Mount Helen vs Magpie

Mount Helen is the younger of the two, with a median age of 36 against 48 in Magpie. In both, the large majority of households own their home, the large majority of homes are detached houses, and most households are couple families. Houses cost more in Magpie: a median of $800,000, against $680,000 in Mount Helen, though rent is higher in Mount Helen. On these figures, Mount Helen tends to suit families with children, while Magpie suits couples and older residents.

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

Mount Helen

ahead on 2 of the 6 things we measure here

  • has more schools rated above their peers (1 vs 0)
  • carries lower crime risk (45/100 vs 71/100)

Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.

First-home buyers

Mount Helen

ahead on the one thing that separates them

  • has cheaper houses ($680,000 vs $800,000)

Weighs house prices and mortgage stress.

Renters

They split

one each way, out of the 3 things we measure here

  • Mount Helen has a bigger rental market to choose from (18% vs 6%)
  • Magpie has cheaper rent ($270/wk vs $345/wk)

Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.

Commuting to the city

Mount Helen

ahead on 3 of the 3 things we measure here

  • is more walkable (28/100 vs 0/100)
  • has a shorter drive in (89 min vs 97 min)
  • sits closer to the CBD (118.1 km vs 123.1 km)

Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.

Downsizers and retirees

Mount Helen

ahead on 2 of the 4 things we measure here

  • is more walkable (28/100 vs 0/100)
  • carries lower crime risk (45/100 vs 71/100)
  • But Magpie has more residents already 65 and over (22% vs 14%)

Weighs who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.

Investors

Too close to call

Nothing among the 1 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.

Weighs population growth.

Where they sit

Mount Helen and Magpie drawn to the same scale. Both outlines are shown together, so the map answers whether they share a border and how their areas compare.

Mount Helen Magpie
Hides rows where both suburbs match

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.

Mount Helen Magpie
Walkability 28 / 0
Mount Helen — Walkability: 28/100 Magpie — Walkability: 0/100
Safety 55 / 29
Mount Helen — Safety: 55/100 Magpie — Safety: 29/100
Low fire risk 100 / 84
Mount Helen — Low fire risk: 100/100 Magpie — Low fire risk: 84/100
Low flood risk 100 / 90
Mount Helen — Low flood risk: 100/100 Magpie — Low flood risk: 90/100

Demographics

Mount Helen has more residents (3,011 vs 368); Magpie skews older (48 vs 36).

Mount Helen Magpie
Population 3,011
+88% vs other
 368
Population trend (2016 → 2021) +1.2% -0.8%
Median age 36 48
Median household income $107,952/yr $109,044/yr
+1% vs other
Median weekly rent $345/wk
+22% vs other
 $270/wk

Age profile

Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.

Mount Helen Magpie
0-4 5.6% / 3.3%
Mount Helen — 0-4: 5.6% Magpie — 0-4: 3.3%
5-14 14.8% / 10.9%
Mount Helen — 5-14: 14.8% Magpie — 5-14: 10.9%
15-19 8.7% / 10.1%
Mount Helen — 15-19: 8.7% Magpie — 15-19: 10.1%
20-24 8.4% / 4.1%
Mount Helen — 20-24: 8.4% Magpie — 20-24: 4.1%
25-34 10.2% / 7.3%
Mount Helen — 25-34: 10.2% Magpie — 25-34: 7.3%
35-44 12.6% / 7.1%
Mount Helen — 35-44: 12.6% Magpie — 35-44: 7.1%
45-54 12.8% / 14.4%
Mount Helen — 45-54: 12.8% Magpie — 45-54: 14.4%
55-64 12.6% / 19.0%
Mount Helen — 55-64: 12.6% Magpie — 55-64: 19.0%
65-74 9.6% / 16.0%
Mount Helen — 65-74: 9.6% Magpie — 65-74: 16.0%
75-84 3.7% / 6.2%
Mount Helen — 75-84: 3.7% Magpie — 75-84: 6.2%
85+ 0.6% / —
Mount Helen — 85+: 0.6% Magpie — 85+: not among its largest

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (19.0%).

Who lives together

Household composition, 2021 Census.

Mount Helen 55.2% couple families
Mount Helen — Couple Families: 55.2% Mount Helen — Lone Person: 23.9% Mount Helen — One Parent Families: 15.6% Mount Helen — Group Household: 4.4% Mount Helen — Other Families: 0.9%
Magpie 69.5% couple families
Magpie — Couple Families: 69.5% Magpie — Lone Person: 22.0% Magpie — One Parent Families: 8.5% Magpie — Group Household: 0.0% Magpie — Other Families: 0.0%
Couple Families Lone Person One Parent Families Group Household Other Families

Who owns and who rents

Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.

Mount Helen 17.8% renting
Mount Helen — Owned Outright: 38.5% Mount Helen — Mortgage: 43.7% Mount Helen — Renting: 17.8%
Magpie 5.8% renting
Magpie — Owned Outright: 57.5% Magpie — Mortgage: 36.7% Magpie — Renting: 5.8%
Owned outright Mortgage Renting

Qualifications

Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.

Mount Helen Magpie
Certificate III & IV 12.5% / 19.3%
Mount Helen — Certificate III & IV: 12.5% Magpie — Certificate III & IV: 19.3%
Bachelor Degree 14.9% / 6.2%
Mount Helen — Bachelor Degree: 14.9% Magpie — Bachelor Degree: 6.2%
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 7.6% / 8.2%
Mount Helen — Advanced Diploma / Diploma: 7.6% Magpie — Advanced Diploma / Diploma: 8.2%
Postgraduate Degree 5.3% / 4.6%
Mount Helen — Postgraduate Degree: 5.3% Magpie — Postgraduate Degree: 4.6%
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 3.8% / 2.7%
Mount Helen — Graduate Diploma / Certificate: 3.8% Magpie — Graduate Diploma / Certificate: 2.7%

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (19.3%).

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.

Mount Helen Magpie
England 3.2% / 1.4%
Mount Helen — England: 3.2% Magpie — England: 1.4%
India 0.8% / 0.8%
Mount Helen — India: 0.8% Magpie — India: 0.8%
Singapore — / 1.1%
Mount Helen — Singapore: not among its largest Magpie — Singapore: 1.1%
New Zealand 0.9% / —
Mount Helen — New Zealand: 0.9% Magpie — New Zealand: not among its largest
China 0.6% / —
Mount Helen — China: 0.6% Magpie — China: not among its largest
South Africa 0.6% / —
Mount Helen — South Africa: 0.6% Magpie — South Africa: not among its largest

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (3.2%).

What people live in

Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.

Mount Helen 93.8% houses
Mount Helen — Houses: 93.8% Mount Helen — Townhouses: 3.4% Mount Helen — Flats / Apartments: 2.8%
Magpie 100.0% houses
Magpie — Houses: 100.0% Magpie — Townhouses: 0.0% Magpie — Flats / Apartments: 0.0%
Houses Townhouses Flats / Apartments

Property market

Mount Helen Magpie
Median house price $680,000 $800,000
Median unit price —
same for both
Median land price $335,000 —
Typical days to sell (houses) 45 days
from 33 sales
 —

Zoning mix

Magpie has more rural and farming land (88% vs 72%).

Mount Helen Magpie
Rural and farming 72% 88%
Residential 12% 0%
Infrastructure and transport 8% 4%
Parks and recreation 4%
same for both
Industrial 0% 4%
Commercial 4% 0%
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

Mount Helen Magpie
New dwellings approved 1,451
across Ballarat
same for both
Approvals change year on year +42%
same for both

Gross rental yield

Gross — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. From median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.

Mount Helen Magpie
Houses 2.9%
$450/wk on $818K
 —
Units —
same for both

Ranking within VIC

Mount Helen Magpie
House price Higher than 40% of VIC —
Income Higher than 80% of VIC Higher than 81% of VIC
Schools —
same for both
Walkability Higher than 82% of VIC Higher than 59% of VIC
Affordability Higher than 88% of VIC —
EV adoption Higher than 72% of VIC Higher than 39% of VIC
NBN connectivity Higher than 93% of VIC Higher than 70% of VIC
Rental yield (houses) Higher than 9% of VIC —

Liveability

Mount Helen is more walkable (28 vs 0).

Mount Helen Magpie
Grade B —
Score 67/100 —
Socio-economic band advantaged area
decile 8/10
 advantaged area
decile 7/10

Risk profile

Magpie carries more bushfire risk (16 vs 0); Magpie carries more flood risk (10 vs 0).

Mount Helen Magpie
Bushfire None
0/100
 Low
16/100
Crime Moderate
45/100
 High
71/100
Flood None
0/100
 Low
10/100
Coastal erosion None
0/100
same for both
Aircraft noise None
0/100
same for both
Industrial facilities nearby 1
within 5 km
same for both

Schools

Mount Helen Magpie
Inside the suburb 2 1
Rated above peers 1 0
Rated at peers 0 1
Rated below peers 1 0
Universities within 10 km 1
Federation University Ballarat, 8.0 km
 1
Federation University Ballarat, 7.7 km
Full-time students aged 15–24 5.6% 1.1%

Schools in Mount Helen

  • Ballarat Steiner School Independent · Primary above peers
  • Emmaus Catholic Primary School Catholic · Primary below peers

Schools in Magpie

  • Magpie Primary School Government · Primary at peers

Amenities in the suburb

Mount Helen Magpie
Cafes & restaurants 2 0
Parks & reserves 1 0
Childcare 3 1
Waterways 20 1

Mobility

Magpie sits further from the CBD (123.1 km vs 118.1 km).

Mount Helen Magpie
Walkability score 28/100 0/100
Distance to Melbourne 118.1 km 123.1 km
+4% vs other
Drive time (normal traffic) 89 min 97 min
Electric vehicle share 0.9%
postcode 3350
 0.4%
postcode 3352
Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings 30
postcode 3350
 51
postcode 3352

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.

Mount Helen Magpie
Car (driver) 65.7% / 74.2%
Mount Helen — Car (driver): 65.7% Magpie — Car (driver): 74.2%
Worked from Home 26.5% / 16.6%
Mount Helen — Worked from Home: 26.5% Magpie — Worked from Home: 16.6%
Car (passenger) 5.9% / 9.2%
Mount Helen — Car (passenger): 5.9% Magpie — Car (passenger): 9.2%
Bus 0.9% / —
Mount Helen — Bus: 0.9% Magpie — Bus: not among its largest
Walked Only 0.6% / —
Mount Helen — Walked Only: 0.6% Magpie — Walked Only: not among its largest

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (74.2%).

Setting

Mount Helen Magpie
Elevation 495 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
 410 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre

NBN connectivity

Mount Helen Magpie
Connectivity score 86/100 30/100
Most common technology Fibre to the premises Fixed wireless
Full-fibre (FTTP) share 68%
1,664 premises
 0%
123 premises

Climate

Mount Helen Magpie
Annual rainfall 605 mm
same for both
Summer max (Jan) 25.7°C
same for both
Winter min (Jul) 3.5°C
same for both

Council rates

Mount Helen Magpie
Average residential rate $2,086/yr
same for both
Council Ballarat
same for both

Federal electorate

Mount Helen Magpie
Division Ballarat
same for both
Member Catherine King
same for both
Party Australian Labor Party
same for both

First Home Owner Grant

Mount Helen Magpie
Grant amount $10,000
same for both
Property price cap $750,000
same for both
Eligibility New
same for both

Tags

Mount Helen

Acreage Quiet River

Magpie

Acreage

More comparisons

Other comparisons with Mount Helen

Mount Helen vs Buninyong Mount Helen vs Mount Clear Mount Helen vs Navigators

Other comparisons with Magpie

Magpie vs Sebastopol Magpie vs Buninyong Magpie vs Mount Clear Magpie vs Cambrian Hill Magpie vs Scotchmans Lead
Full data on Mount Helen Full data on Magpie
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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.

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