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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 2026-09-09 snapshot, Melbourne is the highest-scoring well-measured city in Australia at 83/100. Updated 2026-09-09.

Highest overall livability

  1. Melbourne VictoriaA83
  2. Sydney New South WalesA83
  3. Brisbane QueenslandA81
  4. Perth Western AustraliaA80
  5. Adelaide South AustraliaA79
  6. Townsville QueenslandC78
  7. Toowoomba QueenslandC78
  8. Sunshine Coast QueenslandB78
  9. Canberra Australian Capital TerritoryB78
  10. Newcastle New South WalesB77
  11. Cairns QueenslandC77
  12. Wollongong New South WalesB77

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. Cairns QueenslandC87
  5. Ballarat VictoriaC87
  6. Mandurah Western AustraliaC87
  7. Darwin Northern TerritoryB87
  8. Bendigo VictoriaB87