The City of Melbourne is located on east central Florida's Space Coast.  Melbourne is about an hour's drive south of the Kennedy Space Center, and 1-1/2 hours due east of Disney World.

The City is in the southern portion of Brevard County. Interstate-95 runs through the county from north-to-south.  Access roads from the west include the Beachline Expressway and State Road 192, which runs through Melbourne to the beaches.

Nearby incorporated communities include Palm Bay, West Melbourne, Indialantic, Melbourne Beach, Indian Harbour Beach, and Satellite Beach. Viera and Suntree, unincorporated communities, are also nearby.

It was the birthplace of Jim Morrison, the lead singer and lyricist of the popular American rock band The Doors, and Saturday Night Live cast-member Darrell Hammond.

It is the home of the Brevard County Manatees baseball club of the Florida State League and Washington Nationals spring training.

Melbourne is served by Melbourne International Airport. Melbourne is one of the cities which makes up the Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbourne metro area. Its proximity to the Orlando area and miles of beaches have established a solid tourism industry.

It is one of the largest population centers on the Space Coast and many high-tech companies such as Intersil, Harris Corporation, General Electric, and Rockwell Collins have established offices in the area. In May 2005, the Melbourne-Titusville-Palm Bay area was among the top 10 in home prices appreciation from 2004 to 2005. Melbourne is also home to the Florida Institute of Technology and houses a major campus for Brevard Community College (BCC).