The City of Darwin is the economic service centre for the Northern Territory, supporting industries such as mining, offshore oil and gas production, pastoralism, tourism and tropical horticulture. The City of Darwin’s socio-economic characteristics place it within the top 20 percent of advantaged local government areas within Australia. The proportion of high-income households is three times higher than the national average and the proportion of residents receiving government assistance is almost half the Territory average. Residents working in construction, public administration and safety (eg Defence personnel) constitute 35 percent of the workforce, with some suburbs such as Lyons established specifically to support a specific industry (in this case, Defence housing) and therefore containing low economic diversity (eg rated 0.28 on the Hachman Index).

Mindil and Vestey's beaches are Darwin's busiest, with visitors enjoying the evening markets and unique sunsets. However, swimming is limited due to the presence of box jellyfish and crocodiles.

In 1974 Darwin was devastated by Cyclone Tracy. As a result, storm surge zones were designated and scenarios for potential future inundation have been modelled. Several areas, such as Rapid Creek, are currently prone to flash flooding and the City remains sensitive to inundation. There are limited data regarding patterns of shoreline change; however, portions of the shoreline have been classified as highly erodible due to their sandy composition.

Socio-economic characteristics, 2016