Best suburbs in Sydney for coffee
Café density per resident, not raw café counts — so a big suburb cannot buy its way up.
Ultimo (100/100), Sydney (100/100), North Sydney (99/100) lead this ranking of 422 Sydney suburbs.
By BestSuburbs research · Updated October 2026
Part of Sydney suburb rankings · all Sydney lists
Which Sydney suburbs are best for coffee?
How do the top 25 compare, measure by measure?
| # | Suburb | Cafés per 1,000 | Café score | Median house price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Ultimo | 5.1 | 100 | — |
| 2 |  Sydney | 13.2 | 100 | — |
| 3 |  North Sydney | 6.5 | 99 | $4,070,000 |
| 4 |  Darlinghurst | 5.3 | 99 | $2,325,000 |
| 5 |  Milsons Point | 3.2 | 98 | — |
| 6 |  St Leonards | 3.7 | 98 | $3,500,000 |
| 7 |  Bondi Beach | 5.1 | 98 | $5,100,000 |
| 8 |  Haymarket | 4.2 | 98 | — |
| 9 |  Surry Hills | 4.5 | 98 | $2,325,000 |
| 10 |  Chippendale | 4.0 | 98 | — |
| 11 |  Potts Point | 4.5 | 98 | — |
| 12 |  Redfern | 3.0 | 96 | $2,360,000 |
| 13 |  Double Bay | 3.6 | 96 | — |
| 14 |  Edgecliff | 2.8 | 96 | — |
| 15 |  Millers Point | 2.9 | 96 | — |
| 16 |  Chatswood | 3.0 | 95 | $3,190,000 |
| 17 |  Newtown | 2.3 | 95 | $1,935,000 |
| 18 |  Pyrmont | 2.1 | 95 | — |
| 19 |  Alexandria | 3.1 | 94 | $2,072,000 |
| 20 |  Parramatta | 2.6 | 94 | — |
| 21 |  Brookvale | 5.3 | 94 | $2,500,000 |
| 22 |  Crows Nest | 2.2 | 94 | $3,500,000 |
| 23 |  Zetland | 1.5 | 94 | — |
| 24 |  Petersham | 2.2 | 94 | $2,319,000 |
| 25 |  Rushcutters Bay | 1.7 | 94 | — |
Showing the top 25 of 422 ranked suburbs. Scores are percentiles against every other suburb in Sydney: 100 is the best in the city, 50 is mid-table. Click any suburb for its full profile.
Why do these 10 Sydney suburbs lead for coffee? (October 2026)
Updated 14 October 2026 · one sentence of real reasons per suburb, from the data on this page.
- Ultimo ★ 100
Ultimo takes #1 on 100% of it within 400 m of a park, with 22 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 90, and 38 cafés.
- Sydney ★ 100
Sydney takes #2 on 96% of it within 400 m of a park, with 137 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 98, and 220 cafés.
- North Sydney ★ 99
North Sydney ranks #3: 94% of it within 400 m of a park, 60 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 95, and 58 cafés.
- Darlinghurst ★ 99
Darlinghurst ranks #4: 99% of it within 400 m of a park, 50 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 98, and 56 cafés.
- Milsons Point ★ 98
Milsons Point takes #5 on 100% of it within 400 m of a park, with 14 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 100, and 8 cafés.
- St Leonards ★ 98
At #6, St Leonards combines 98% of it within 400 m of a park and 27 cafés, and 23 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 84.
- Bondi Beach ★ 98
At #7, Bondi Beach combines 92% of it within 400 m of a park and 59 cafés, and 1 government primary school inside the suburb.
- Haymarket ★ 98
What lifts Haymarket to #8 is 100% of it within 400 m of a park; it also has 51 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 100, and 35 cafés.
- Surry Hills ★ 98
Surry Hills (#9) scores on 94% of it within 400 m of a park and 55 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 92, and 71 cafés.
- Chippendale ★ 98
Chippendale ranks #10: 100% of it within 400 m of a park, 21 public transport stops inside it for a transit score of 94, and 31 cafés.
Why each of the top 10 suburbs for coffee in Sydney ranks where it does
Written from this page's own data: each figure below is the suburb's own value, set against the Sydney median where we hold one.
1. Ultimo
Ultimo is #1 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 100/100. It has 5.13 cafés per 1,000 residents (38 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 9/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 0.6 km² with about 7,410 residents (census).
2. Sydney
Sydney is #2 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 100/100. It has 13.2 cafés per 1,000 residents (220 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 0/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 2.9 km² with about 16,667 residents (census).
3. North Sydney
North Sydney is #3 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 99/100. It has 6.47 cafés per 1,000 residents (58 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 25/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 1.4 km² with about 8,964 residents (census).
4. Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst is #4 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 99/100. It has 5.28 cafés per 1,000 residents (56 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 4/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 0.9 km² with about 10,615 residents (census).
5. Milsons Point
Milsons Point is #5 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 98/100. It has 3.16 cafés per 1,000 residents (8 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. It covers 0.2 km² with about 2,529 residents (census).
6. St Leonards
St Leonards is #6 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 98/100. It has 3.74 cafés per 1,000 residents (27 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 12/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 0.8 km² with about 7,212 residents (census).
7. Bondi Beach
Bondi Beach is #7 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 98/100. It has 5.12 cafés per 1,000 residents (59 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 10/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 1.2 km² with about 11,513 residents (census).
8. Haymarket
Haymarket is #8 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 98/100. It has 4.21 cafés per 1,000 residents (35 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 0/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 0.5 km² with about 8,305 residents (census).
9. Surry Hills
Surry Hills is #9 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 98/100. It has 4.49 cafés per 1,000 residents (71 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 2/100 for safety, so it is weaker there. It covers 1.3 km² with about 15,828 residents (census).
10. Chippendale
Chippendale is #10 of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs on this list, with a score of 98/100. It has 3.97 cafés per 1,000 residents (31 mapped), against a Sydney median of 0.28. The trade-off: it scores 2/100 for value for rent, so it is weaker there. It covers 0.5 km² with about 7,803 residents (census).
How do these suburbs compare head to head?
What else do people ask about suburbs for coffee in Sydney?
What are the best suburbs in Sydney for coffee?
On our October 2026 data the top five are Ultimo (100/100), Sydney (100/100), North Sydney (99/100), Darlinghurst (99/100), Milsons Point (98/100), out of 422 ranked Sydney suburbs.
How is this ranking calculated?
Cafés per 1,000 residents from OpenStreetMap, as a percentile. Per-resident rather than per-suburb deliberately: raw counts just rank the biggest suburbs. 422 of 422 Sydney suburbs had enough data to be ranked. Updated October 2026.
Is this ranking sponsored?
No. No ranking on this site is sold or sponsored. It is computed from open data: GPS activity traces, official crime statistics, the ABS census and OpenStreetMap.
What other Sydney rankings are there?
Sources: open GPS activity traces, official crime statistics, ABS census,
OpenStreetMap (ODbL). Sale prices: NSW DCJ Rent and Sales Report, January - March 2026 quarter — © State of New South Wales (Department of Communities and Justice), Rent and Sales Report, CC BY 4.0; suburb-to-postcode mapping © GeoNames.org, CC BY 4.0. NSW publishes no free suburb-level sale medians, so this is the median for the suburb's POSTCODE (non-strata sales = houses, strata = units), which can span several suburbs. Low-volume figures rest on 30 or fewer sales in the quarter; postcodes with 10 or fewer sales are withheld by DCJ. No ranking on this site is sold or sponsored.
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