Find a roommate in Melbourne and/or read everything about roommates in Melbourne.

Who's your best roommate in Melbourne?

Who'll pay more rent?

What's affordable in SPRING 2025?

• (?-see footnote)  =  non-traditional average ¹
• 1440 (360 per week)  =  traditional 2BR ÷ 2 ²
• 2200 (550 per week)  =  average 1BR, rented solo ³
• the rest of Australia
• Some errands can be accomplished on foot. ⁴
• hail, traffic, tram tracks
• Australian rules football, street art, trams
• The Land of Wind and Ghosts, sports, car workshops and dealerships, Toorak of the West, Not Yarraville, organised hippies, hipsters, good chop shop, Mums who ride bikes, disappointing theme park, Hasidics, approving Irish and English Drunks, Hipster southern migration, Nice beach, Klezmer Music Intensifies are the largest hoodmap tags ⁵

roomiematch.com's Melbourne roommate rundown:

Melbourne considers itself the cultural capital of Australia. Of course, so does Sydney. Either way, Melbourne has no worries.

Their particular Australian vibe is less beachy, but like any capital city in Australia, they still have them. (If surfable beaches are most important in choosing your capital city, you may want Perth?)

But while the capital cities of Australia are all sporty, Melbourne might be most athletically passionate. First they invented Australian rules football or "football" or "footy." Melburnians invented footy then they invented the Australian Football League (AFL) then they invented most of the teams on it who are mostly based in Melbourne!

They're also passionate about cricket, rugby, horse racing, and tennis. They host the Australian Open and Formula One racing featuring the Australian Grand Prix.

In addition to all the footy fervor, Melbourne is covered in outdoor cafes serving delicious local coffee, lush gardens, scenic parks, and local music venues. If it's worth doing in Melbourne, it's probably going on in their great outdoors.

The Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria is Melbourne's most famous, but there are parks and gardens extending from the inner city to the outer suburbs, many with elaborately landscaped walkways and rare plant varietals.

Just gardens gardens everywhere, including one in Yarra Bend Park featuring a massive colony of megabats with 3-foot-wingspans swarming in to eat fruit!

Melbourne is Australia's street art capital, with a lot of alleyways now hosting it. Many are politically and/or musically themed, including AC/DC Lane, honoring the rock band and musician Malcolm Young. Banksy has been quoted that Melbourne's graffiti "leads the world." Street art alleys are mostly in the Free Tram Zone, so budget travelers and budget roommates can enjoy all for low cost.

Outdoor festivals abound, pretty much year round. The largest free community festival is Moomba. Melburnians love their live music, supporting more venues per capita than any major city. Melbourne claims EDM, the Melbourne Bounce and Melbourne Shuffle dance styles, underground raves, Dead Can Dance, and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.

There are also several clubs sporting their version of 24-hour nightlife, with the loudest music and most flamboyant dancers and DJs. Some post dress codes, encouraging the ritzy, glitzy, and glossy to come out and play. Most aren't really rocking until around midnight. Some are on rooftops . . . outdoors again!

So boredom should never be an issue. But transportation and weather might be.

While Melbourne is generally temperate with warm summers and cool winters . . . they also see sudden heatwaves, thunderstorms, and snow showers. Since Melbourne's between hot inland areas, Port Phillip Bay (enclosed and largely protected from the ocean), and the Indian Ocean itself, hot and cold air fronts fight it out.

And when a hot day in Melbourne is suddenly interrupted by a much colder front, the temperature drops like a rock. Sometimes followed by gale force winds plus hail!

(So if you're going to be out in Melbourne morning though evening, consider dressing in layers. Probably a light jacket or hoodie too.)

Since traffic is typically happening in between all of Melbourne's spectacular locations all over the city, you'll have to tolerate it or strategize avoiding it.

Melbourne's Central Business District (CBD) is Australia's most densely populated neighborhood, with more residents per square kilometer and taller skyscrapers than any other Australian city. And it's surrounded by urban sprawl that just keeps going and going. So trams are how many deal.

They have the largest tram network in the world, with over 200 million passenger trips per year. The trams have their fans and their detractors, but opinion usually revolves around if you're trying to ride them (usually good) or drive around them (usually not).

Particularly disturbing for some is the "hook" turn requiring drivers turn right from the left lane to get around the tram tracks running down the middle?

So many Melburnians ride transport in the city center and drive in the suburbs, exclusively. Parking in the city is expensive, and traffic tends to be bad. Meanwhile, transport in the suburbs is available, but less reliably. So some suburbanites drive to their nearest station, park, take the train in, then continue using transport, scooters and/or walking until taking the train again back to their cars.

But no matter how you get around, you still need to worry about trams!

Please look all possible ways around all tram tracks!

Remember: Trams take much longer than a car to stop, and they've taken out a bunch of bikers too. Give trams plenty of room so you won't self-injuriously smack into one.

The rest of the Melbourne roommate lowdown:

• Australia's second largest city (after Sydney) and capital of the state of Victoria with approximately 5 million residents
• new residents from all over the world arrive through Port Phillip Bay, now and historically since the 1800s
• home to Aboriginal Victorians for over 40,000 years, particularly the five Aboriginal Kulin nations
• Melbourne has the largest Greek population of any city outside Greece and the largest Italian population of any city outside Italy.
• generally temperate with warm summers and cool winters . . . but occasional sudden heatwaves, thunderstorms, and snow showers
• Melbourne hosts the University of Melbourne, Swinburne University of Technology, Deakin University, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT), La Trobe University, Australian Catholic University (ACU), Victoria University (VU), and Monash University.
• Australia (including Melbourne) has one of the highest minimum wages in the world.
• Melbourne is known for supporting many of the country's film crews, keeping the city at the heart of Australia's cinema.
• Melbourne loves their restaurants, with all cuisines represented, more or less throughout the city. Within the city center, many delicious meals including street food are usually nearby. Tipping your server is not customary unless the service was outstanding, because service staff in Australia are always paid at least minimum wage (unlike most of the United States).
• For casual dining don't miss the "halal snack pack," which is souvlaki meat and sauce served over chips (fries). Meat pies are popular from bakeries. Dim sum is popular with almost everyone but mostly on Sundays.
• Transport Victoria organizes all trams, trains, and buses within the state. You may want to download their app to plan your journey complete with trip timing and disruption warnings. Don't put your feet on the seats or block the doors or ticket inspectors may report you.
• Inner Melbourne has many flat bike paths that many use to explore the city. Bicyclists are usually encouraged to board trains going to the suburbs or other neighborhoods, except during peak crowding they request you yield to passengers (that means take a later train with your bike). But don't cycle on the paths marked pedestrian only.
  
  Individual trams and certain buses may have additional bike restrictions you may need to clarify in advance.
• Melbourne's railway stations are patrolled by security officers in the evening, and emergency buttons and digital recording devices are common. However, some stations are frequented by more aggressive individual under the influence or drugs and alcohol later at night. If you feel unsafe, many stations feature a "safety zone" with brighter lights at night, and sitting near the driver is also a good idea.
• You and your roommates could ride the Free Tram Zone in the Central Business District with audio commentary on what you're riding by.
• If you run into a koala, don't try to hug or pet it. Many have chlamydia.

After you're settled down, you and your roommates should experience Melbourne's:

• YIRRAMBOI Festival: Ten day all mediums celebration of First Nations artistic expression. Some are interactive; some encourage group participation or sharing within a workshop.
• Melbourne City Baths: Since 1860! But now the conserved historic grounds and buildings contain modern water facilities including pools, saunas, spas, and other gym equipment inside. You and your roommates could also play squash and take dozens of different classes a week.
• Grampians Natural Park: Series of uplifted ranges rising out of the plain. Along with all the stunning views, you could easily see kangaroos, emu, corellas, kookaburra, koalas, and/or much of Victoria's Aborginal art.
• State Library Victoria: You and your roommates could take a self-guided digital tour. prayer room, two cafes, self-facilitated recording studios, multiple grand reading rooms, and a chess collection room, otherwise known as Ian Potter Queen's Hall.
• Great Ocean Road: Open since 1932, built by soldiers returning from war. You may not want to drive the whole thing at once unless you're feeling very energetic. It's generally over 5 hours to drive the whole thing, and since it's also windy and windy, many describe it as stunning but challenging. Also beware of animals crossing, possibly a snake or an emu.
• Phillip Island: While it's about two hours away by car and often popular with tourists, there's an Australian Grand Prix and a Penguin Parade. You and your roommates could watch the sun set as dozens of fairy penguins scamper up from the sea into their nests. Don't crowd them or they'll hide in the rocks.
• Melbourne Museum: Includes the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, celebrating the culture and survival of Victoria's Aboriginal people. The middle of the museum is the Forest Gallery, a small chunk of Victoria's mountain landscape in the heart of the city, complete with tall trees and forest birdsong hiding behind foggy glass doors.

Here's the city of Melbourne's new residents' checklist, including pet registration, bins and collection, local laws and permits, and resident groups.

Notes

1.   The following two paragraphs are what this note says for cities in the United States and Canada, but we can't provide this number for cities in Australia yet because we've only recently added them. We will provide this number when we have more data.

(Not Applicable Yet: The non-traditional roommate rent average for this city we've experienced over the last 3 years. We can't predict future rental availability, because we're neither in control of any rental market nor psychic, sorry!

But in most cities most of the time, the recent and relatively recent past are the best predictors.)

2.   This idea came from smartasset.com's ranking of what a roommate saves you in 50 cities. They ranked where roommates will save you the most money, based on the average cost of a 1BR as opposed to a 2BR ÷ 2. Unsurprisingly, the more expensive the city, the more you can save, but the savings are significant in all larger metros. So we got the data for the rest of our cities from realestate.com.au.

This is really the minimum you could save, as you could live with more than one roommate, split more services, share food or other supplies, etc. More sharing tends to lead to more savings too, as per our roommate roadmap.

As per the rest of the description at the top of this page, we're calling this "traditional" roommate rent.

3.   From realestate.com.au.

4.   Directly quoted from Walk Score's Cities and Neighborhoods Ranking. They've ranked "more than 2,800 cities and over 10,000 neighborhoods so you can find a walkable home or apartment."

5.   From hoodmaps.com: a collaborative map where residents use tags describing social situations you're likely to find. Other users can thumb up or down, so the largest tags have been thumbed up the most.