Perth is cheaper to rent in. Melbourne and Perth compared on the measures we can hold level across states: rent, household income, house prices where open data exists, parks and cafés. Medians are taken over each city's scored suburbs, from official data and OpenStreetMap.
By Formada3D research · Updated 10 October 2026
| Measure | Melbourne | Perth |
|---|---|---|
| Median suburb rent (per week) | $408 | $370 |
| Median household income (per week, 2021 census) | $2,044 | $2,005 |
| Rent as a share of household income | 20% | 18% |
| Median age | 38 | 39 |
| Park hectares per 1,000 residents (median suburb) | 2.8 | 4.1 |
| Cafés per 1,000 residents (median suburb) | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Suburbs scored | 216 | 256 |
Perth is cheaper to rent in. The median Perth suburb rents for $370/wk against $408/wk in Melbourne, about 9% less. Melbourne is where households earn more ($2,044/wk against $2,005/wk in Perth). Measured against local household income, rent takes about 20% in Melbourne and 18% in Perth.
We cannot compare sale prices fairly here: there is no open-licence suburb-level sale price dataset for Perth yet, and we do not substitute commercial estimates. Rent is the like-for-like measure we can compare.
Perth is greener per resident (4.1 ha per 1,000 against 2.8 ha per 1,000 in Melbourne). Melbourne is ahead on cafés (0.6 per 1,000 against 0.4 per 1,000 in Perth).
We do not rank Melbourne against Perth on safety. Crime is recorded by different state agencies with different definitions, so a cross-state comparison would mislead. What we can do is rank suburbs within each city: see the safest suburbs in Melbourne and Perth.
Within each city the answer depends on what you weight. Top family suburbs: Melbourne: Eltham North, Montmorency, Macleod; Perth: Guildford, East Victoria Park, Bateman. Best value: Melbourne: Yallambie, Attwood, Diamond Creek;
Medians are of suburb-level figures (a median suburb, not a pooled city total). Guidance only, visit before you move. No city, agent or developer can pay for placement here. Sources and method: how we rank suburbs.