What Are the Most Liveable Suburbs in Melbourne?

Since 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic sculpted a new landscape for day-to-day life, important traits of livability have shifted in just how valuable they are.

While being in the heart of the CBD reigned supreme previously, the desire to live somewhere with flexible working practices has shot up recently.

This is prevalent in Melbourne, as the Victorian city held the record for the 2nd most days spent in a pandemic-related lockdown in the world with 263 combined days panning over 6 separate lockdowns (second only to Yangon in Myanmar, 405 days).

So, just how much have these continued lockdowns changed how liveable the suburbs of Melbourne are? Let’s dive into it!

Check out our most liveable suburbs in Sydney article here!

Defining Liveability

To list the most liveable suburbs in Melbourne, livability must first be defined.

Thankfully, the yearly City-Pulse analysis was released late last year for 2021 by PwC (Pricewaterhouse Coopers), which manages to rank Melbourne’s most desirable suburbs through a list of criteria added together for a total score.

These scores are traditionally based on:

• Proximity to Open Space
• Medical Services
• Access to Amenities
• Access to Public Transport
• Housing Prices
• Housing Density
• Road Safety
• Crime Rate

However, this year’s report has added a couple of new lifestyle metrics instead of the changes to Australian life caused by COVID-19. These additional key elements are:

• Access to Supermarkets/Shopping centres
• Access to Cafes
• Access to Playgrounds
• Average Number of People per Bedroom in a Suburb
• Growth in Property and Rental Prices
• Street Safety

Another large change to how a suburb is ranked is the walkability score, factoring in just how walkable a suburb is. Due to stay-at-home restrictions and new localised lifestyles, the appeal of a young family-friendly suburb with close amenities, parkland, and public transport has increased exponentially.

This change has caused suburbs with points of interest within a 15-minute walk to rise, while the previous metric of points of interest within a 30-minute walk has become less desirable.

Best Suburbs For Staying Local

Local living is something many cherish even before Australia started to see more lockdowns, but the priority on staying local was only emphasised further during the pandemic.

According to PwC, previous local scores were dominated by the Melbourne CBD in its surrounding suburbs. However, recent scores are now rising in the family-friendly inner ring, with Australians favouring larger homes with open spaces which are hard to come by in the inner city.

The below ranking highlights the best suburbs for residents to live in who stay in the house, whether that be working from home full time or those who do not work.

Rising to the top of the leaderboard is Northcote, followed by its neighbour Heidelberg (Rosanna), with Coburg and Kew also featuring in the top 10 with its fellow inner-north suburbs. These Melbourne suburbs have found the perfect balance to boast more space than the average areas, great walkable access to amenities and a moderate property price performance.

These locations, however, prove to be growing in popularity since residents seem happy to live a little more remotely for the benefit of a tremendous median house price.

Best Suburbs For Commuting

For those who are constantly out and about, the commuting score ranks suburbs by accessibility to job opportunities and the best places to live when it comes to non-remote or front-line work.

Each destination is measured on how it performs against the metrics below:

• Local Industry Gross Regional Product & Growth Rate
• Key Amenity Access
• Job Accessibility & Growth Rate
• Unemployment Rate

The below ranking focuses on this access to jobs and is reflected in the scores for those in the city or on the inner-city scope.

Likely to no one’s surprise, Melbourne is the stand-alone leader when it comes to commuting scores. With the CBD remaining the heart of the city with a central hub of commerce, creativity and leisure, it’s no surprise the commuting score is as high as it is.

Melbourne is loosely followed by South Melbourne and Brunswick, both boasting great opportunities for jobs and plenty of key amenities like cafes and supermarkets.

Despite calls that the CBD was dying after Melbourne’s lockdowns, the city remains perfect for workplaces and a place for young professionals to connect with their colleagues, clients and friends.

Best Suburbs For Walkability

A revitalised point of everyday lifestyle since COVID-19 has been walking, specifically walking within proximity to home.

This was due to lockdowns placing travel restrictions across Melbourne, forcing a different outlook on suburbs with a less-than-stellar walkability radius. For more information on how walkable a suburb is, check out our blog on walk score here!

The new walkability score assists in highlighting which suburbs provide easy access by foot, which can be found below.

The trend of scores doesn’t seem to vary that much, as the city-based and inner-ring areas still dominate the scores for most walkable suburbs, especially the side of east Melbourne and the eastern suburbs as a whole.

South Yarra (East) leads the way with the top score of 10, with the access to facilities by foot proving to be greater than the suburbs below it (even its western counterpart couldn’t hold a candle).

Top 10 Most Liveable Suburbs

Now that the scores have been tallied between staying local, commuting and walkability, it’s time to determine the most liveable suburbs in Melbourne.

These suburbs have been narrowed down to a select few that prove to be more liveable for those who can work flexibly, whether that be working from home or remaining a strong real estate contender for commuters.

As seen above, this year’s most liveable suburbs are primarily located in Melbourne’s inner north-east suburbs after a dominant showing in the previous three tallies. With great scores in all 3 categories, Northcote tops the rankings, followed by Essendon (Aberfeldie) and Heidelberg (Rosanna).

South-east suburbs that are within close proximity to the CBD like South Yarra – East and South Melbourne also present well in the overall rankings, thanks to their combination of employment opportunities and ease of access to local amenities.

In summary, what makes a city liveable is subjective to each individual and what they value. If someone values good school locations and green spaces over being beachside with close train stations, then their ideal suburb will differ from others.

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