I’ve had this chat with my brother who lives in the UK, and he too is insistent even the worst town in Australia is better than half the places in the UK. There are some grim places over there
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Surprised Nimbin or Grafton ain’t on there. (Nimbin got Wackos & Grafton got South Hill aka no man land)
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I think that list is based on stupidity that happens in each city throughout the year.
Stupidity exists everywhere.
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Melbourne on track to overtake Sydney as Australia’s largest city by 2032
Melbourne is outpacing Sydney on population growth, according to the latest ABS data, and is set to overtake our eastern rival by 2032 if the growth continues at its current rate.
Over the 2024–25 financial year, Melbourne’s population surged by 105,030 people, a rate of 2 per cent.
This brought the city’s population to 5,435,590 by the end of June 2025.
In the same time Sydney grew at a slower pace of 1.4 per cent, adding 75,230 residents to reach a total population of 5,638,830.
The total population gap between the two major cities currently stands at 203,240, but with Melbourne adding nearly 30,000 more people than Sydney over the past year alone it is on track to overtake within the next decade.
Nearly a third of Australia’s total capital city growth of 324,679 was in Melbourne.
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Melbourne is also larger by Significant Urban Area population measurement. The city overtook Sydney in this measurement a few years back. It’s now inevitable that Melbourne will be the largest city by Statistical Area Metro size in a few years due to geography and house affordability.
I just wonder if anything will change? Banking, Media, Finance or political?
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Development in the melton corridor is exploding, soon it is going to be very difficult to justify excluding melton from melbournes population while including central coast in Sydney’s.
Especially if the rail electrification is completed, Melbourne’s borders could even include baccus marsh and the population would be well above sydney.
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Melton is already included in both measurements.
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Is it just me that finds the constant speculation on when/if/whether Melbourne or Sydney are slightly larger than the other quite pointless? The reality is they’re almost identical in size and will be for the foreseeable future. We’re really just talking a few tens of thousand of people difference (and amid disputable area definitions). So what does it even prove? Nothing is going to change if Melbourne does pop its nose in front on an ABS table. They are so similar in size it’s irrelevant.
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This was written in 2023, but it talks about the difference in measurement
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There’s no argument over whose better. They’re both overpopulated shitholes. 
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Melbourne has been ranked Australia’s number one city for overall business travel experience with 46.1 per cent of Corporate Traveller Travel Managers choosing it over Sydney’s 26.9 per cent.
Corporate Traveller’s latest survey ranked Australia’s major cities on networking, dining, culture and overall business travel experience.
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Melbourne was just named as the third most liveable city in the world, and the most liveable city in Australia, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Global Liveability Index for 2026.
https://secretmelbourne.com/melbourne-global-liveability-index-2026/
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