Hotham Heights vs Dinner Plain
Hotham Heights is the younger of the two, with a median age of 30 against 37 in Dinner Plain. In Hotham Heights, about half of households rent, the large majority of homes are flats or apartments, and most households are people living alone. In Dinner Plain, the large majority of households own their home and most homes are detached houses. On these figures, Hotham Heights tends to suit renters, young adults, and people living alone, while Dinner Plain suits 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
Dinner Plain
ahead on 3 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more separate houses rather than flats (72% vs 0%)
- has more schools inside the suburb (3 vs 0)
- is already more of a family suburb (35% vs 20%)
- But Hotham Heights carries lower crime risk (11/100 vs 23/100)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Hotham Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- leaves households under less mortgage stress (9% vs 15%)
Weighs mortgage stress.
Renters
Dinner Plain
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- leaves renters under less rental stress (12% vs 22%)
- has cheaper rent ($269/wk vs $470/wk)
- But Hotham Heights has a bigger rental market to choose from (48% vs 23%)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Hotham Heights
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- sits closer to the CBD (381.7 km vs 394.7 km)
- has a shorter drive in (292 min vs 300 min)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Hotham Heights
ahead on 2 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (100% vs 28%)
- carries lower crime risk (11/100 vs 23/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Hotham Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is growing faster (-34.7% vs -44.3%)
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Hotham Heights and Dinner Plain 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
Hotham Heights rents higher ($470/wk vs $269/wk); Dinner Plain skews older (37 vs 30).
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 128 same for both | |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | -34.7% | -44.3% |
| Median age | 30 | 37 |
| Median household income | $109,564/yr | $117,000/yr +7% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $470/wk +43% vs other | $269/wk |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (32.0%).
Who lives together
Household composition, 2021 Census.
Who owns and who rents
Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.
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 (5.5%).
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (24.2%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | — | $830,000 |
| Median unit price | — | $515,000 |
| Median land price | — | $140,500 |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | — | 125 days from 7 sales |
Zoning mix
Dinner Plain has more land zoned for conservation (29% vs 3%).
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Parks and recreation | 95% | 60% |
| Environmental | 3% | 29% |
| Other and special use | 2% | 8% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 0% | 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
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 32 across Alpine same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | -42% same for both | |
Ranking within VIC
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | — | Higher than 50% of VIC |
| Income | Higher than 82% of VIC | Higher than 89% of VIC |
| Schools | — | Higher than 24% of VIC |
| Walkability | Higher than 62% of VIC | Higher than 48% of VIC |
| Affordability | — | Higher than 86% of VIC |
| EV adoption | Higher than 79% of VIC | Higher than 49% of VIC |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 47% of VIC | Higher than 65% of VIC |
Liveability
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | — same for both | |
| Score | — same for both | |
| Socio-economic band | very advantaged area decile 9/10 same for both | |
Risk profile
Dinner Plain carries more crime risk (23 vs 11).
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | High 94/100 | High 99/100 |
| Crime | Low 11/100 | Low 23/100 |
| Flood | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Coastal erosion | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 0 within 5 km same for both | |
Schools
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 0 | 3 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
Schools in Hotham Heights
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Schools in Dinner Plain
- Bright P-12 College Dinner Plain Annexe Secondary Government · Combined
- Bright P-12 College-Dinner Plain Annexe Primary Government · Combined
- School for Student Leadership Government · Secondary
Amenities in the suburb
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1 | 0 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 6 | 1 |
| Parks & reserves | 2 | 1 |
| GPs | 1 | 0 |
| Police stations | 1 | 0 |
| Waterways | 220 | 0 |
Mobility
Dinner Plain sits further from the CBD (394.7 km vs 381.7 km).
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 0/100 same for both | |
| Distance to Melbourne | 381.7 km | 394.7 km +3% vs other |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 292 min | 300 min |
| Electric vehicle share | 1.1% postcode 3741 | 0.5% postcode 3898 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 45 postcode 3741 | 40 postcode 3898 |
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 (56.2%).
Setting
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 1,382 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 1,438 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
NBN connectivity
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 29/100 | 30/100 |
| Most common technology | Fixed wireless same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 0% 46 premises | 0% 201 premises |
Climate
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,604 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | 16.0°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | -3.3°C same for both | |
Council rates
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,945/yr same for both | |
| Council | Alpine same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Indi same for both | |
| Member | Helen Haines same for both | |
| Party | Independent same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Hotham Heights | Dinner Plain | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $750,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Hotham Heights
Other comparisons with Dinner Plain
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.