Honestly, if you ask someone to name a list city in australia, they usually stop after Sydney and Melbourne. Maybe they throw in Brisbane if they’ve watched the tennis. But Australia isn’t just two or three massive urban sprawls hugging the coast; it’s a weirdly specific collection of "Significant Urban Areas" that the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) watches like a hawk.
It's actually pretty funny. We have cities that feel like tiny country towns and suburbs that are basically cities in their own right but don't get the title. According to the latest 2026 data projections and the ABS 2025 population updates, the hierarchy is shifting. Melbourne and Sydney are still the heavyweights, but the real story is in the "20-minute cities" and the tropical hubs where the population is exploding.
The Big Five and the Battle for the Top
Most people think Sydney is the biggest. For decades, it was. But recently, Melbourne has been nipping at its heels, and depending on which boundary line you use—the "Significant Urban Area" or the "Greater Capital City Statistical Area"—the winner changes.
Melbourne reached over 5.4 million people this year. It's a massive, coffee-obsessed beast. Sydney is right there with it, slightly more expensive and arguably more iconic with the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House, but Melbourne’s growth rate, driven by a 3.1% surge in some years, is relentless.
Then you've got the others in the top tier:
- Brisbane: The sunny capital of Queensland. It’s no longer the "big country town" people used to mock. It’s a legitimate metropolis of nearly 2.8 million.
- Perth: Way out on the west coast. It's literally closer to Jakarta than Sydney. It has over 2.3 million people and a lifestyle that's basically one long beach day.
- Adelaide: They call it the "City of Churches," but locals call it the "20-minute city" because you can get anywhere in twenty minutes. It’s got about 1.4 million residents.
Why the "Significant Urban Area" Matters
Here is where it gets nerdy but important. When you look at a list city in australia, the ABS doesn't just look at city hall. They look at where people actually live and work.
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Take the Gold Coast. It's not a capital city, but with over 760,000 people, it's bigger than Hobart, Darwin, and Canberra combined. It’s a neon-lit stretch of skyscrapers and surf that basically functions as its own ecosystem. Then you have the Newcastle-Maitland area in New South Wales. It's a powerhouse of over 530,000 people, built on coal and steel but now obsessed with surfing and craft beer.
The Full List City in Australia (By the Numbers)
If we’re looking at the actual population centers as of 2026, the list starts to look very different once you move past the capitals. You start seeing names like Sunshine Coast and Geelong.
The Sunshine Coast has passed the 400,000 mark. People are fleeing the big cities for the lifestyle there. Geelong, just down the road from Melbourne, is sitting at around 310,000. It used to be an industrial hub; now it’s where all the Melbourne hipsters move when they want a backyard and a view of Corio Bay.
Here’s how the rest of the pack shakes out:
- Canberra: The national capital. It’s inland, planned, and full of roundabouts. Population: ~488,000.
- Wollongong: Just south of Sydney. Amazing beaches, big university, and a population of about 322,000.
- Hobart: The Tassie darling. It’s cold, it’s beautiful, and it’s growing, now home to over 250,000.
- Townsville: The unofficial capital of North Queensland. It’s rugged, hot, and hosts about 190,000 people.
- Cairns: The gateway to the reef. About 163,000 people live here permanently, surrounded by rainforest.
- Darwin: The most northern capital. It’s closer to Asia than any other major Australian city and feels like it. About 152,000 people call it home.
The Cities Nobody Mentions
What about the inland ones? Australia is famously coastal—90% of us live within 50km of the ocean—but the inland cities are the backbone of the country.
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Toowoomba sits on top of a mountain (well, a Great Dividing Range escarpment) and has over 150,000 people. It’s famous for gardens and being "The Garden City." Then you have Ballarat and Bendigo in Victoria. These were the heart of the 1850s Gold Rush. Today, they are thriving regional hubs with nearly 120,000 and 106,000 people respectively.
They have better coffee than most global capitals. Seriously.
The Weird Case of Albury-Wodonga
This is a single "city" that is actually two cities in two different states, separated by the Murray River. Albury is in New South Wales, and Wodonga is in Victoria. Together, they have over 100,000 people. During the pandemic, the border ran right through the middle of the community, which was a nightmare for locals but a great trivia fact now.
What's Actually Changing in 2026?
The "big shift" is the move to the regions. While Sydney and Melbourne are still the magnets for overseas migration—which accounted for over 300,000 new residents last year—Aussies themselves are moving to places like the Fraser Rise in Melbourne's west or Box Hill in Sydney's north-west.
We are seeing a "donut effect" where the very center of the city gets expensive and the outer suburbs or regional cities like Maitland and Melton start booming. Melton, for instance, has seen growth rates hitting nearly 5% in some years. It's wild.
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Practical Insights for Navigating These Cities
If you're looking at this list city in australia because you're planning to visit or move, keep a few things in mind.
First, "city" is a loose term here. Darwin feels like a tropical outpost. Sydney feels like London with better weather. Melbourne feels like a European city that accidentally ended up in the Southern Hemisphere.
Second, the distances are deceptive. You can't just "drive" from Perth to Adelaide for a weekend. It's a 28-hour drive through a whole lot of nothing called the Nullarbor Plain. Always check the flight times.
Third, look at the median age. Darwin is the youngest city in the country (median age 34.8), while Hobart is the oldest (39.3). This changes the vibe of the city entirely—from the nightlife to the pace of the Sunday markets.
To get the most out of your research, check the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics "Regional Population" releases. They update these every March, and they are the only way to see where the "hidden" cities are cropping up before they become too expensive to buy into.
Start by identifying whether you value the "20-minute" lifestyle of Adelaide or the high-octane growth of the Gold Coast. Each city on this list offers a fundamentally different version of the Australian dream.