The Family Walkability Score measures one thing: how far you have to walk to reach the amenities that matter most to families with school-age children. Nothing more, nothing less.
What this score is not
LiveableScore does not measure the quality, desirability, or character of a neighbourhood. It does not reflect community, culture, safety, socioeconomic status, or liveability in any broad sense. A lower score means longer walks to services — not a less worthy place to live. Many wonderful neighbourhoods score lower because they are newer, more car-oriented, or more spread out. The score is a tool for families planning their daily lives, not a judgement about places or the people who live in them.
The score is a weighted average of walking times to seven amenity categories. Each category receives a sub-score based on how long it takes to walk from your address to the nearest relevant place. Sub-scores are multiplied by their weight and summed to produce the total Family Walkability Score, expressed out of 10.
Weights reflect the relative importance of each amenity to families with school-age children, derived from research into Australian family decision-making patterns. They were set before launch and are reviewed annually based on user feedback.
| Category | Weight | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Catchment school | 25% | The single most important factor for families with children. Catchment determines which school your children can attend without a placement application. |
| Park / green space | 20% | Daily access to outdoor space is central to family wellbeing and children's physical activity. |
| Supermarket | 20% | Walkable grocery access reduces car dependency and improves daily convenience significantly. |
| Train / transport | 15% | Access to public transport affects both parent commutes and older children's independence. |
| Café / high street | 10% | Walkable retail and hospitality indicates a functional local high street and social infrastructure. |
| Childcare centre | 5% | Relevant for families with younger children. Lower weight as it becomes less relevant as children age. |
| GP / medical centre | 5% | Healthcare access is important but less location-dependent than other categories for most families. |
Each category is scored on a four-point scale based on walking time from the address to the nearest relevant place:
Family Walkability Score = Σ (sub-score × weight)
For example, an address where the school is a 6-minute walk, the park is 3 minutes, the supermarket is 8 minutes, transport is 22 minutes, the café is 4 minutes, childcare is 12 minutes and the GP is 15 minutes would score: (7×0.25) + (10×0.20) + (7×0.20) + (0×0.15) + (10×0.10) + (4×0.05) + (4×0.05) = 6.55/10.
All walking times are calculated using the Google Maps Distance Matrix API, which uses real pedestrian routing — footpaths, crossings, parks — not straight-line distance. Times are calculated at time of lookup and reflect actual conditions including road crossings and pedestrian infrastructure.
Nearby amenities are located using the Google Places API, which draws on Google's database of over 100 million businesses and points of interest. We use the nearest result within 2km for each category. If no result is found within 2km, that category scores zero.
Addresses are converted to coordinates using the Google Geocoding API. We restrict lookups to Australia and use the first result returned. If your address returns an unexpected result, try entering it in a more specific format including suburb and postcode.
Percentile rankings are calculated against a benchmark database of 2,000+ Sydney addresses scored using the same methodology. The database covers 50+ suburbs with approximately 40 addresses per suburb, spread geographically to represent the full range of locations within each suburb.
Percentiles are reported at two levels: citywide (compared to all Sydney addresses in the benchmark) and suburb-level (compared to other addresses in the same suburb). The suburb-level percentile is more meaningful for understanding how walkable your specific street is within its local context.
The benchmark database is updated quarterly as new addresses are scored and the methodology is refined.
The current score covers walking access only. Version 2 will add Transit Score (public transport frequency and coverage) and Commute Score (driving or transit time to major employment centres). These additional layers will be available for free on the main score and in the Premium Report.
The score does not currently include: school quality or NAPLAN data (available in the Premium Report), crime statistics (available in the Premium Report), property price data (available in the Premium Report), air quality, noise levels, or flood risk. These may be added as contextual indicators in future versions.
Walking times reflect the fastest pedestrian route according to Google Maps. They do not account for hills, poor footpath conditions, traffic light timing, or the practical walking speed of a child or elderly person. A 10-minute Google Maps walk may take 15 minutes in practice.
The nearest amenity may not be the most useful one. The nearest supermarket might be a small IGA when a full Woolworths is a slightly longer walk. The nearest school might be a small independent school rather than the catchment public school. We return the nearest result by walking time, not the most relevant one.
New developments, business closures, and changes to pedestrian infrastructure may not be immediately reflected in Google's data. If you believe a result is incorrect, please contact us.
We publish this methodology page because we believe you should know exactly how the score is calculated. If you disagree with our weightings, find an error in a result, or have suggestions for how the model could better reflect what families actually care about, we want to hear from you.
Contact us at hello@liveablescore.com.au