Melbourne, Australia Population

Melbourne, Australia is the capital and most populous city in the southeastern Australian state of Victoria. It is home to just over 5 million people and is the second most populous city in Australia and Oceania. It is home to almost 19% of Australia’s population and covers 9,993 square kilometres.

The area where Melbourne is located has been populated for almost 40,000 years, with indigenous Australians populating the area for many years before the arrival of European settlers. The city has long been an important settlement for both indigenous Australians and settlers for many years.

Most densely populated area in Australia

Unlike many cities in Australia, Melbourne’s central business district (CBD) has no height limits on buildings. Because of this, it the downtown core of Melbourne has become one of the most densely populated areas in all of Australia, with 19,500 residents per square kilometre. Comparatively, the average population density in Australia is 3.2 people per square kilometer.

Melbourne’s CBD is also home to more skyscrapers than any other Australian city, including the Australia 108—the tallest building in the country—which is situated in Southbank. Melbourne has 61 skyscrapers, including the two tallest in the country.

Culture of Melbourne

Melbourne is often referred to as Australia’s culture capital. It is globally recognized as Australia’s centre for sports, music, arty, theatre, and television. For much of the 2010s, Melbourne was rated as the number one most liveable city in the world—much of this attributed to the city’s cultural elements. The city is home to a number of unique “firsts”, including one of the world’s oldest free public libraries. The State Library of Victoria was founded in 1854 and is the fourth most visited library in the world. Melbourne was also the second city to be named a UNESCO City of Literature in 2008.

Melbourne is also renowned for its music and art scene. Melbourne has more live music venues per capita than any other city in the world and 17.5 million patrons visited over 553 music venues in the city in 2016 alone. The National Gallery of Victoria is also located in Melbourne and is the country’s oldest and largest art museum.

Cost of living

Melbourne is the second-most expensive city to call home in Australia—after Sydney. Out of 209 cities surveyed, it ranked as the 99th most expensive city in the world and is more costly to live in than Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Canberra. It’s estimated that it costs a family of four about $4,645 AUD in monthly expenses to live in Melbourne—not including rent.

While cheaper than Sydney, the cost of purchasing a home in Melbourne is quite high. The median price of a home in Melbourne in 2019 was about $470,000. While pandemic concerns caused a momentary slump in the market in 2020, real estate prices are rebounding.

Tourism to Melbourne

Melbourne is the second most visited city in the country and the seventy-third most visited city in the entire world. In 2018 alone, Melbourne welcomed 10.8 domestic overnight visitors and 2.9 million international tourists to the city. It’s no wonder tourists flock to the sunny city when Condé Nast Traveler magazine rated Melbourne as one of the world’s friendliest cities and its high liveability rating and safety ratings.

Melbourne has many popular attractions that draw tourists, including the Crown Casino, Queen Victoria Market, the Melbourne zoo and the Melbourne Aquarium, and the Melbourne museum. The city is also known for its foodie scene, café culture, and alfresco dining scene. While Melbourne isn’t the first place that comes to mind when considering fine coffee, Italian immigrants brought their passion for coffee to Melbourne and the city has since evolved fine coffee into a city-wide passion.