survival rate after one year (87.7%), a high access to talent (64.3%), all while being within driving distance of one of Australia’s largest cities.
5 New South Wales cities named worst places to start a business in Australia
The cities of Morriset-Corranbong, Coffs Harbour, Ballina, Tamworth, and Bowral-Mittagong achieved an average business success rating of 46; 74.5 points lower than the average business success score of the top 5 cities in Australia.
A main contributing factor to the low business success scores seen across the state is the high cost of living for single people in many of these cities. A key example of this is in Bowral-Mittagong, where the average cost of living for a single person is $62,484, which is 151.3% higher than the city with the lowest cost of living- Bendigo, Victoria. A higher cost of living means customers have less disposable income that can then be used for shopping with local businesses. Moreover, if the cost of living is higher, residents are more likely to shop around for the lowest deal, which is often not provided by smaller businesses due to their smaller profit margins when compared to larger corporations. This resulted in harsher business conditions across the state.
Consequently, New South Wales only saw 17.02% growth in business in 2024, 14.52% lower than the highest growing state (Western Australia), as a result of the state’s difficult business environment.
Established Aussie businesses outperform new ones by 15.02%
Long-standing Aussie businesses outperform newcomers as success crumbles
The success of new businesses has steadily declined over the past four years, with the survival rate of businesses that were started before 2021 being 15.02% higher than businesses that were started in 2021.
Overall, between 2021 and 2025, businesses started in 2021 saw a 51.9% decrease in survival rates, while businesses started before 2021 saw a 36.88% decrease. Showing a 15.02% difference and how pre-COVID businesses are outperforming newer businesses.
Only 48% of new ventures started in 2021 made it past the 2024-2025 financial year. Marking a significant 27% drop from a 75% survival rate for the same businesses in 2023 and a 51.9% lower rate than in 2021.
Established businesses have proved more resilient with a 63.1% survival rate recorded in 2024. While this has decreased by 24.2% since 2023, the success of established businesses remains high when compared to new businesses.
Suggesting that new businesses are struggling more in Australia’s economic landscape than established businesses. ,
Western Australia bucks the national trend of business survival rates
Photo by Nathan Hurst on Unsplash
Entrepreneurs located in Western Australia were seen to thrive in 2025, as new businesses started in 2021 saw a 64.1% survival rate in 2025, while established businesses started before 2021 saw a 51.8% survival rate. As the second-best state in the country for business longevity (after South Australia), these stats are well above the national average.
The communities of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Geraldton, Bunbury, Perth, Albany, and Busselton all benefited from this long-term success as businesses continue to thrive.
Local entrepreneurs were likely aided by high access to talent that reached as much as 68.9% in areas such as Kalgoolie-Boulder. This may have enabled them to better endure the obstacles often encountered in a business’s infancy due to having a highly skilled workforce.
New South Wales sees only 47.6% of established businesses survive
Photo by Jamie Davies on Unsplash
Businesses in New South Wales are the least likely to survive their first year when compared to the rest of Australia, with only 47.6% of businesses making it.
Showing a lower survival rate than the National average of 48% as well as significantly lower survival rates when compared to other states such as Tasmania (55.1%) and South Australia (52.1%).
Despite this, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 20,040 businesses were started between 2024 and 2025 within the region, suggesting that many entrepreneurs are still looking to bank their success within the state.
But why the confidence? New South Wales’s high access to talent in areas such as Sydney (67.10%) means that many businesses have access to a large, highly skilled workforce that can bring a critical advantage to organisations in competitive fields. Additionally, many New South Wales cities are strategically placed within the Asia-Pacific region that matches time zones in many of the world’s fastest-growing economies, making it a great place for those looking to attract foreign clients.
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11,084 Aussie businesses filed for insolvency each month in 2024
In 2024, 133,017 Australian businesses filed for insolvency. Broken down, that leads to 11,084 businesses per month or 2,558 per week.
Businesses can file for insolvency for many different reasons, including both personal and external. However, it’s likely that increased pressure from foreign tariffs, rises in everyday running costs, and a reduction in consumer spending due to the rise in the cost of living could all have contributed to the large number of insolvencies across Australia.
The Australian states with the highest taxes for businesses
By using the stamp tax, land tax, and Payroll tax for each individual state, we calculated the Australian states with the highest taxes for businesses:
| Rank |
City |
State |
Overall business tax |
Business success score out of 160 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Ballarat |
Victoria |
14.00% |
74 |
| 2 |
Bendigo |
Victoria |
14.00% |
72 |
| 3 |
Warrnambool |
Victoria |
14.00% |
65 |
| 4 |
Shepparton–Mooroopna |
Victoria |
14.00% |
65 |
| 5 |
Melbourne |
Victoria |
14.00% |
63 |
| 6 |
Geelong |
Victoria |
14.00% |
59 |
| 7 |
Traralgon-Morwell |
Victoria |
14.00% |
57 |
| 8 |
Mildura–Buronga |
Victoria |
14.00% |
57 |
| 9 |
Warragul-Drouin |
Victoria |
14.00% |
52 |
| 10 |
Kalgoorlie-Boulder |
Western Australia |
13.32% |
114 |
The level of business tax an organisation pays can make a big difference to its success, as it often directly impacts its profitability, cash flow, and overall financial health. This is especially true for businesses in Australia, as the country holds the fourth-highest statutory company tax rate in the world. A whopping 6.6% more than the OECD (The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) average.
But there is some good news, as business tax differs per state, Aussie entrepreneurs may be able to reduce their tax burden by moving to cities such as Launceston and Hobart to enjoy Tasmania’s 10% overall business tax. For those looking to stay on the mainland, cities such as Darwin offer a slightly higher tax of 11.45%, which is still 2.55% lower than the city with the highest tax, Ballarat, Victoria (14%).
The cities set to lose the most businesses by 2030
Image: Pexels
A lot can happen in five years, especially when you are running your own business. After all, in the past five years alone, entrepreneurs in Australia have battled a pandemic, a groundbreaking federal election, and the rise of both AI and the domination of social media platform TikTok. All of which have impacted the way many owners run their businesses.
With that in mind, who knows what the next five years will bring to businesses? To help business owners on how best to fortify and manage their business, we have analysed business exits to predict the top ten cities that could be set to lose the most businesses by 2030, so entrepreneurs can better evaluate where best to locate their business in the future.
The Australian city set to lose the most businesses by 2030 is located in Queensland, with Mackay projected to experience the highest number of business closures per 10,000 residents, at around 679.1 estimated to leave.
The state of New South Wales is also predicted to face significant losses, with cities like Nowra-Bomaderry set to lose around 334 businesses per 10,000 people in the next 5 years.
Toowoomba is estimated to lose the fewest businesses among this group, with a projected loss of around 182 businesses per 10,000 residents.
For businesses operating in areas where large numbers of businesses are estimated to struggle by 2030, mitigating risk is essential. One way to do this is by expanding your customer base and logistics abroad. Thereby helping you limit the effects changes in the Australian market will have on your cash flow. Markets found in Europe, New Zealand, and Japan are already commonly used by many Aussie businesses for this reason.
Grow your business globally with WorldFirst
Being a business owner can be tough, but it’s also one of the most rewarding jobs in the world. By planning for the future and picking the best spot to help your business thrive, you can create an established organisation no matter what the market throws at you.
Ready to grow your business globally? WorldFirst is a leading international payments expert, helping businesses and online sellers thrive in a complex global market. We create easy cross-border payments by simplifying pay and collect services in foreign currencies, allowing you to focus on what you do best.
For more information on how to grow your business globally, check out our insight page for our top tips and tricks. Or get in touch with a member of our expert team.
Methodology
The 2025 report, “The Best Australian Cities for New Businesses,” was developed by payments solutions experts at WorldFirst to identify and rank the most favourable locations for entrepreneurs. This ranking was based on a comprehensive analysis of key economic factors influencing business success across various Australian cities and states.
The report’s findings are based on a combination of proprietary data and publicly available statistics. The primary data sources were:
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS): Used for data on company gross profits, business survival rates, access to talent, and the number of business start-ups and insolvencies.
- https://livingcost.org/: Utilised to determine the average cost of living for a single person in each city.
- Payroll Tax Australia: To determine payroll tax.
- WorldFirst’s Internal Data and Expertise: Applied to analyse trends in international payments and currency management, informing insights into business success and global competitiveness.
Each city was evaluated against the key metrics, with the data normalised and weighted to create a single Business Success Score. This score provided a comparative ranking of cities, indicating which locations offered the best overall conditions for new businesses to start and thrive in Australia.
Disclaimer: The information contained is general only and largely our views. Before acting on the information you should consider whether it is appropriate for you, in light of your objectives, financial situation or needs. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions, estimates, mentioned products/services and referenced material constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice. WorldFirst shall not be responsible for any losses or damages arising from your reliance of such information.
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