A national survey by the Property Council of Australia has ranked Adelaide as the nation's most livable city.

More than 4,000 residents of capital cities were asked to rank the importance of 17 key attributes, including school facilities, natural environment, public transport and traffic congestion, and how their city rated on each.

Adelaide achieved an overall livability score of just over 63 per cent, slightly ahead of Canberra which came in second.

The South Australian Government was also rated as the best performing, with 54 per cent of respondents rating its performance as excellent, good or fair.

The Northern Territory government achieved the lowest ranking of just 36 per cent.

Darwin has been voted the second least livable city in the country.

The survey shows residents think the city rates worst for good schools, health care services and affordable housing.

The survey also ranked Darwin as not having an affordable standard of living and as the worst aesthetically designed city.

Darwin residents ranked the city well for its road network and lack of traffic jams, good economic and employment opportunities, and a diverse range of people who get along well.

The Property Council says governments should use the survey to help provide better services.

South Australian executive director Nathan Paine says the survey will now be conducted annually.

"It's really about putting a spotlight onto Australian cities, saying that most Australians believe that we can support growth, but that population growth and economic growth has to be managed," he said.

"What we'll be doing is giving these results to the Federal Government and the state governments around the country and sitting down to talk with them about areas that need to be improved."

Least livable

Sydney polled the lowest score of just above 55 per cent.

New South Wales opposition planning spokesman Brad Hazzard says the Labor Government has let the residents of Australia's largest city down.

"Residents of Sydney, whether they're coming in on jam-packed trains - often not air conditioned - from the western parts of Sydney; drivers sitting in cars in traffic jams," he said.

"I think we all know that state Labor in its last 16 years has taken their eye off the infrastructure situation and we've all been left with a situation unfortunately where Sydney is slipping behind."