It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, and is the smallest incorporated municipality (by population) in Brevard County.

Virginia Wood, Elizabeth Nutting, and Margaret Hutchinson came from Dayton, Ohio in 1947, following the end of World War II to the area of Melbourne, Florida.

[10] Many early residents[11] cleared their land, built their own houses, and ran small home businesses, from organic gardening to raising chinchillas, in order to help support themselves and their families.

[14] Early families overcame the lack of construction materials for civilian use immediately following World War II by purchasing and relocating surplus military barracks from nearby bases.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.6 square miles (1.0 km2), primarily land, with several small ponds.

[17] It is common in Melbourne Village for a lot to have at least 30% canopy coverage, from mature live oaks and southern pines.

This form of government is a mixture of the "Council-Manager" and the "Mayor-Council" systems, as the Mayor is elected (rather than appointed) yet does have a vote on the Commission.

[25] The AHF was founded in 1946 by Virginia Wood, Elizabeth Nutting, and Margaret Hutchinson, and is a not-for-profit corporation and independent of the official municipality.

[26] The community property includes approximately 45 acres (18 ha) of parks and paths, the Village Hall, and the AHF Swimming Pool.

In its modern form, the main function of the AHF is sometimes described as an independent self-funded Parks and Recreation department for the town's residents.

[29] The Vision 2012 Committee was chartered by the Town Commission in March 2006, as a response to trends and concerns about recent construction that, if not addressed, could significantly change the existing neighborhood character via the larger size of structures, greater lot coverage, and the loss of green-space.

[30] The result of this work was the Responsible Growth Plan,[31] a set of ordinances that developed building coverage ranges for all lot sizes, devised incentive strategies to encourage homeowners and builders to minimize the visual and environmental impact of larger lot coverage, improved the town's code emphasis on tree canopy, green conservation, and native vegetation,[32] and provided a way to manage all these objectives via the Town Review Board.