Southbank, VIC

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

Southbank sits on the south bank of the Yarra River, immediately across the water from central Melbourne and about a kilometre from the city centre. Once a largely industrial pocket of South Melbourne, it was transformed from the 1990s into one of the city's densest neighbourhoods, its skyline crowded with apartment towers including the Eureka Tower and Australia 108. The suburb anchors Melbourne's arts precinct, with the Arts Centre Melbourne, the National Gallery of Victoria, the Melbourne Recital Centre and the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art all close at hand, alongside Crown Melbourne and the riverside Southbank Promenade with its restaurants and the Southgate complex. The result is a busy entertainment and cultural quarter favoured by apartment dwellers.

96/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Southbank is more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1106, 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 Southbank 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.

75/100

Livability

Strong on the data we score

A weighted blend of the 3 components we can score for Southbank 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

96/100

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (96/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021

Housing affordability

15/100

Among the more expensive suburbs

Median weekly rent was $411 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 15% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021

Amenities & access

92/100

Plenty mapped nearby

About 274 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · 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.

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.

Southbank at a glance

Population (2021): 22,631
Median age: 31
Median weekly household income: $1,926
SEIFA score: 1106
Local government area: Melbourne
Coordinates: -37.8254, 144.9638

Map of Southbank

Housing & property in Southbank

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

Median rent: $411; per week
Median mortgage: $1,900; per month
Owner-occupied: 31%; of dwellings
Rented: 67%; of dwellings

The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Southbank 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 Southbank for yourself.

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

Southbank demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Southbank 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 60% and 65% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	1,344	6%
Youth (15–24)	3,307	15%
Young adults (25–44)	13,626	60%
Mid-life (45–64)	3,054	13%
Seniors (65+)	1,293	6%

Share of the 22,624 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	1,497	13%
Owned with a mortgage	2,103	18%
Rented	7,969	67%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	3	0%
Townhouses & semis	158	1%
Flats & apartments	11,686	98%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 11,899 occupied private dwellings in Southbank.

Average household size: 1.8 people
Median weekly family income: $2,448
Median weekly personal income: $1,171

Community and culture

Born overseas: 13,841 (65%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 11,030 (52%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 97 (0%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 17,803 (84%)
Labour-force participation: 77.7%
Unemployment rate: 5.8%
Employed full-time: 10,012
Employed part-time: 4,613

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 Southbank

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Southbank 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 Southbank

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

Eat & drink

204+ nearby

Water Rat Hotel · Maori Chief Hotel · Bedi's Indian Restaurant · Honey · Fishers Craft Beer Bar · Riverland Bar

Parks & recreation

6+ nearby

Next Level Fitness · Corporate Fitness Club · Dohertys · Fight Club · Genesis

Shops & groceries

24+ nearby

7-Eleven · Quickstop · IGA Xpress · For Lease · Food Puzzle Asian Grocery · South Melbourne Bakery

Healthcare

12+ nearby

Core Dental · Amcal · Dr John Vissaritis · Elizabeth Pharmacy · Chemist Warehouse · Discount Drug Stores

Schools & education

4+ nearby

Royal Australian College of General Practitioners · Only About Children · Afi · Evolve College

Things to do

24+ nearby

Regent Theatre · Playhouse Theatre · Forward Surge · Vault (The Yellow Peril) · City Library · Southbank Library

Eat & drink in and around Southbank

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

August RestaurantRestaurant
19 Dorcas Street
Baked in South MelbourneTakeaway
187 Clarendon Streetbakedinsouthmelbourne.com.au
Bean Seen ThereCafé
194 Wells Street
Bedi's Indian RestaurantRestaurant
118 Park Street, South Melbourne
Belgian Beer CafePub
5 Riverside Quay, Southbankbelgianbeercafemelbourne.com.au
Caffe PanetteCafé
144 Cecil Street
Charles Dickens TavernPub
urbanspoon.com
Clocks at FlindersPub
The Concourse, Melbourneclocksatflinders.com.au
Daniel's DonutsTakeaway
Dock DotCafé
Drop Bear InnPub
115 Cecil Streetdropbearinn.com.au
Emerald Hill CafeCafé
189 Bank Street
Espresso Bar InternationalCafé
Europa Coffee Drive ThruCafé
264 Kings Way, South Melbournebellabarista.com.au
Fine GrindCafé
Fishers Craft Beer BarBar
343 Clarendon Street, South Melbournefishers.com.au
FloraRestaurant
238 Flinders Street, Melbourne
Gamasot K BBQRestaurant
1 Bank Street, South Melbourne
Golden Gate HotelPub
238 Clarendon Streetgoldengatehotel.com.au
Grill'dTakeaway
278 Clarendon Street, South Melbournegrilld.com.au
HoneyBar
345 Clarendon Streethoneybar.com.au
Hungry Jack'sTakeaway
hungryjacks.com.au
I ArepaRestaurant
It’s BagelTakeaway
50 Queen Street, Melbourneshujisushi.com.au
Jardin TanCafé
Birdwood Avenuejardintan.com.au
Kebabs on ClarendonTakeaway
286 Clarendon Street, South Melbourneturkishkebabs.com.au
Kedai SatayRestaurant
196 Wells Street, South Melbourne
KFCTakeaway
kfc.com.au
Kuu Cafe + Japanese KitchenRestaurant
190 Park Street
Light up CoffeeCafé
237 Moray Street, South Melbourne
Lucky ChanRestaurant
8 Whiteman Streetcrowncasino.com.au
Maori Chief HotelPub
117 Moray Streetmaorichief.com.au
McDonald'sTakeaway
67 Swanston Street, Melbourne
McKillopsRestaurant
12 McKillop Street, Melbourne
Nando'sRestaurant
270-272 Clarendon Streetnandos.com.au
Ondergronds BarBar
ondergronds.com.au
Peko PekoRestaurant
190 Wells Street, South Melbourne
Puzzle CoffeeCafé
degani.com.au
Riverland BarPub
1-9 Federation Wharf, Melbourneriverlandbar.com
Rocket Burgers and FriesTakeaway
276 Flinders Streetrocketburgers.com.au
Royal Domain CaféCafé
ShiraazRestaurant
22 William Streetshiraaz.com.au
South Melbourne Fish & ChipsTakeaway
360 Clarendon Street
Street TasteTakeaway
136 Elizabeth Street, Melbournestreettaste.com.au
SubwayTakeaway
37 Swanston Street, Melbournesubway.com.au
Sushi ChefRestaurant
191 Clarendon Street
Sushi GenzoRestaurant
The Bond StoreCafé
1 Riverside Quaybondstorecafe.com
The ClarendonBar
209 Clarendon Streettheclarendon.com.au
The Olive Tree BistroRestaurant
19 Park Street, South Melbournetheolivetree.com.au
The Original CafeCafé
23 Dorcas Street
Town Hall HotelPub
135-137 Bank Street
Two FingersCafé
Walker's DoughnutsTakeaway
276 Flinders Street, Melbournewalkersdoughnuts.com.au
Water Rat HotelPub
256-258 Moray Streetthewaterrathotel.com.au
Wild Bean CafeCafé
322 City Roadbp.com.au
Wise Guys Pizza 'n' PastaTakeaway
102-104 Park Streetwiseguyspizza.com.au
Wood 'n ChimneyRestaurant
332-334 Clarendon Street
Yak Bar and FoodBar
150 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
ZambreroTakeaway

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

Share your local knowledge of Southbank

Lived here or spent time in Southbank? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.

Common questions about Southbank

Is Southbank 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 and amenities, Southbank rates 75/100 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 Southbank?

At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Southbank was $411, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,900. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.

Where is Southbank?

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

What is the population of Southbank?

At the 2021 Census, Southbank had a population of about 22,631.

Is Southbank an advantaged area?

Southbank has an ABS SEIFA score of 1106, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 96 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Southbank?

Southbank 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).

Southbank, VIC

Is Southbank a good place to live?

Socio-economic advantage

Housing affordability

Amenities & access

Not yet scored

Southbank at a glance

Map of Southbank

Housing & property in Southbank

Southbank demographics (2021 Census)

Age profile

Housing and households

Community and culture

Work and education

Weather and climate in Southbank

Places in and around Southbank

Eat & drink

Parks & recreation

Shops & groceries

Healthcare

Schools & education

Things to do

Eat & drink in and around Southbank

Share your local knowledge of Southbank

Common questions about Southbank

Is Southbank a good place to live?

What is the median rent in Southbank?

Where is Southbank?

What is the population of Southbank?

Is Southbank an advantaged area?

What is the weather like in Southbank?

Nearby suburbs in Victoria

More suburb guides in Victoria

Compare Southbank