Darwin City, NT
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Darwin City is the central business district of Darwin, the Northern Territory's capital, set on a harbour peninsula at the Top End of the continent. The compact inner suburb holds the seat of Territory government and the city's main commercial core, alongside the Esplanade, Bicentennial Park and the redeveloped Darwin Waterfront Precinct, with its restaurants, wave lagoon and convention centre. The George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens lie close by. Founded as a settlement in the 1860s, it sits firmly in Australia's tropical north. The area is the traditional country and waterways of the Larrakia people, the recognised Traditional Custodians of the lands in and around Darwin.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Darwin City is more socio-economically advantaged than about 93% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1084, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Darwin City a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Darwin City from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
93/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (93/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
11/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $450 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 11% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Darwin City at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 7,149
- Median age
- 33
- Median weekly household income
- $2,151
- SEIFA score
- 1084
- Local government area
- Darwin
- Coordinates
- -12.4628, 130.8426
Map of Darwin City
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Darwin City
What it costs to live in Darwin City and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $450
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,781
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 22%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 75%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Darwin City demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Darwin City demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Darwin City using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is young adults (25–44) at 52% and 52% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 600 | 8% |
| Youth (15–24) | 809 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 3,688 | 52% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,533 | 21% |
| Seniors (65+) | 514 | 7% |
Share of the 7,144 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 220 | 7% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 439 | 15% |
| Rented | 2,248 | 75% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 16 | 1% |
| Townhouses & semis | 3 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 2,943 | 99% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,983 occupied private dwellings in Darwin City.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,403
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,236
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 3,275 (52%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 2,526 (40%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 249 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 4,565 (71%)
- Labour-force participation
- 75.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.4%
- Employed full-time
- 3,448
- Employed part-time
- 1,077
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Darwin City
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Darwin City is November (average daytime high around 33.3°C) and the coolest is July (around 30.5°C). The area receives roughly 1819 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30.6°C | 25.9°C | 464 mm |
| Feb | 30.5°C | 25.8°C | 379 mm |
| Mar | 31.3°C | 25.8°C | 219 mm |
| Apr | 31.9°C | 25°C | 108 mm |
| May | 31.6°C | 23.1°C | 17 mm |
| Jun | 30.8°C | 21.5°C | 9 mm |
| Jul | 30.5°C | 20.1°C | 5 mm |
| Aug | 31.6°C | 20.9°C | 4 mm |
| Sep | 32.6°C | 23.3°C | 28 mm |
| Oct | 33.4°C | 25.4°C | 71 mm |
| Nov | 33.3°C | 26.2°C | 150 mm |
| Dec | 32°C | 26.4°C | 365 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Darwin City
Is Darwin City a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Darwin City rates 66/100 overall (Strong on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Darwin City?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Darwin City was $450, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,781. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Darwin City?
Darwin City is a suburb of Northern Territory, Australia, in the Darwin local government area.
What is the population of Darwin City?
At the 2021 Census, Darwin City had a population of about 7,149.
Is Darwin City an advantaged area?
Darwin City has an ABS SEIFA score of 1084, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 93 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 93% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Darwin City?
Darwin City has average daytime highs of about 31.7°C and overnight lows of about 24.1°C, with roughly 1,819 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Darwin City?
Darwin City is the most populous suburb in Northern Territory at the 2021 Census (about 7,149 usual residents).
Does Darwin City have high household incomes?
Darwin City has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in Northern Territory — the 24th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($2,151 per week).
Where Darwin City ranks
Darwin City appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Northern Territory
More suburb guides in Northern Territory
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.