Brunswick West vs Brunswick
In both, about half of households rent and about half of households are people living alone. Brunswick is closer to the city centre: 5.6 km, against 7.2 km. On these figures, Brunswick tends to suit share households.
Which one suits you?
There is no overall winner — the suburb that suits a family with school-age kids is routinely the wrong one for someone commuting into the city. So each of these answers its own question, against a checklist you can see, using the same figures in the tables below.
Families with school-age kids
Brunswick
ahead on 2 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more parks and reserves (29 vs 13)
- has more childcare (14 vs 9)
- But Brunswick West has more schools inside the suburb (5 vs 3)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Brunswick West
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper units ($475,000 vs $555,000)
Weighs house prices, unit prices, and mortgage stress.
Renters
Brunswick West
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper rent ($366/wk vs $441/wk)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Too close to call
Nothing among the 4 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs distance, drive time, rail access, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Brunswick
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has more GPs (14 vs 4)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Too close to call
Nothing among the 3 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs house yield, unit yield, and population growth.
Where they sit
Brunswick West and Brunswick drawn to the same scale. Both outlines are shown together, so the map answers whether they share a border and how their areas compare.
Bars start at zero. Scores, risks and rankings are drawn against their full 0–100 range; other rows are drawn in proportion to the larger of the two.
Side by side, out of 100
Risks are inverted — shown as safety and low exposure — so a longer bar always means better.
Demographics
Brunswick has more residents (24,896 vs 14,746); Brunswick rents higher ($441/wk vs $366/wk).
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 14,746 | 24,896 +69% vs other |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +4.1% | +1.7% |
| Median age | 34 same for both | |
| Median household income | $93,444/yr | $108,992/yr +17% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $366/wk | $441/wk +20% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (29.2%).
Who lives together
Household composition, 2021 Census.
Who owns and who rents
Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (29.4%).
Where residents were born
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents, 2021 Census. A dash means that country is not among the suburb's own eight largest.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (3.6%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1,350,000 | $1,260,000 |
| Median unit price | $475,000 | $555,000 |
| Median land price | $1,577,500 | — |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 25 days from 80 sales | 23 days from 169 sales |
House price by bedroom count
Only bed counts both suburbs published enough sales for. Sale counts are shown because the buckets differ in depth.
29 vs 118 sales
71 vs 131 sales
40 vs 32 sales
Unit price by bedroom count
Only bed counts both suburbs published enough sales for. Sale counts are shown because the buckets differ in depth.
112 vs 173 sales
209 vs 301 sales
18 vs 29 sales
Zoning mix
Brunswick has more industrially zoned land (11% vs 0%).
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 81% | 68% |
| Industrial | 0% | 11% |
| Commercial | 2% | 11% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 9% | 5% |
| Parks and recreation | 6% | 5% |
| Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the suburb around it. Zones as at 2026-09. | ||
Development activity
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 1,387 across Merri-bek same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | +68% same for both | |
Gross rental yield
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3.9% $800/wk on $1.06M | 3.8% $880/wk on $1.2M |
| Units | 5.2% $500/wk on $498K | 5.5% $625/wk on $592K |
Ranking within VIC
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 82% of VIC | Higher than 81% of VIC |
| Income | Higher than 63% of VIC | Higher than 81% of VIC |
| Schools | Higher than 6% of VIC | Higher than 19% of VIC |
| Walkability | Higher than 97% of VIC | Higher than 100% of VIC |
| Affordability | Higher than 15% of VIC | Higher than 25% of VIC |
| EV adoption | Higher than 87% of VIC | Higher than 92% of VIC |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 96% of VIC | Higher than 97% of VIC |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 63% of VIC | Higher than 56% of VIC |
| Rental yield (units) | Higher than 72% of VIC | Higher than 83% of VIC |
Liveability
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | B same for both | |
| Score | 63/100 | 64/100 |
| Socio-economic band | very advantaged area decile 10/10 same for both | |
Risk profile
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Crime | High 77/100 | High 82/100 |
| Flood | Low 39/100 | Moderate 44/100 |
| Coastal erosion | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 11 within 5 km same for both | |
Schools
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 5 | 3 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 1 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 3 | 2 |
| Universities within 10 km | 3 The University of Melbourne, 2.7 km | 3 The University of Melbourne, 2.4 km |
| Full-time students aged 15–24 | 3.6% | 4.3% |
Schools in Brunswick West
- St Joseph's School Catholic · Primary at peers
- Brunswick North Primary School Government · Primary below peers
- Brunswick North West Primary School Government · Primary below peers
- Brunswick South West Primary School Government · Primary below peers
- Sydney Road Community School-The Brunswick Learning Space Government · Secondary
Schools in Brunswick
- Brunswick Secondary College Government · Secondary at peers
- St Margaret Mary's School Catholic · Primary below peers
- Sydney Road Community School Government · Secondary below peers
Amenities in the suburb
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 4 | 12 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 22 | 132 |
| Parks & reserves | 13 | 29 |
| Childcare | 9 | 14 |
| GPs | 4 | 14 |
| Pharmacies | 4 | 7 |
| Hospitals | 0 | 1 |
| Police stations | 0 | 1 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 4 same for both | |
| Fuel stations | 3 | 2 |
| EV chargers | 0 | 5 |
| Waterways | 1 | 0 |
Mobility
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 92/100 | 99/100 |
| Distance to Melbourne | 7.2 km +22% vs other | 5.6 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 17 min | 15 min |
| Public transport score | 80/100 Tram · Bus | 96/100 Rail · Tram · Bus |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 332.0 7-9am + 5-7pm | 516.8 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual same for both | |
| Electric vehicle share | 1.4% postcode 3055 | 1.7% postcode 3056 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 13 postcode 3055 | 14 postcode 3056 |
How people get to work
Method of travel on census day 2021 — which fell during COVID restrictions, so working from home is inflated and every travel mode understated.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (52.1%).
Setting
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 46 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 53 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 8.7 km same for both | |
NBN connectivity
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 90/100 | 91/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the premises same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 60% 8,591 premises | 67% 15,802 premises |
Climate
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 534 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | 26.7°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | 6.5°C same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 7.9 µg/m³ same for both | |
| PM10 | — same for both | |
| NO₂ | — same for both | |
Council rates
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,914/yr same for both | |
| Council | Merri-bek same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Wills same for both | |
| Member | Peter Khalil same for both | |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Brunswick West | Brunswick | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $750,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Brunswick West
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Brunswick West
Other comparisons with Brunswick
Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.