Melbourne suburbs where the most people cycle to work
Carlton North has the highest share, at 7.3% of residents. Princes Hill and Brunswick follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 80 eligible Melbourne suburbs.
This page ranks Melbourne suburbs by the share of employed residents who travelled to work by bicycle on Census night 2021. Only suburbs with at least 2,000 residents are ranked.
The share is cyclists divided by everyone who travelled to work by any method, including those who worked from home — the ten categories the ABS publishes. It is NOT a share of all residents, which would put children and retirees in the denominator and roughly halve every figure. Percentile ranks are computed within Melbourne's pool, so the list reflects concentration relative to other metro suburbs. THIS MEASURES WHAT PEOPLE DID, NOT HOW RIDABLE A SUBURB IS. Flat ground and a short trip to work will carry a suburb up this list without a metre of separated cycleway, and a hilly suburb with excellent paths can sit near the bottom. Census night was a single day in August, so weather and shift patterns are in the number too. Descriptive information about how people commuted, not a recommendation or a safety rating.
Melbourne suburbs where the most people cycle to work
Ranked by the share of employed residents who travelled to work by bicycle on Census night 2021, among suburbs with at least 2,000 residents. This is what people DID, not how ridable a suburb is — a flat inner suburb with short trips can lead the list without much separated cycleway, and a hilly one with good paths can sit low on it.
Carlton North
VIC 3054 · 6,177 residents7.3% of commuters · 256 riders
Princes Hill
VIC 3054 · 2,005 residents7.1% of commuters · 68 riders
Brunswick
VIC 3056 · 24,896 residents7.0% of commuters · 952 riders
Fitzroy North
VIC 3068 · 12,781 residents6.8% of commuters · 453 riders
Brunswick East
VIC 3057 · 13,279 residents6.5% of commuters · 500 riders
Clifton Hill
VIC 3068 · 6,606 residents6.2% of commuters · 212 riders
Parkville
VIC 3052 · 7,074 residents5.6% of commuters · 176 riders
Northcote
VIC 3070 · 25,276 residents5.2% of commuters · 665 riders
Fitzroy
VIC 3065 · 10,431 residents4.9% of commuters · 262 riders
Kensington
VIC 3031 · 10,745 residents4.5% of commuters · 256 riders
Collingwood
VIC 3066 · 9,179 residents4.4% of commuters · 230 riders
Brunswick West
VIC 3055 · 14,746 residents4.4% of commuters · 329 riders
Abbotsford
VIC 3067 · 9,088 residents4.3% of commuters · 234 riders
Fairfield
VIC 3078 · 6,535 residents4.3% of commuters · 136 riders
North Melbourne
VIC 3051 · 14,953 residents4.2% of commuters · 293 riders
Ranked from 80 qualifying suburbs.
100% share of employed residents who travelled to work by this method on Census night 2021 — that count divided by everyone who travelled to work by any method, work from home included, which is the universe the ABS publishes. It is NOT a share of all residents: that would put children and retirees in the denominator and roughly halve every figure. Percentile-ranked within Melbourne's candidate pool, and only suburbs with at least 2,000 residents qualify. This records what people DID on one day, not how ridable or well-served a suburb is — flat ground and a short trip will lift a suburb here without any dedicated infrastructure. Descriptive ABS Census data, not a recommendation. See how we calculate for the full methodology.
Common questions about this ranking
What are the melbourne suburbs where the most people cycle to work?
Carlton North has the highest share, at 7.3% of residents. Princes Hill and Brunswick follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 80 eligible Melbourne suburbs.
How is this ranking put together?
Each Melbourne suburb is ranked by the share of its employed residents who travelled to work by bicycle on Census night 2021. The denominator is everyone who travelled to work by any method, including those who worked from home — the ten categories the ABS publishes — not the suburb's whole population. Only suburbs with at least 2,000 residents are included, and percentile ranks are computed within Melbourne's pool.
Does a high ranking mean a suburb is good for cycling?
No, and the distinction matters. This measures what people DID, not how ridable a place is. Flat ground and a short trip to work will carry a suburb up this list without a metre of separated cycleway, and a hilly suburb with excellent paths can sit near the bottom. For infrastructure, each property page shows the distance to the nearest separated path and the nearest on-road bike lane — a different question with a different answer.
Where does the data come from?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census 'method of travel to work' question — the same source as the Commute to Work breakdown on each suburb page. Nothing is estimated or inferred about any individual.
Why does one night in August decide this?
Because that is what the Census asks: how you travelled to work on that specific day, 10 August 2021. Weather, shift patterns and school terms are all inside the figure, and 2021 in particular caught pandemic-era working patterns in several cities. It is a good relative signal between suburbs measured the same way on the same day, and a weak absolute one.
Same list in other cities
- Sydney suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Brisbane suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Perth suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Adelaide suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Hobart suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Darwin suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Canberra suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Newcastle suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Central Coast suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Sunshine Coast suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Gold Coast suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Wollongong suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Geelong suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Townsville suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Toowoomba suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Busselton suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Ballarat suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Cairns suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Albany suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Ballina suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Geraldton suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Warragul suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Bundaberg suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Launceston suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Bendigo suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Rockhampton suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Mackay suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Albury – Wodonga suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Camden Haven suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Burnie suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Wagga Wagga suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Alice Springs suburbs where the most people cycle to work
- Mount Isa suburbs where the most people cycle to work
Related
Rankings last computed 28 September 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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