These lists of Australian cities by population provide rankings of Australian cities and towns according to various systems defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The eight Greater Capital City Statistical Areas (GCCSAs) are listed for the state and territorial capital cities. All Significant Urban Areas (SUAs) over 10,000 people are listed next followed by the 50 largest urban centres by population. Lastly, the 50 largest local government areas (the third tier of government below the federal and state/territorial governments) are also ranked.

Definitions

Illustrated are the various statistical areas defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics for Sydney and its surrounds. The extent of the Greater Sydney Greater Capital City Statistical Area is designated by thick grey line and black text. The greater capital city statistical areas are the eight unique statistical divisions delineating the broadest possible concept of each state or territory capital city, constructed from one or more whole labour market areas (designated SA4 in the Australian Statistical Geography Standard). The rest of NSW area includes the entire remainder of the state, as each state or territory has only one GCCSA.

The Significant Urban Areas are designated by solid orange lines with stippled fill and red text. Significant urban areas are statistical divisions designed to represent significant towns and cities or associated collections of smaller towns, with total populations of 10,000 people or more. They consist of single, or clusters of, urban centres/localities (see below), and are constructed from one or more SA2 units, which are collations of suburbs and localities designed for consistent statistical output between censuses.

The urban centres/localities are designated by dashed red lines with pink fill. Urban centres/localities are statistical divisions delineating the contiguous built up, or urban areas of cities, towns and most small settlements. They are constructed from the smallest statistical output areas (SA1). The population of urban centres is only updated every five years during the Census and is not estimated yearly by the ABS.

Also represented are 31 outlined coloured areas. These are the 31 local government areas that are commonly understood as comprising Sydney, albeit unofficially.

Greater Capital City Statistical Areas by population Each capital city forms its own Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA), which according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) represents a broad functional definition of each of the eight state and territorial capital cities. In Australia, the population of the GCCSA is the most-often quoted figure for the population of capital cities. These units correspond broadly to the international concept of metropolitan areas.

Rank Greater Capital City Statistical Area State or territory Estimated resident population Ten-yeargrowth rate Included SUA(s)June 2025June 2015 1 Greater Sydney Sydney Central Coast 2 Greater Melbourne MelbourneBacchus MarshGisborne 3 Greater Brisbane Brisbane 4 Greater Perth Perth 5 Greater Adelaide Adelaide 6 Australian Capital Territory Canberra–Queanbeyan(ACT part only) 7 Greater Hobart Hobart 8 Greater Darwin Darwin

Significant Urban Areas by population The following table ranks all the Significant Urban Areas (SUAs) with a population greater than 10,000 people in 2025, including those of the capital cities (which are smaller than their respective GCCSAs, except for Canberra's, which includes adjacent Queanbeyan, in New South Wales). Capitals are in bold. Significant Urban Areas are defined to represent significant towns and cities, or agglomerations of smaller towns, that have at least 10,000 total population. Significant Urban Areas may contain more than one distinct urban centre. There are urban areas of greater than 10,000 people that the ABS does not currently classify as Significant Urban Areas.

70% of the Australian population live in the top eight most populous cities.

Rank SignificantUrban Area State or territory Estimated resident population Ten-yeargrowth rate June 2025 June 2015 1 Melbourne 2 Sydney 3 Brisbane 4 Perth 5 Adelaide 6 Gold Coast–Tweed Heads 7 Newcastle–Maitland 8 Canberra–Queanbeyan 9 Sunshine Coast 10 Central Coast 11 Wollongong 12 Geelong 13 Hobart 14 Townsville 15 Cairns 16 Toowoomba 17 Darwin 18 Ballarat 19 Bendigo 20 Albury–Wodonga 21 Launceston 22 Mackay 23 Bunbury 24 Rockhampton 25 Bundaberg 26 Coffs Harbour 27 Hervey Bay 28 Wagga Wagga 29 Shepparton–Mooroopna 30 Mildura–Buronga 31 Port Macquarie 32 Gladstone 33 Ballina 34 Warragul–Drouin 35 Tamworth 36 Busselton 37 Traralgon–Morwell 38 Orange 39 Bowral–Mittagong 40 Dubbo 41 Geraldton 42 Nowra–Bomaderry 43 Bathurst 44 Albany 45 Warrnambool 46 Devonport 47 Morisset–Cooranbong 48 Kalgoorlie–Boulder 49 Victor Harbor–Goolwa 50 Mount Gambier 51 Alice Springs 52 Nelson Bay 53 Maryborough 54 Burnie–Somerset 55 Lismore 56 Bacchus Marsh 57 Taree 58 Goulburn 59 Gympie 60 Armidale 61 Gisborne 62 Echuca–Moama 63 Moe–Newborough 64 Yeppoon 65 Whyalla 66 Forster–Tuncurry 67 Griffith 68 St Georges Basin–Sanctuary Point 69 Wangaratta 70 Camden Haven 71 Murray Bridge 72 Grafton 73 Karratha 74 Mount Isa 75 Batemans Bay 76 Ulladulla 77 Broken Hill 78 Singleton 79 Port Hedland 80 Medowie 81 Port Lincoln 82 Horsham 83 Airlie Beach–Cannonvale 84 Broome 85 Kempsey 86 Warwick 87 Bairnsdale 88 Ulverstone 89 Emerald 90 Sale 91 Port Pirie 92 Port Augusta 93 Mudgee 94 Muswellbrook 95 Esperance 96 Colac 97 Lithgow 98 Castlemaine 99 Byron Bay 100 Portland 101 Kingaroy 102 Swan Hill

Map of the 20 largest Significant Urban Areas by population

Central business district populations Below is a table of the capital city central business districts in Australia, defined as the suburb after which the city is named, or the core suburb in the case of Civic in Canberra. Melbourne has the highest population and highest population density living in its CBD, reflecting the high density of tall apartment buildings in the city centre. This definition only approximates each city's CBD; for example, the suburb of Sydney does not include adjacent Barangaroo or Haymarket, which are often considered to be part of the Sydney CBD, and while Adelaide's CBD ranks as the second most populated city centre, it also ranks as the least dense city centre, due to the suburb's much larger size than other city centre suburbs.

Rank Capital City Central Business District State or territory CBD population (2021) Area(km2) Density(/km2) 1 Melbourne 2 Adelaide 3 Sydney 4 Perth 5 Brisbane 6 Darwin 7 Canberra 8 Hobart

50 largest urban centres by population Urban centres are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as being a population cluster of 1,000 or more people. For statistical purposes, people living in urban centres are classified as urban. The figures below represent the populations of the contiguous built-up areas of each city; with state and territory capitals in bold. These figures are only updated every census, as the ABS does not render population projections for urban centres, and as such can only be as up-to-date as the most recent census year. Unlike significant urban areas, urban centres that cross state boundaries are split into separate parts for each state.

Rank Urban centre Estimated resident population Ranking in state or territory (2021) ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS WA VIC1 Sydney 1 2 Melbourne 13 Brisbane 1 4 Perth 1 5 Adelaide 1 6 Gold Coast–Tweed Heads (Gold Coast part) Gold Coast–Tweed Heads 2 7 Canberra–Queanbeyan (Canberra part) Canberra–Queanbeyan1 8 Newcastle Newcastle–Maitland 2 9 Central Coast 3 10 Sunshine Coast 3 11 Wollongong 4 12 Hobart 1 13 Geelong 214 Townsville 4 15 Cairns 5 16Darwin 1 17 Toowoomba 6 18 Ballarat 319 Bendigo 420 Maitland Newcastle–Maitland 5 21 Launceston 2 22 Mackay 7 23 Melton Melbourne 524 Bunbury 2 25 Gold Coast–Tweed Heads (Tweed Heads part) Gold Coast–Tweed Heads 6 26 Rockhampton 8 27 Hervey Bay 9 28 Albury–Wodonga (Albury part) Albury–Wodonga 7 29 Bundaberg 10 30 Coffs Harbour 8 31 Shepparton–Mooroopna 632 Wagga Wagga 9 33 Port Macquarie 10 34 Orange 11 35 Dubbo 12 36 Sunbury Melbourne 737 Albury–Wodonga (Wodonga part) Albury–Wodonga 838 Canberra–Queanbeyan (Queanbeyan part) Canberra–Queanbeyan 13 39 Bathurst 14 40 Mildura–Buronga (Mildura part) Mildura–Wentworth 941 Tamworth 15 42 Gladstone Gladstone–Tannum Sands 11 43 Nowra–Bomaderry 16 44 Warrnambool 1045 Geraldton 3 46 Albany 4 47 Blue Mountains Sydney 17 48 Kalgoorlie–Boulder 5 49 Gawler Adelaide 2 50 Lismore 18

Urban areas by population Main urban areas in Australia, according to the Demographia:Demographia: World Urban Areas – Demographia, 08.2023

Urban area Population Area (km2) Population density (/km2) Sydney Melbourne Brisbane–Gold Coast Perth Adelaide

50 largest local government areas by population Local government areas (LGAs) are the main units of local government in Australia. They may be termed cities, councils, regions, shires, towns, or other names, and all function similarly. Local government areas cover approx. 90% of the country. Significant sections of New South Wales and South Australia are unincorporated, that is, have no defined local government, along with the ACT and smaller sections of Northern Territory and Victoria. Brisbane is the only state capital city with its respective LGA (City of Brisbane) covering a significant portion of its urban area. In other capital cities, the central LGA covers a much smaller proportion of the total urban area. Most Australian capital cities have suburban local government areas significantly larger in population than the central local government area.

Rank Local government area Estimated resident population Ranking in state (2024) 2024 QLD NSW WA VIC SA City of Brisbane 1 City of Gold Coast 2 City of Moreton Bay 3 City of Blacktown 1 City of Casey 1 City of Logan 4 City of Canterbury-Bankstown 2 Sunshine Coast Region 5 Central Coast Council 3 City of Wyndham 2 City of Greater Geelong 3 City of Parramatta 4 City of Hume 4 Northern Beaches Council 5 City of Ipswich 6 City of Liverpool 6 City of Whittlesea 5 Cumberland Council 7 City of Stirling 1 Sutherland Shire 8 City of Wanneroo 2 City of Sydney 9 City of Penrith 10 City of Wollongong 11 City of Lake Macquarie 12 City of Melton 6 The Hills Shire 13 City of Fairfield 14 City of Monash 7 City of Townsville 7 City of Brimbank 8 Inner West Council 15 City of Melbourne 9 City of Campbelltown 16 City of Merri-bek 10 Bayside Council 17 Toowoomba Region 8 City of Whitehorse 11 City of Onkaparinga 1 City of Swan 3 Cairns Region 9 City of Boroondara 12 City of Newcastle 18 City of Joondalup 4 Shire of Mornington Peninsula 13 Redland City 10 City of Greater Dandenong 14 City of Kingston 15 City of Knox 16 Georges River Council 19

See also Demography of Australia List of cities in Australia List of cities in Oceania by population List of largest cities in the world List of places in New South Wales by population List of places in the Northern Territory by population List of places in Queensland by population List of places in South Australia by population List of places in Tasmania by population List of places in Victoria by population List of places in Western Australia by population List of towns and cities in Australia by year of settlement

Notes

References

External links — Spreadsheet of population data for local government areas in the 2006 and 2011 Australian census

hi:आस्ट्रेलिया के नगर lt:Australijos miestai sr:Списак градова у Аустралији