Climate
Darwin logs 330 hot days a year to Melbourne's 19 — Melbourne wins by 311. Darwin also leads on sunny days by 122.
Darwin
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Melbourne
Feels-like °C
Dinner outside
Cost of Living
Darwin is $56/mo cheaperDarwin runs about $2,698/mo for a balanced lifestyle against Melbourne's $2,754/mo — Darwin comes in $56 cheaper each month, roughly 2% less.
Darwin
$2,698monthly · balanced
Melbourne
$2,754monthly · balanced
Mobility
On mobility, Melbourne scores 3.2 vs Darwin's 1.8 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on public transit. Darwin still holds an edge on car efficiency.
Culture
Melbourne's culture score of 4.1 sits well above Darwin's 1.3, with the biggest gap on arts & culture.
Nature & Outdoors
Melbourne's nature & outdoors score of 4.5 sits well above Darwin's 3.5, with the biggest gap on mountain access. Darwin still holds an edge on beach lifestyle.
Safety
Melbourne's safety score of 3.5 sits well above Darwin's 3.3, with the biggest gap on flooding safety. Darwin still holds an edge on wildfire safety.
Career
Melbourne's career score of 4.2 sits well above Darwin's 1.6, with the biggest gap on economic scale.
Social & Community
Melbourne's social & community score of 4.0 sits well above Darwin's 3.6, with the biggest gap on expat-first community. Darwin still holds an edge on government immigration friendliness.
Food & Dining
On food & dining, Melbourne scores 5.0 vs Darwin's 1.6 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on brunch availability.
Family
On family, Melbourne scores 4.1 vs Darwin's 1.4 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on universities.
Healthcare
On healthcare, Melbourne scores 2.7 vs Darwin's 1.7 (0–5 scale), with the biggest gap on public healthcare quality.
Air Quality
Darwin averages 9.7 µg/m³ (good) PM2.5 annually versus Melbourne's 6.2 µg/m³ (good) — Melbourne breathes ~36% cleaner air (3.4 µg/m³ lower).
Darwin
Melbourne
PM2.5 annual average
WHO classification
City Scale
Both maps at the same real-world scale — 1 cm on either map is the same distance.
Darwin (147K) and Melbourne (4.0M) are 27x in population — Melbourne is the larger metro, Darwin the smaller.
Melbourne is roughly 27x the scale of Darwin
Based on population (area data unavailable for some cities)
MelbourneDarwinCity Scale Rankings
Melbourne4.0M27xDarwin147K1xWho Thrives Here
Darwin favours the eternal summer, while Melbourne suits the park & garden lover. Both cities work well for the english speaker.
Also compared
Frequently asked about Darwin vs Melbourne
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