CityPulse 2025: Analysing Melbourne's liveability

There is also a desire to be near work and employment opportunities, indicating that people are willing to move to the outer suburbs, if the work is there. This is also indicative of the ongoing cost of living challenges. People want to make the most of lower housing cost options, while still having secure working opportunities.

In recent years, economic hubs have popped up outside of the CBD, as the need for nation building logistic hubs and distribution centres has increased. Melbourne has a luxury here - we have ample space on the fringe of our city, which could be used to build infrastructure to support the growing demand for data centres and storage facilities. This could reduce the pressure on the inner city and create great opportunities in affordable areas.

Melbourne has come out of the pandemic a very different city than when we went in. We have created great opportunities for our people, and invested in the things that matter most - great places to live, work and play.

But we can't rest on our laurels. Victoria needs to lean into the challenges which are driving investment around the world - largely technological advancement via artificial intelligence, and the need to reshape business and cities due to climate change.

Supporting our businesses and people to take on these opportunities with both hands will be crucial.

We are an innovative city, with an abundance of diversity and skill. If we can harness all that makes Melbourne, Melbourne - we will be able to become an innovative leader on the global stage. This means new, exciting jobs, more investment in our city and our business centres and more opportunities for Victorians.

PwC’s CityPulse analysis assesses the liveability of Melbourne's suburbs by examining the shifting priorities and changing values of Victorians. It’s a data-driven deep dive of how our suburbs perform against each of the three Live, Work, Play metrics. 

With cost-of-living and affordability front of mind for many Victorians, the 2025 analysis has sought to understand how these factors, as well as hybrid working models in a post-COVID era influence the liveability of Melbourne suburbs. 

A suburb will fare well against Live metrics due to proximity to essential amenities, safety, education and health services - the foundations of our lives.

For a suburb to achieve a higher Work metric, economic modeling is used to assess access to employment or proximity to economic hubs and a higher commercial density making it a suitable location for Victorians to work.

To make a suburb truly liveable, it needs to provide ways for people to connect, explore and recharge - to ‘Play’ - aspects of the locality that make it an appealing place for leisure activities.