Richard is unhappy his rates are rising. How does your suburb fare?

Brisbane homeowners will face a rate rise of 3.8 per cent on average this year – but depending on where you live, it could be a lot higher or lower than that.

Brisbane’s outer west was the epicentre for the biggest percentage increases in owner-occupier rates, with Lake Manchester topping the list (7.5 per cent), followed by Pinjarra Hills (7.35 per cent) and Anstead (7.23 per cent).

Fairfield resident Richard Stapleton is wondering what value he gets for his rates, which are set to rise again this year.Credit: Tony Moore

Pullenvale (7.13 per cent) and Kenmore Hills (7.09 per cent), in Brisbane’s west, came next, followed by Chermside West (6.92 per cent) on the northside.

Richard Stapleton lives in Fairfield, where rates will increase by an average of $81.27 a year, and says he cannot believe this cost is rising again.

“Where is the money going?” the 54-year-old retired Army serviceman said.

“They can’t even come and clean the gutters ... you can see services are not being provided, and with the cost of living increasing at the moment, it is just ridiculous to have a rates increase.”

Stapleton says he has asked council workers for improvements to his footpath, but was told he would have to pay for them himself.Credit: Tony Moore

Stapleton’s home, built by his grandparents, has flooded four times since 1974.

He questions whether its value has improved, pointing to old footpaths, potholes in the road, and cracks in the bitumen.

“I grew up here as a kid and I can’t really see any improvement in the area,” he said.

The biggest dollar increase annually will be in the affluent north-east suburb of Ascot, where owner-occupiers will face a $193.25 hike to their annual rates bill, leaving them paying $3248.84 annually.

People living in the leafy enclave of Brookfield will have a $191.94 annual increase, inner-city Dutton Park homeowners will pay $187.92 more, and Pullenvale residents will have a $187.61 increase.

Homeowners in Chandler, in Brisbane’s outer south-east, will have the biggest total rates bill over the year on average at $3362.25, followed by nearby Burbank ($3255.77), Ascot ($3248.84), Chelmer in Brisbane’s south-west ($3202.46), and the inner-city riverside suburb of Hawthorne ($3065.44).

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner handed down the $4 billion Brisbane City Council 2024-25 budget on Wednesday morning and said council worked hard to keep rate rises as low as possible.

But the average increase of 3.8 per cent is still above the latest CPI rise of 3.4 per cent for Brisbane in the March quarter, compared with the previous year.

Schrinner said the budget faced pressures amid uncertain global economic conditions, inflation and forecasts of sluggish national growth, and he complained of costs shifting from federal and state governments onto councils.

Search the full list of suburbs in the interactive table below.