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Best Places to Live in Australia (2026)

20 best-measured cities in Australia, ranked on 29 livability metrics — cost, safety, healthcare, transport, and more. Institutional data, not crowdsourced.

As of the 2026-10-25 snapshot, Melbourne is the highest-scoring well-measured city in Australia at 84/100. Updated 2026-10-25.

Highest overall livability

  1. Melbourne VictoriaA84
  2. Sydney New South WalesA83
  3. Brisbane QueenslandA81
  4. Perth Western AustraliaA81
  5. Adelaide South AustraliaA80
  6. Townsville QueenslandC79
  7. Toowoomba QueenslandC78
  8. Sunshine Coast QueenslandB78
  9. Canberra Australian Capital TerritoryB78
  10. Newcastle New South WalesB78
  11. Cairns QueenslandC78
  12. Wollongong New South WalesB78

Most affordable

  1. Toowoomba QueenslandC68
  2. Ballarat VictoriaC68
  3. Bendigo VictoriaB68
  4. Townsville QueenslandC65
  5. Geelong VictoriaB61
  6. Cairns QueenslandC61
  7. Newcastle New South WalesB58
  8. Adelaide South AustraliaA56

Safest

  1. Hobart TasmaniaB90
  2. Canberra Australian Capital TerritoryB88
  3. Toowoomba QueenslandC87
  4. Ballarat VictoriaC87
  5. Darwin Northern TerritoryB87
  6. Cairns QueenslandC87
  7. Bendigo VictoriaB87
  8. Mandurah Western AustraliaC87