The most walkable neighbourhoods in Sydney
By Oscar Higson-Spence. Updated
20 neighbourhoods of Sydney ranked by walkability, each scored across the area around its own centre. Haymarket leads with 100/100, then Darlinghurst (99) and Woolloomooloo (99). 19 of the 20 score 70 or more, where most errands can be done on foot, and the lowest we rank is Mosman (68).
| # | Neighbourhood | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Haymarket | 100 |
| 2 | Darlinghurst | 99 |
| 2 | Woolloomooloo | 99 |
| 4 | Newtown | 98 |
| 5 | Bondi Junction | 97 |
| 5 | Bondi Beach | 97 |
| 5 | Paddington | 97 |
| 8 | North Sydney | 96 |
| 8 | The Rocks | 96 |
| 10 | Leichhardt | 92 |
| 10 | Bondi | 92 |
| 12 | Balmain | 91 |
| 13 | Coogee | 84 |
| 14 | Ashfield | 82 |
| 15 | Bronte | 80 |
| 16 | Kirribilli | 78 |
| 16 | Chatswood | 78 |
| 18 | Mascot | 76 |
| 19 | Maroubra | 72 |
| 20 | Mosman | 68 |
"From the centre" is the distance from Sydney's busiest point to the neighbourhood's centre. "Area scoring 70+" is the share of points across the neighbourhood where most errands can be done on foot.
The top 5 up close
Haymarket
Haymarket is the most central of these five, 700 m south of Sydney's busiest point, and scores 100/100. It has the most libraries and bookshops of the five: 152 within a 30 minute walk, the nearest Information Resource Centre, about 2 minutes away.
Darlinghurst
Darlinghurst scores 99/100, 1.1 km east of Sydney's busiest point. 6,047 everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of its middle, the nearest grocery about 4 minutes away.
Woolloomooloo
Woolloomooloo scores 99/100, 1.2 km east of Sydney's busiest point. Banks are where it leads the others, 166 of them within a 30 minute walk, starting with BestFind.com.au, about 6 minutes away.
Newtown
Newtown scores 98/100, 3.4 km south-west of Sydney's busiest point. 2,127 everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of its middle, the nearest grocery about a minute away.
Bondi Junction
Bondi Junction lies the furthest out of these five, 4.4 km south-east of Sydney's busiest point, and scores 97/100. 1,222 everyday places are mapped within a 30 minute walk of its middle, the nearest grocery about a minute away. It has the fewest libraries and bookshops of the five, 6. More on Bondi Junction.
Centre and outskirts
The 5 neighbourhoods within 3 km of Sydney's centre average 98, and the 15 further out average 85, so walkability falls away from the centre. The nearest to the centre, Haymarket, 700 m away, scores 100, and the farthest, Chatswood, 9.1 km out, scores 78.
Each dot is a ranked neighbourhood, numbered by rank and coloured by score, placed by its distance and direction from the centre of Sydney.
Sydney as a whole scores 81 out of 100 across the 5 km around its centre. Other cities in Australia with ranked neighbourhoods: Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth.
Questions about Sydney's neighbourhoods
What is the most walkable neighbourhood in Sydney?
Haymarket is the most walkable of the 20 neighbourhoods we rank in Sydney, with a walkability score of 100 out of 100 (Walker's Paradise). It is followed by Darlinghurst (99) and Woolloomooloo (99).
Which neighbourhoods of Sydney are least walkable?
Of the 20 neighbourhoods we rank, the lowest scoring is Mosman (68). These are the best-known neighbourhoods with their own Wikipedia articles, so less walkable outer suburbs that are not ranked may score lower still.
How are Sydney's neighbourhoods ranked?
Each neighbourhood is scored at points 100 m to 500 m apart across a circle around its centre, sized to its area, and its score is the mean of those points. Each point's score counts the groceries, restaurants, shops, schools, parks and other everyday places within a 30 minute walk, as described in the methodology. Sydney scores 81 across the 5 km around its centre.
This page is generated from open map data with a published walkability method, explained in the methodology. Places from Overture Maps release 2026-09-23.1. Neighbourhoods and where they lie from Overture Maps and Wikidata.