The 10 Best Suburbs to Live in Melbourne
Preparing for your next big move? Here are our top picks for the best suburbs to live in Melbourne in 2024.
From growing families to students and ambitious young professionals, there’s a Melbourne suburb to suit every type of lifestyle. Whether you’re looking in the city fringe, inner east, north of the river or bayside, each neighbourhood has its own colour and unique personality.
Keeping in mind walkability, café culture, job opportunities, public transport and local amenities, these are the best places to live in Melbourne in 2024.
Prahran
For those looking to be in the heart of Melbourne’s shopping, dining and entertainment precinct, Prahran is a lively, easy-going neighbourhood that has become a mecca for youth and young singles. It has a vibrant community and is well-connected with quick trams and trains into the CBD.
Prahran also offers a sophisticated dining scene and leafy residential backstreets. Between the shopping mecca of Chapel Street and the low-key cool of Greville Street with its record stores and boutiques, friendly Prahran still manages to possess a village-like feel.
Footscray
Set in the city’s increasingly fashionable west, Footscray is as diverse as it is colourful. Once the somewhat rough and ready domain of the Greek and Italian migrant communities, it’s now home to everyone from Vietnamese to East Africans and a lively student crowd. Nowhere is the influence of this multicultural population more evident than in the awe-inspiring array of food on offer.
East Melbourne
Punctuated by Victorian terraces and Art Deco homes, East Melbourne is a prestigious neighbourhood with the city centre on its doorstep. It’s coveted by young independents and professionals for its culture, cafés and access to public transport. The suburb is effortlessly walkable with tree-lined streets, inspiring architecture and picturesque gardens.
Affluent East Melbourne is home to a very wealthy crowd. Here, the families that reside in the area’s storied terraces and glamorous mansions are as prestigious as the buildings they inhabit. However, due to its prime location right by the CBD, it’s mostly (very) cashed-up young singles and established older couples that call East Melbourne their own.
Malvern
A quietly affluent enclave long favoured by Melbourne’s well-to-do, Malvern offers up a picture-perfect snapshot of life in the inner suburbs – white picket fences and all. With tree-lined streets, chic cafés and beautiful parks, this idyllic locale are what young families’ dreams are made of.
Gardens are perfectly manicured, café culture reigns supreme, and a pet dog is essential. Nowhere is this more evident than in firm local favourite Central Park, where you’ll find everyone from fitness addicts to latte sippers, weekend cricket clubs and playgroups all enjoying their spot on the grass.
Toorak
Home to the rich and famous, Toorak continues to top the ranks when it comes to liveability. Residents benefit from easy connection to the CBD, nearby parks of South Yarra and elegant restaurants and shopping boutiques. It’s one of Melbourne’s oldest and most glamorous suburbs, with a hefty price tag to match.
Hawthorn East
The leafy, prosperous suburb of Hawthorn East combines a family-friendly atmosphere with the convenience of the inner-city. It ticks all the boxes in terms of a bustling café scene, shopping strips and quick, convenient transport into the CBD. The suburban gem has seen a steady increase in property prices over the past five years, with a mix of charming Edwardian, Victorian and Art Deco homes.
Northcote
Delightful Northcote has become one of the city’s most stylish neighbourhoods, with notable restaurants, cool wine bars and independent boutiques. It has a bustling village vibe attracting everyone from hip young renters and buyers to growing families. The inner-north suburb is well connected via an easy tram ride to the city and offers great parklands along with the scenic Merri Creek Trail through the northern suburbs.
Collingwood
Considered one of the best places to live among millennials, Collingwood has transformed from its rough roots into one of the city’s coolest hubs. This creative, inner-city gem is just a quick train ride into the city centre, and is jam-packed with coffee shops, wine bars, galleries and design stores.
With its relatively small blocks of land and predilection for late-night revelry, Collingwood isn’t quite the place for families. Rather, this trendy postcode is home to young singles and urban workers who can’t get enough of the café culture, buzzing nightlife, impressive drinking and dining scene and close proximity to the city.
Elwood
It can’t be denied – Elwood is a good-looking suburb. From the sunny, toned Art Deco apartments that line its streets to the ample parks and beachfront promenade, this neighbourhood is white-picket fence lovely. With easy access to the city and the ocean – it offers residents a charmed lifestyle by the bay.
Leafy, community-oriented and very liveable, Elwood is a tightly-knit area. Nearby St Kilda is all about glitzy nightlife. In Elwood, it’s all about the thriving café scene. In fact, the neighbourhood excels in all things coffee and breakfast related and draws brunch aficionados from across the city. When they’re not sipping lattes, locals can be found cruising down canal-side bike paths and jogging past the ocean, dogs in tow.
Essendon
Essendon, a charming suburb nestled in Melbourne's northwest, has previously flown under the radar but its status is well on the rise. With its stately homes, historical architecture, including grand Victorian homes and Art Deco buildings, a buzzing caféscene, boutique shopping, excellent schools and of course, the sports scene (it's home to the beloved AFL Essendon Football Club), Essendon offers residents an exciting lifestyle while maintaining a serene, residential feel.
Doing your research on the best suburbs to live in Melbourne and looking for more helpful property advice? Check out our explainer on what you should look out for when buying a house. Then, have a read of our guide on what to look for in a suburb before buying there.