Today it continues to undergo gentrification, noted for its Victorian architecture, cosmopolitan demographic, commercial and older industrial areas.

In the 1850s a Benevolent Asylum was built between Abbotsford and Curzon Streets, coinciding with the desire to find space to accommodate the growing population from the gold rush.

By this time it included an imposing North Melbourne Town Hall and the Metropolitan Meat Market,[7] both designed by the architect George Raymond Johnson.

The North Melbourne Court of Petty Sessions closed on 1 January 1968 and the former courthouse was sold to a private buyer in 1981.

[10] The presence of recent migrants is evident, including many refugees from countries such as Somalia and Eritrea who often live around the government-owned housing estates near the Melrose Street area, on the suburb's fringe.

[11] At the 2016 census, 41.7% of residents reported being born in Australia, compared to the national average of 66.7%; the next most common countries of birth were China 13.5%, Malaysia 2.9%, Vietnam 2.4%, England 2.3% and New Zealand 2.2%.

The Catholic Church and Parish Primary School of St Michaels are also located in North Melbourne.

[10] North Melbourne was slower to gentrify than other inner suburbs, due to established families resisting the sale of their homes for decades.

Since 2000, there has been a large increase in new medium density apartment complexes being built and house prices now exceed Melbourne's median.

Media related to North Melbourne, Victoria at Wikimedia Commons ^ = territory divided with another LGA