City profile
The City of Melbourne covers Melbourne's central business district and its innermost suburbs, from Kensington and Flemington in the north-west to East Melbourne and part of South Yarra in the south-east, and Docklands and part of Port Melbourne on the water. Its office is Melbourne Town Hall on Swanston Street.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Local Government Area (LGA)
- The official area a council governs.
- Estimated Resident Population (ERP)
- The official population count for an area.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
- The national statistics agency behind population figures.
The area at a glance
- Population (ERP, 30 June 2025)
- 194,481ABS Estimated Resident Population (preliminary). This counts residents only, not workers or visitors.
- Area
- 37.5 km²ABS. The VEC gives 37 km².
- Population density
- About 5,200 people per km²Worked out from the ABS population and area above.
- Council
- Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and 9 councillors; no wards
- Council group (LGPRF)
- Metropolitan
- Traditional Owners
- The Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and Bunurong / Boon Wurrung peoples of the KulinAs acknowledged by the council.
Suburbs & postcodes
- Carlton3053
- Carlton North (part)3054
- Docklands3008
- East Melbourne3002
- Flemington (part)3031
- Kensington3031
- Melbourne (part)3000, 3004
- North Melbourne3051
- Parkville3052
- Port Melbourne (part)3207
- South Wharf3006
- South Yarra (part)3141
- Southbank (part)3006
- West Melbourne3003
On the map
The shaded area is the official Local Government Area boundary.
These are the suburbs the council lists in its bin-collection zones, and they match the suburbs the CSA lists for Melbourne. We checked each against the official Vicmap locality boundaries: Carlton North (about half), Flemington (about 60%), Port Melbourne (about half by area), South Yarra (under a third), Southbank (about 85%) and the Melbourne locality (about 80%) are split with neighbouring councils, so we mark them 'part'. Postcodes come from the CSA's suburb and postcode table. The map shows the ABS boundary (ASGS 2025).
Sources — check it yourself
- ABS — Regional population 2024–25, data cube 32180DS0002 Table 2 (Victoria) · ERP 30 Jun 2025
- ABS — Regional population, latest release · Released Mar 2026
- City of Melbourne — Bins and collections (collection zones by suburb) · Sep 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Melbourne City Council (37 km², unsubdivided) · Sep 2026
- Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) — LGA Recorded Offences, Table 03 (suburb and postcode by LGA) · Jul 2025 to Jun 2026
- DataVic — Vicmap Admin locality polygons · Sep 2026
- Participate Melbourne — Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners · Sep 2026
- Local Government Victoria — LGPRF 2020–2025 Full Council Data Set (council group: Metro) · 2024–25
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.