SuburbCost, October 2026
What another 30c a litre does to a Sydney and Brisbane commute

THE NUMBERS

Another 30c a litre adds $511 a year, $43 a month, to the
median Greater Sydney suburb commuting to the CBD five days a week.
In Greater Brisbane it adds $430 a year, $36 a month.

The larger figure is the rise that has already happened. Sydney's average
regular unleaded went from 152.2c on 30 June to 236.6c on 2026-10-05.
For the same commuter that has already added $1,439 a year,
$120 a month, which is 2.8 times the size of the next 30c.

Distance decides it. An outer Sydney suburb absorbs $1,197 a year from
the same 30c against $105 for an inner one.

METHOD

Fuel only: litres = km x L/100km / 100, cost = litres x price. This is NOT
the ATO 91c/km rate, which bundles registration, insurance, servicing and
depreciation, and which a fuel price change moves only part of. Figures here
are therefore lower than a full running cost, deliberately.

Real road distance by OSRM routing to each CBD, not straight line.
760 Greater Sydney and 443 Greater Brisbane suburbs, all with a route.
Return trip, 48 weeks a year, five days and three days.
Average car 11.1 L/100km, ABS Survey of Motor Vehicle Use, final release.

These are the MEDIAN SUBURB in each set, not the median commuter. Suburbs are
not equally populated and most people do not work in the CBD.

PRICES, AND A CAVEAT WORTH PRINTING

Sydney 236.6c/L, NRMA Weekly Fuel Report, average regular unleaded, Sydney, Monday evening 5 October 2026
Brisbane 238.2c/L, FuelRadar, Brisbane average Unleaded 91, as at 9 October 2026

These come from different operators on different days, four days apart. The
two city figures are reported side by side and should not be subtracted from
each other. No 30 June Brisbane average was available on the same basis, so
the since-June figure is Sydney only.

CONTACT AND REUSE

Free to use with attribution to SuburbCost and a link to:
https://www.suburbcost.com.au/blog/fuel-price-rise-commute-cost-sydney-brisbane-2026