About Urban Index

Urban Index is address-level liveability scoring for Australian addresses. Enter an address and get four transparent scores — Walk Score, Public Transport Score, Cycling Score, and Liveability Index — built from public and licensed data, with our methodology open on the site.

Why we built Urban Index

We started from a frustration we kept running into when researching places to live.

Having a bus stop nearby — or even many bus stops nearby — doesn't mean an address is well served by public transport if you don't know how often buses actually run through those stops, or whether the service is actually usable — not just whether a stop appears on a map.

That insight is core to why we built something Australian and address-level, not just points on a map. We wanted numbers that reflect how a place actually works day to day — for one address, not a whole suburb averaged into a headline.

More than proximity on a map

Many tools count stops or draw circles around stations. Proximity alone can mislead: a stop with hourly service can look the same as one with a bus every ten minutes.

Urban Index is built for Australia with timetable-aware public transport scoring where GTFS timetable data is available — the same open standard used by state transit authorities. Where timetables aren't in our dataset yet, we say so on the results page rather than guessing.

We combine that with address-level, multi-pillar scoring and a transparent methodology you can read and challenge. The goal is clarity before you commit — not a single magic number from overseas.

For how frequency and proximity work together, see what your scores mean (Public Transport Score) and full methodology.

What Urban Index is today

Four scores (0–100 each)

• Walk Score — everyday destinations within walking distance, weighted by how close they are and how the street network feels to walk.
• Public Transport Score — how dependable public transport is from this address, not just whether a stop exists.
• Cycling Score — whether cycling is practical nearby, including infrastructure quality and terrain where data allows.
• Liveability Index — an overall read blending active transport, public transport, green space, healthcare and education access, and flood safety where data exists.

Scores are built from public and licensed sources (including OpenStreetMap, Google Places where applicable, official GTFS feeds, and government datasets). We publish our approach on methodology and update it as the product improves.

Coverage

Coverage is strongest in Brisbane and South East Queensland today — including Brisbane City Council flood awareness in the liveability breakdown where available. We support addresses across Australia, with honest limits outside our best-covered metros: public transport timetables may be proximity-only in some regions, and council-specific data (such as flood layers) is not national yet. When a factor isn't available for an address, we show that in the breakdown rather than silently omitting it.

Who it's for

• Buyers researching where to live — compare addresses, see what's nearby, understand trade-offs between walk, public transport, cycling, and overall liveability.
• Agents who want a credible, address-level snapshot for vendor or buyer conversations — not suburb hype.
• Planners and data-curious readers who care how the numbers are built and where the limits are.

What we're not

Urban Index is not a "best suburb" list, not investment or financial advice, and not a claim that a whole suburb scores one way. Scores describe access and context near a specific address. Two streets in the same suburb can score differently — and often do.

How we think about liveability

Liveability isn't one imported headline number. For us it means how well a specific location supports daily life with less reliance on a car: walking and cycling for everyday trips, public transport you can actually depend on, access to green space and essential services, and — where we have data — local context such as flood awareness in Brisbane.

The Liveability Index blends those dimensions with published weights. Use it as the headline, then read the individual scores to see what's driving it. A strong liveability score with a weak Public Transport Score tells you exactly where to look next.

Explore further

• Try an address — free lookup at urbanindex.com.au
• What your scores mean — plain-English guide to each score
• Full methodology — how we calculate and calibrate scores
• Sample report — example report output (when available)

Indicative only — not a substitute for professional property, planning, engineering, legal, or financial advice.