Chirnside Park vs Croydon
In both, most households own their home and the large majority of homes are detached houses. In Chirnside Park, most households are couple families. Croydon is closer to the city centre: 33 km, against 40.5 km. On these figures, Chirnside Park tends to suit couples, while Croydon suits people living alone.
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
Croydon
ahead on 3 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more schools inside the suburb (9 vs 2)
- has more childcare (30 vs 7)
- has more parks and reserves (29 vs 11)
- But Chirnside Park is already more of a family suburb (72% vs 55%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Too close to call
Nothing among the 4 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs house prices, unit prices, land prices, and mortgage stress.
Renters
Croydon
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (27% vs 15%)
- has cheaper rent ($380/wk vs $443/wk)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Croydon
ahead on 3 of the 4 things we measure here
- is more walkable (90/100 vs 22/100)
- sits closer to the CBD (33 km vs 40.5 km)
- has a shorter drive in (37 min vs 44 min)
Weighs distance, drive time, rail access, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Croydon
ahead on 3 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (17% vs 2%)
- is more walkable (90/100 vs 22/100)
- has more GPs (7 vs 3)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Chirnside Park
ahead on 2 of the 2 things we measure here
- is growing faster (19.3% vs 6.2%)
- returns a higher gross yield on houses (4.5% vs 3.9%)
Weighs house yield and population growth.
Where they sit
Chirnside Park and Croydon 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
Croydon has more residents (28,608 vs 11,779); Chirnside Park has higher household incomes ($108,368 vs $83,980).
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 11,779 | 28,608 +143% vs other |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +19.3% | +6.2% |
| Median age | 38 | 39 |
| Median household income | $108,368/yr +23% vs other | $83,980/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $443/wk +14% vs other | $380/wk |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (14.6%).
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 (16.0%).
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 (4.3%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $950,000 | $908,500 |
| Median unit price | $690,000 | $650,000 |
| Median land price | $1,132,500 | $1,185,000 |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 19 days from 136 sales | 24 days from 233 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.
8 vs 37 sales
116 vs 240 sales
108 vs 97 sales
28 vs 27 sales
Zoning mix
Chirnside Park has more rural and farming land (66% vs 0%).
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 19% | 73% |
| Rural and farming | 66% | 0% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 4% | 11% |
| Parks and recreation | 1% | 11% |
| Other and special use | 8% | 0% |
| Commercial | 2% same for both | |
| Industrial | 1% | 2% |
| 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
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 416 across Yarra Ranges | 328 across Maroondah |
| Approvals change year on year | -57% | -74% |
Gross rental yield
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 4.5% $750/wk on $858K | 3.9% $680/wk on $900K |
| Units | — | 4.8% $580/wk on $630K |
Ranking within VIC
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 64% of VIC | Higher than 69% of VIC |
| Income | Higher than 81% of VIC | Higher than 51% of VIC |
| Schools | — | Higher than 66% of VIC |
| Walkability | Higher than 80% of VIC | Higher than 96% of VIC |
| Affordability | Higher than 60% of VIC | Higher than 25% of VIC |
| EV adoption | Higher than 70% of VIC | Higher than 83% of VIC |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 96% of VIC | Higher than 93% of VIC |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 92% of VIC | Higher than 63% of VIC |
| Rental yield (units) | — | Higher than 51% of VIC |
Liveability
Croydon is more walkable (90 vs 22); Croydon scores higher overall (55 vs 39).
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | C | B |
| Score | 39/100 | 55/100 |
| Socio-economic band | advantaged area decile 8/10 | advantaged area decile 7/10 |
Risk profile
Chirnside Park carries more flood risk (56 vs 20).
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | High 86/100 | High 85/100 |
| Crime | High 70/100 | Moderate 69/100 |
| Flood | Moderate 56/100 | Low 20/100 |
| Coastal erosion | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 4 within 5 km | 13 within 5 km |
Schools
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 2 | 9 |
| Rated above peers | 2 | 3 |
| Rated at peers | 0 | 2 |
| Rated below peers | 0 | 2 |
Schools in Chirnside Park
- Chirnside Park Primary School Government · Primary above peers
- Oxley Christian College Independent · Combined above peers
Schools in Croydon
- Croydon Primary School Government · Primary above peers
- Dorset Primary School Government · Primary above peers
- Ruskin Park Primary School Government · Primary above peers
- Melba Secondary College Government · Secondary at peers
- Sacred Heart School Catholic · Primary at peers
- Ainslie Parklands Primary School Government · Primary below peers
Amenities in the suburb
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 3 | 8 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 4 | 35 |
| Parks & reserves | 11 | 29 |
| Childcare | 7 | 30 |
| GPs | 3 | 7 |
| Pharmacies | 2 | 7 |
| Police stations | 0 | 1 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 4 | 9 |
| Fuel stations | 3 | 6 |
| EV chargers | 1 same for both | |
| Waterways | 4 | 10 |
Mobility
Chirnside Park sits further from the CBD (40.5 km vs 33 km).
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 22/100 | 90/100 |
| Distance to Melbourne | 40.5 km +19% vs other | 33 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 44 min | 37 min |
| Public transport score | 78/100 Bus | 92/100 Rail · Bus |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 160.0 7-9am + 5-7pm | 498.8 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual same for both | |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.8% postcode 3116 | 1.3% postcode 3136 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 37 postcode 3116 | 29 postcode 3136 |
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 (66.4%).
Setting
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 100 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 115 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 33.2 km | 28.4 km |
NBN connectivity
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 90/100 | 85/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the premises same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 57% 4,929 premises | 40% 14,270 premises |
Climate
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 777 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | 26.9°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | 6.3°C same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | — same for both | |
| PM10 | 15.5 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | — same for both | |
Council rates
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $2,161/yr | $1,715/yr |
| Council | Yarra Ranges | Maroondah |
Federal electorate
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Casey | Deakin |
| Member | Aaron Violi | Matt Gregg |
| Party | Liberal | Australian Labor Party |
First Home Owner Grant
| Chirnside Park | Croydon | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $750,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Chirnside Park
Croydon
More comparisons
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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.