A new report from independent think tank the Regional Australia Institute (RAI) has confirmed what many Wagga residents already knew - people in outer suburbs of some of Australia's biggest cities would be financially better-off living in regional centres. By taking a slight pay cut, city dwellers could halve their commuting distance and drastically reduce their mortgage by moving to regional towns, the RAI said.

However, a major hurdle in encouraging people to relocate to Wagga is employment and the "great unknown".

"We recognise that the Riverina's biggest struggle is not finding enough skilled workers to fulfil the needs of industry," Regional Development of Australia Riverina chief executive, Rachel Whiting, said. "Absolutely there's a need for people in the cities to move to the Riverina.

"I think there's a willingness to embrace new people and I think that is stronger here than other regions, because businesses realise that they need more people.

"People are hesitant because it's an unknown and unknowns are scary; we're trying to educate people about the opportunities available in the Riverina."

Mrs Whiting moved to Wagga with her family three years ago, without a job.

"Jobs are the biggest motivators to move as once people have a job it becomes obtainable because it costs money to move," she said.

"My husband had a job, but then I found a contract quite quickly, so for us the move was reasonably straight forward but still quite an uncertain thing."

However, Wagga City Council pulled out of the Evocities campaign, which focused on encouraging people to live, work and invest in the region.

Instead, director of regional activation Michael Keys said council is concentrating on establishing new relationships to entice more people.

"We find people move from regional areas to the city for education or to experience the world and then they come back to live here and they have an existing relationship," Mr Keys said.

"We're trying to make new opportunities and that is what we're trying to do with our Sydney office.

"We're trying to focus on creating new relationships with potential employees without them having to make that full time commitment and relocation."

Mr Keys said it is not just concerns about job prospects that cause people to hesitate moving to Wagga.

"People lack awareness of the wonders available, like the lifestyle, affordability, education and training," he said.

"These are the key areas we're trying to improve and building relationships with employers, businesses and the university to provide planning infrastructure for the city."

According to the report, the average outer suburban Sydney worker earns $80,088, which is about $27,000 more than Wagga's.

However, Fitzpatricks Real Estate 2018 report revealed Sydney's median house price was more than triple Wagga's, at $1,144,217 compared to $354,500.

Founder of Rundles Auctions Richard Allsopp moved to Wagga from Sydney over 20 years ago to bring industrial auctions to the country.

"We need good advertising to let people know to come and live here; you can move out of an $800,000 home in Sydney to a $400,000 home here and be at work in 10 minutes, not an hour," he said.

"It depends on what you want in life, but who wants to be sitting in traffic eight to 10 hours a week compared to 10 minutes each way in Wagga?"