Sydney’s reputation as a lifestyle superpower is backed up by the latest polling, which shows Sydneysiders rate their quality of life well ahead of global peers LA, London and Toronto.

The Committee for Sydney’s annual Life in Sydney survey of more than 1,000 people from across Greater Sydney was conducted in partnership with Ipsos between 5 and 17 January.

Ehssan Veiszadeh, Interim CEO of the Committee for Sydney, said the results show Sydneysiders are raring to go in 2023.

“There’s a tremendous sense of confidence in the community heading into 2023, with people  connecting with each other and getting out to events,” he said.

“You can see it everywhere you look across our city, the numbers are phenomenal, and we’re seeing a knock-on effect from key quality of life indicators that’s helping Sydney pull ahead of global cities.

“The surge in confidence is particularly notable when it comes to travelling interstate and overseas, commuting on public transport and going into the office, and attending sports and cultural events.

“The one outlier is access to affordable, decent housing, and cost of living. When you break down the results, it’s clear people who are concerned about cost of living are more likely to be pessimistic about the future.”

Stuart Clark, Director at Ipsos Public Affairs, said the findings show residents’ experiences of Sydney have changed in the past 12 months.

“The striking thing about these numbers is that people are getting out and making the most of what Sydney has to offer, and that’s having a measurable impact on their quality of life.”

“Sydneysiders are more comfortable moving around the city and going to events, as a result they’re are more positive about things like social cohesion, access to cultural facilities and events, job opportunities and even public transport.”

Quality of life, housing affordability and cost of living: 

• 81% of Sydneysiders are satisfied with their quality of life (up from 74% in 2022, 80% in 2021; and compared to 75% in NYC, 76% in London, and 64% in Toronto)
• 37% said quality of life was better than 12 months ago (compared to 19% in 2022, and 20% in 2021; and compared to 35% in NYC, 27% in London, and 15% in Toronto)
• 57% are comfortable going out to a concert (up from 25%) and 53% attending a sport event (up from 27%)
• 85% of Sydneysiders are concerned about cost of living (this is holding steady, it was 86% in 2022), and people who are unsatisfied with quality of life are more likely to be worried about cost of living
• Interesting data around safety, especially when you segment by location, gender and age 

Travel and commuting: 

• 33% of Sydneysiders commute to work five days a week (up from 28% in 2022), with a dramatic drop in the numbers working from home every day (30% in 2022 to 12% in 2023)
• 47% are working from home (a slight softening from 55% in 2022)
• 65% are comfortable commuting on public transport (up from 36% in 2022), but private cars remain the most common form of transport on the commute (57%)
• 73% are comfortable travelling interstate (up from 37% in 2022) and 51% overseas (up from 21% in 2022)
• 39% intend to buy a vehicle within the next five years, and of those 70% say it is likely they will buy an EV, suggesting a big impending shift in takeup of electric cars  

Read the full Life in Sydney results here: Life in Sydney 2023  

Notes: The Life in Sydney results will be presented at the Committee for Sydney’s annual Sydney Summit at ICC Sydney on Monday 6 February 2022, alongside keynote speakers including NSW Premier, the Hon. Dom Perrottet MP, Shadow Minister for Police & Counter Terrorism, Planning & Public Spaces, Paul Scully MP, Francoise Merit (Endeavour Energy), Eliza Owen (CoreLogic), Prof. Greg Kaplan (e61 Institute), Prof. Nicole Gurran (Sydney Uni), Wendy Hayhurst (CHIA), Tom Mackellar (Lendlease), Rebecca Grasso (Campbelltown City Council), Janice Lee (PwC) and others – more information in the Sydney Summit 2023 event program.