Smiths Gully vs Christmas Hills
Christmas Hills is the younger of the two, with a median age of 46 against 49 in Smiths Gully. 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 Smiths Gully: a median of $1.5 million, against $1.11 million in Christmas Hills, though rent is higher in Christmas Hills. On these figures, Christmas Hills tends to suit buyers on a tighter budget.
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
Smiths Gully
ahead on 3 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more parks and reserves (7 vs 3)
- carries lower crime risk (21/100 vs 38/100)
- is already more of a family suburb (81% vs 67%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Christmas Hills
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper houses ($1,115,000 vs $1,505,000)
Weighs house prices and mortgage stress.
Renters
Smiths Gully
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper rent ($278/wk vs $353/wk)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Christmas Hills
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is more walkable (13/100 vs 0/100)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
They split
one each way, out of the 4 things we measure here
- Smiths Gully carries lower crime risk (21/100 vs 38/100)
- Christmas Hills is more walkable (13/100 vs 0/100)
Weighs who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Christmas Hills
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is growing faster (2.8% vs -3.5%)
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Smiths Gully and Christmas Hills 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
Christmas Hills rents higher ($353/wk vs $278/wk); Smiths Gully skews older (49 vs 46).
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 356 | 365 +3% vs other |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | -3.5% | +2.8% |
| Median age | 49 | 46 |
| Median household income | $128,336/yr +7% vs other | $118,820/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $278/wk | $353/wk +27% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (23.0%).
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 (15.9%).
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 (4.9%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1,505,000 | $1,115,000 |
| Median unit price | — same for both | |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | — | 84 days from 3 sales |
Zoning mix
Smiths Gully has more land zoned for conservation (63% vs 46%).
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental | 63% | 46% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 16% | 36% |
| Parks and recreation | 21% | 16% |
| Other and special use | 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
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 98 across Nillumbik same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | +8% same for both | |
Ranking within VIC
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | — same for both | |
| Income | Higher than 94% of VIC | Higher than 91% of VIC |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 55% of VIC | Higher than 75% of VIC |
| Affordability | — same for both | |
| EV adoption | Higher than 88% of VIC | Higher than 67% of VIC |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 37% of VIC | Higher than 32% of VIC |
Liveability
Christmas Hills is more walkable (13 vs 0).
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | — same for both | |
| Score | — same for both | |
| Socio-economic band | very advantaged area decile 10/10 same for both | |
Risk profile
Christmas Hills carries more flood risk (42 vs 0); Christmas Hills carries more crime risk (38 vs 21).
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | High 90/100 | High 88/100 |
| Crime | Low 21/100 | Low 38/100 |
| Flood | None 0/100 | Moderate 42/100 |
| Coastal erosion | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 0 within 5 km | 1 within 5 km |
Schools
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 0 | 1 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
Schools in Smiths Gully
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Schools in Christmas Hills
- Christmas Hills Primary School Government · Primary
Amenities in the suburb
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Parks & reserves | 7 | 3 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 1 | 0 |
| Waterways | 5 | 10 |
Mobility
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 0/100 | 13/100 |
| Distance to Melbourne | 45 km +2% vs other | 44.2 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 60 min | 56 min |
| Electric vehicle share | 1.5% postcode 3760 | 0.8% postcode 3775 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 65 postcode 3760 | 48 postcode 3775 |
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 (70.2%).
Setting
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 214 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 167 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 38.2 km | 37.8 km |
NBN connectivity
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 28/100 | 27/100 |
| Most common technology | Fixed wireless same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 0% 86 premises | 0% 120 premises |
Climate
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,215 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | 22.9°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | 3.8°C same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | — same for both | |
| PM10 | 15.5 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | — same for both | |
Council rates
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $2,696/yr same for both | |
| Council | Nillumbik same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Casey same for both | |
| Member | Aaron Violi same for both | |
| Party | Liberal same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Smiths Gully | Christmas Hills | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Smiths Gully
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.