Melbourne, VIC

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 6 June 2026

Melbourne is the central city locality and commercial heart of greater Melbourne, set on the north bank of the Yarra River in Victoria. Its streets follow the Hoddle Grid, the one-mile rectangle laid out by surveyor Robert Hoddle in 1837; the settlement was first known as Bearbrass and renamed that year after the British prime minister Lord Melbourne. The area is the traditional Country of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. Today it is a major financial, retail and cultural centre, home to Flinders Street Station, Federation Square, the State Library of Victoria and the Queen Victoria Market, and laced with trams, laneways and arcades. Once chiefly commercial, the centre now houses thousands of apartment residents, students and young professionals.

91/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Melbourne is more socio-economically advantaged than about 91% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1076, 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 Melbourne 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.

79/100

Livability

Strong on the data we score

A weighted blend of the 5 components we can score for Melbourne 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

91/100

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (91/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021

Housing affordability

22/100

Less affordable than the national median

Median weekly rent was $381 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 22% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021

Amenities & access

92/100

Plenty mapped nearby

About 296 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap

Green space

90/100

A lot of green space nearby

About 37.5% of the area within ~1.2 km of the centre is mapped as green space — parks, reserves, sportsgrounds and the like. An area estimate from a radius around the centre, not the suburb boundary. · OpenStreetMap

Transport

90/100

Well served by public-transport stops

About 51 public-transport stops (bus, train, tram or ferry) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. Stop coverage, not timetable frequency. · OpenStreetMap

Not yet scored

We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.

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.

Melbourne at a glance

Population (2021): 54,941
Median age: 29
Median weekly household income: $1,448
SEIFA score: 1076
Local government area: Melbourne
Coordinates: -37.8266, 144.9799

Map of Melbourne

Housing & property in Melbourne

What it costs to live in Melbourne and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.

Median rent: $381; per week
Median mortgage: $1,800; per month
Owner-occupied: 26%; of dwellings
Rented: 71%; of dwellings

The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Melbourne demographics section below.

How we treat property data. StreetScout shows official ABS housing figures and nothing more — no sale-price estimates, no real-estate agent referrals or lead capture, and we never pass your details to anyone. Just the public data, so you can read Melbourne for yourself.

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.

Melbourne demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Melbourne 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 53% and 71% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	2,292	4%
Youth (15–24)	13,481	25%
Young adults (25–44)	29,177	53%
Mid-life (45–64)	6,514	12%
Seniors (65+)	3,487	6%

Share of the 54,951 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	3,487	13%
Owned with a mortgage	3,612	13%
Rented	19,496	71%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	15	0%
Townhouses & semis	54	0%
Flats & apartments	27,250	99%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 27,479 occupied private dwellings in Melbourne.

Average household size: 1.7 people
Median weekly family income: $2,083
Median weekly personal income: $864

Community and culture

Born overseas: 35,145 (71%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 29,919 (60%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 208 (0%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 42,218 (81%)
Labour-force participation: 68.3%
Unemployment rate: 8.6%
Employed full-time: 17,981
Employed part-time: 12,534

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 Melbourne

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Melbourne is January (average daytime high around 27°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.9°C). The area receives roughly 724 mm of rain across the year.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain
Jan	27°C	14.9°C	62 mm
Feb	25.8°C	14.1°C	32 mm
Mar	24°C	13.3°C	47 mm
Apr	20°C	10.5°C	62 mm
May	16°C	8.4°C	63 mm
Jun	13.4°C	6.5°C	63 mm
Jul	12.9°C	6.1°C	50 mm
Aug	13.7°C	6.2°C	59 mm
Sep	16.3°C	7.3°C	65 mm
Oct	19.6°C	8.8°C	76 mm
Nov	21.6°C	10.8°C	79 mm
Dec	24.5°C	12.6°C	66 mm

Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).

Places in and around Melbourne

Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.

Eat & drink

84+ nearby

Richmond Club Hotel · Subway · McDonald's · Jardin Tan · Entrecôte · The Botanical

Parks & recreation

104+ nearby

Next Level Fitness · Wilin Garden · Australian Drylands · Punt Road Oval · #15 · Gosch's Paddock

Shops & groceries

19+ nearby

Burns' Grocery LPO · IGA Xpress · Domain Butchers · For Lease · Food Puzzle Asian Grocery · South Yarra Finer Fruit

Healthcare

6+ nearby

Albert Road Clinic · Melbourne Boulevard Pharmacy · Domain Road Pharmacy · Chemist Warehouse · St Kilda Road Medical Centre · Albert Road General Practice

Schools & education

4+ nearby

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners · Melbourne Girls Grammar School · Kangan Institute Cremorne Campus · Victoria Barracks Early Learning Centre

Things to do

79+ nearby

Playhouse Theatre · Vault (The Yellow Peril) · Southbank Library · Christian Science Reading Room · VCA Artspace · Fiona & Sidney Myer Gallery

Eat & drink in and around Melbourne

Cafés, restaurants, pubs and takeaway mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre. Listings are drawn from OpenStreetMap and shown as plain data — we don't rank or rate them.

Own a café, restaurant or pub around here?

Claim your listing to feature it at the top of this section. Placement is paid advertising, clearly labelled — never editorial opinion.

Claim this listing

@RiceCafé
391 St Kilda Road
181 DomainCafé
181 Domain Road
ACCA coffee cartCafé
Albert Gourmet DeliCafé
28 Albert Road
August RestaurantRestaurant
19 Dorcas Street
Ayam ChefRestaurant
67-69 Coventry Street, Southbankayamchefsouthbank.com.au
BacashRestaurant
175 Domain Roadbacash.com.au
Bean Seen ThereCafé
194 Wells Street
Bedggood & Co.Restaurant
137 Wellington Parade South, East Melbourne
BlondieBar
Southbank Boulevardblondiebar.com.au
Café VueCafé
Cricketers Arms HotelPub
dishRestaurant
Dock DotCafé
Don DonRestaurant
1 Bank Street, South Melbourne
EatworxCafé
EntrecôteRestaurant
Gamasot K BBQRestaurant
1 Bank Street, South Melbourne
Gentlemam GeorgeTakeaway
407D St Kilda Roadcaferosco.com.au
GilsonRestaurant
171-173 Domain Roadgilsonrestaurant.com.au
HumbabaCafé
In A RushCafé
iSushi Café & BarCafé
391 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
Jardin TanCafé
Birdwood Avenuejardintan.com.au
Kedai SatayRestaurant
196 Wells Street, South Melbourne
Konna Indian CuisineRestaurant
punjabitandooricorner.com.au
Lawson Grove ShopCafé
Malt Kitchen & PantryCafé
malthousetheatre.com.au
ManchipsterRestaurant
MasqueBar
masquebar.com.au
McDonald'sTakeaway
407 St Kilda Road, Melbournemcdonalds.com.au
Miss Ella Coffee ShopCafé
2 Bowen Crescent
Miss Pearl Bar + DiningBar
140 Southbank Boulevard, Southbankmisspearl.com.au
Mister MargheritaRestaurant
52 Park Street, South Melbournepizzasouthmelbourne.com.au
My Cafe & FooderyCafé
NashiCafé
8 Dorcas Street, Southbank
Oishii TokyoCafé
13 Park Street, South Melbourne
Orient EastRestaurant
348 St Kilda Roadorienteast.com.au
Peko PekoRestaurant
190 Wells Street, South Melbourne
Pho Vietnam YummyRestaurant
1 Bank Street, South Melbournepho-vietnam-yummy.com.au
ProtagonistCafé
100 St Kilda Road
ProtagonistBar
Queenie's Restaurant & Cafe SouthbankRestaurant
41 Coventry Street
Richmond Club HotelPub
100 Swan Streetrichmondclubhotel.com.au
Riverslide Skate Shop and CaféCafé
Royal Domain CaféCafé
SubwayTakeaway
407 St Kilda Roadsubway.com.au
Sushi GenzoRestaurant
Sushi LaneCafé
Tempura HajimeRestaurant
60 Park Streettempurahajime.com
The AmberoomBar
379 St Kilda Road, Melbourne
The BarreBar
100 St Kilda Road
The BotanicalRestaurant
169 Domain Roadthebotanical.com.au
The Golden TriangleRestaurant
123 Park Street
The Kettle BlackCafé
50 Albert Road, South Melbournethekettleblack.com.au
The Malthouse BarBar
The Olive Tree BistroRestaurant
19 Park Street, South Melbournetheolivetree.com.au
The Original CafeCafé
23 Dorcas Street
The TerraceCafé
rbg.vic.gov.au
Trend Cafe and RestaurantRestaurant
35 Coventry Street, Southbanktrendcafeandrestaurant.com.au

Showing 60 mapped places; more may exist that aren't yet on OpenStreetMap.

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Common questions about Melbourne

Is Melbourne a good place to live?

There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage, housing affordability, amenities, green space and transport, Melbourne rates 79/100 overall (Strong on the data we score). Schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.

What is the median rent in Melbourne?

At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Melbourne was $381, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,800. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.

Where is Melbourne?

Melbourne is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Melbourne local government area.

What is the population of Melbourne?

At the 2021 Census, Melbourne had a population of about 54,941.

Is Melbourne an advantaged area?

Melbourne has an ABS SEIFA score of 1076, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 91 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 91% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Melbourne?

Melbourne has average daytime highs of about 19.6°C and overnight lows of about 10°C, with roughly 724 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).

How big is Melbourne?

Melbourne is one of the most populous suburbs in Australia — the 4th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 54,941 usual residents).

Where Melbourne ranks

Melbourne appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.

Largest suburbs in Australia#4 of 25
Largest suburbs in Victoria#4 of 25

Nearby suburbs in Victoria

More suburb guides in Victoria

Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.