Suburbs to avoid in Melbourne
No suburb is bad for everybody, and a list that says otherwise is an opinion with a number attached. What does exist is a short set of hazards the states measure and publish, suburb by suburb. This page ranks Melbourne suburbs on those, highest first: recorded crime, bushfire history, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are ranked.
Campbellfield carries the most measured hazard in the ranking, leading on recorded crime and aircraft noise. Epping and Sunshine North follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 342 eligible Melbourne suburbs.
Read each number for what it is. Recorded crime is offences per resident, so a suburb with a shopping centre, a nightlife strip or a railway interchange carries crimes committed against businesses and visitors — the busiest retail suburb is usually near the top and is not a dangerous place to live. Bushfire history records where fire has burned, and is highest in the leafy suburbs at the bush edge that people move to on purpose. A flood overlay is a planning control, not a prediction. Aircraft noise comes from airport contours and changes street by street. All of it is a suburb average, and nobody lives in a suburb average: check the address before ruling anywhere in or out.
Melbourne suburbs with the highest measured hazards
Ranked on recorded crime (weighted heaviest), bushfire history, flood overlays and aircraft noise, each measured against other suburbs in the same pool. A suburb with no crime record is excluded, and a hazard the state does not publish is left out of the score rather than counted as zero.
Campbellfield
VIC 3061 · 4,977 residents83/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 99% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Epping
VIC 3076 · 33,489 residents79/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 84% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Sunshine North
VIC 3020 · 12,047 residents79/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 79% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Maribyrnong
VIC 3032 · 12,573 residents79/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 92% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay
Thomastown
VIC 3074 · 20,234 residents78/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 80% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Taylors Lakes
VIC 3038 · 15,174 residents77/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 76% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Kealba
VIC 3021 · 3,226 residents74/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 69% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Keilor Park
VIC 3042 · 2,684 residents74/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 66% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Docklands
VIC 3008 · 15,495 residents74/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 96% of Melbourne · flood overlay
Melbourne
VIC 3000 · 54,941 residents73/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 99% of Melbourne · flood overlay
Southbank
VIC 3006 · 22,631 residents73/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 92% of Melbourne · flood overlay
Flemington
VIC 3031 · 7,025 residents73/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 92% of Melbourne · flood overlay
Cremorne
VIC 3121 · 2,158 residents72/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 96% of Melbourne · flood overlay
Carrum Downs
VIC 3201 · 21,976 residents72/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 74% of Melbourne · bushfire history · flood overlay
Footscray
VIC 3011 · 17,131 residents72/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 96% of Melbourne · flood overlay
Ranked from 342 qualifying suburbs.
40% recorded crime · 20% recorded bushfire history · 20% flood overlays · 20% aircraft noise. Each hazard is a percentile within Melbourne's candidate pool — the highest reading scores highest on that leg — then blended, crime-led. A hazard the state does not publish at suburb level is left out and the other weights scaled up, rather than counted as zero. Crime is recorded offences per resident from state police data, never compared across state lines; bushfire and flood come from mapped overlays and noise from airport ANEF contours. Suburbs with no crime record, or no measured hazard at all, are excluded. Socio-economic measures are deliberately not part of the score. See how we calculate for the full methodology.
Common questions about this ranking
Which Melbourne suburbs should I avoid?
None of them for everybody. A suburb near the top of this list carries more of one or more measured hazards than its neighbours, which matters more to some buyers than others — a family by a bushland reserve accepts bushfire risk that a retiree may not. Use the list to decide which addresses to look at more closely, never to rule a whole suburb out.
How is this ranking scored?
Each Melbourne suburb is scored on 40% recorded crime, 20% recorded bushfire history, 20% flood overlays, and 20% aircraft noise. Every hazard is turned into a percentile within Melbourne, so a score reads as how the suburb compares with the rest of the city, then blended with crime weighted heaviest.
Why is a busy shopping or nightlife suburb near the top?
Recorded crime is offences per resident. Offences committed against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the few people who live nearby, so commercial centres score high without being dangerous places to live. It measures reported offences, not your personal risk, and is only ever compared within the same state.
Why is SEIFA or income not part of the score?
Because they describe the people who live somewhere, not a hazard you would face there. Adding them would turn this into a ranking of lower-income suburbs under the word "avoid". Income and socio-economic data are on every suburb page.
Why are some suburbs missing from the list?
A suburb only appears if it has a crime record, at least 1,000 residents and at least one measured hazard. A suburb without a crime record is excluded rather than scored, and in states where suburb-level crime data is not published the ranking is not produced.
Same list in other cities
- Suburbs to avoid in Sydney
- Suburbs to avoid in Brisbane
- Suburbs to avoid in Perth
- Suburbs to avoid in Adelaide
- Suburbs to avoid in Hobart
- Suburbs to avoid in Darwin
- Suburbs to avoid in Canberra
- Suburbs to avoid in Newcastle
- Suburbs to avoid in Central Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Sunshine Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Gold Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Wollongong
- Suburbs to avoid in Geelong
- Suburbs to avoid in Townsville
- Suburbs to avoid in Toowoomba
- Suburbs to avoid in Busselton
- Suburbs to avoid in Ballarat
- Suburbs to avoid in Cairns
- Suburbs to avoid in Albany
- Suburbs to avoid in Ballina
- Suburbs to avoid in Geraldton
- Suburbs to avoid in Warragul
- Suburbs to avoid in Bundaberg
- Suburbs to avoid in Launceston
- Suburbs to avoid in Bendigo
- Suburbs to avoid in Rockhampton
- Suburbs to avoid in Mackay
- Suburbs to avoid in Albury – Wodonga
- Suburbs to avoid in Camden Haven
- Suburbs to avoid in Burnie
- Suburbs to avoid in Wagga Wagga
- Suburbs to avoid in Coffs Harbour
- Suburbs to avoid in Alice Springs
- Suburbs to avoid in Mount Isa
Related
Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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