USD to AUD — compare your quote with the mid-market rate
US Dollar → Australian Dollar
USD → AUD is the inbound leg of one of the Pacific's busiest corridors — US salaries, property settlements, and tourism landing in Australian accounts. The pair is deeply liquid, so the wholesale spread is a few pips; Australia's big-four banks still routinely quote 2–3% over the mid on retail conversions, while online specialists clear under 0.5%.
About the USD/AUD pair
This page shows today’s wholesale USD/AUD mid-market rate beside the rate a bank, broker, or kiosk has quoted you. The result is the gap between the two, as a percentage and an amount, in four tiers: under 0.3%, 0.3–1%, 1–3% and over 3% of the amount. The mid-market rate is the rate banks trade at, not a rate you can transact at directly — providers add their margin on top, and that margin is the gap RateCheck shows.
Who sends money on this route
Dollars come into Australian dollars when US firms pay Australian staff, suppliers and contractors, when Australians working in the US send savings home, and when American families fund students at Australian universities.
Investors and superannuation members repatriating US income, and US purchasers settling on Australian property, add larger one-off transfers to the mix.
What moves USD/AUD
The Federal Reserve and the Reserve Bank of Australia set the policy rates. The Australian dollar is a commodity currency: prices for iron ore, coal and LNG, and the health of the Chinese economy that takes much of Australia's exports, feed into it directly.
US jobs and inflation data move the dollar side. On the Australian side, the quarterly consumer price index, the monthly labour force survey and each RBA board decision matter most.
The pair is risk-sensitive. The Australian dollar tends to fall when global markets are nervous and rise when they are calm, which can move the rate on days with no Australian news.
How to read a quote
The market quotes AUD/USD as US dollars per Australian dollar, so a USD to AUD quote is often the reciprocal. Whichever way it is shown, the mid-market rate is the wholesale midpoint and the customer rate sits on the worse side of it. The gap is the provider's margin.
Bank margins on international transfers are commonly a few per cent; specialist providers are often under one per cent. Compare the Australian dollars delivered, not the fee alone.
The RBA’s cash rate target, its next decision date and AUD/USD on recent decision days are on the RBA cash rate page.