Castlemaine VIC 3450
Castlemaine sits 128 km from Melbourne CBD in Victoria, around 1 hour 30 minutes by car. Census data records 7,506 residents with a median age of 52 and a median household income of $57,512 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the middle range nationally. Population grew 11.1% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $300 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,362. The area shows high crime risk. 6 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is high.
Is Castlemaine a good suburb?
Castlemaine scores a C (33/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on schools, prices, and safety.
Below the state average
6 schools · Bottom 5% in VIC
Very walkable
Walkability 90/100 · 127.9 km · 90 min drive to Melbourne
Above the state median
Median $735K · Less affordable than 81% of VIC
High crime risk
Fire 48/100 · Crime 76/100 · Flood 58/100
Mid-range socio-economic
SEIFA decile 5/10 · median age 52 · 7,506 residents
Liveability Rating
33 / 100 · Ranked #674 in VICEach bar is Castlemaine's rank among VIC suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better).
How do you rate the liveability in Castlemaine?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
33 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataCastlemaine's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $735,000, about 4% below where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$735,000
8% above its 3 neighbours (median $680,000)
Based on 201 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 52 days — median across 126 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 47 sales $646K
- 3 bed 102 sales $719K
- 4 bed 40 sales $865K
- 5 bed 7 sales $1.29M
Units
$540,000
Based on only 9 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 9 sales $540K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Castlemaine are currently listed at around $806,000 on average. Based on 124 houses listed in the past six months.
$806K
124 houses listed in the last 6 months.
126 of the suburb's 3,168 dwellings (4.0%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Castlemaine rent for around $548 a week on average, based on 14 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$548/wk
14 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
14 rentals advertised against an estimated 763 rented homes (1.8%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025104 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 29% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3450.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$548/week ($28,000 a year) on a $806,000 median
Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.
Is Castlemaine safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Castlemaine sits in the high band, with 556 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 11% on the prior year.
556 offences
11.0% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202515 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Where they happened
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the suburb carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. Roads are listed with 3 or more serious crashes.
Schools
Six schools serve Castlemaine, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 1,330 students across 5 schools (avg 266)
- • Sectors: 5 Government, 1 Catholic
- • ICSEA 1033-1117, median 1054 (above the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Castlemaine Secondary College (695 students)
Primary
Secondary
Walkability
Castlemaine is exceptionally walkable on foot — at 90/100, daily errands don't require a car at all. Within the suburb there are 3 supermarkets, 19 parks and 34 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Castlemaine.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 14.8 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 19.2 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 8.6 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 19.8 hours
- Direct to CBD (peak)
- 320 min wait
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Castlemaine.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 43%
- Premises covered
- 4,557
NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.
Amenities
Mount Alexander: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 21 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 6 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Castlemaine is home to about 7,500 residents, with a median age of 52 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $58,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.8%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
7,506
Median Age
52
Median Household Income
$57,512/yr
Census Median Rent
$300/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,362/mo
Avg Household Size
2.0
Median Personal Income
$34,736/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.8%
Unoccupied Dwellings
10.9%
Total Dwellings
3,168
Owner-Occupier Rate
75.9%
Houses
92.4%
Rental Stress
27.1%
Mortgage Stress
28.4%
Work From Home
33.4%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
121 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 26 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 739 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 78.4%
- English Spoken at Home
- 81.0%
- Employment Rate
- 42.5%
- Completed Year 12
- 44.6%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
56 residents (0.7%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
12.3% of residents (892) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (800).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 7,229 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
7% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (207 of 2,789).
City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 5,441 people work here; 2,789 employed residents live here.
A jobs hub: 2.0 jobs for every working resident. At least 48% of the people who work here must live elsewhere.
Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,885 a year through Mount Alexander based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 31%
- Residential 27%
- Parks and recreation 22%
- Infrastructure and transport 10%
- Industrial 4%
- Environmental 4%
- Commercial 1%
Rezoned since Oct 2025
- Township Zone → Public Use Zone · C101malx, Mar 2026 2.6 ha
- Industrial 1 Zone → Public Use Zone · C101malx, Mar 2026 2.1 ha
- Transport Zone 2 → Rural Living Zone · C101malx, Mar 2026 0.6 ha
Land in this suburb moved from one zone to another by a planning scheme amendment (Vicmap Planning, CC BY 4.0). Exhibited amendments are proposals and can change or lapse.
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 — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Mount Alexander
In the year to August 2026, 102 new dwellings were approved across Mount Alexander. Almost all of the pipeline is detached houses. Approvals are down 6.7% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Registered Aboriginal Party for this area is Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (appointed 2008).
Registered Aboriginal Parties are appointed by the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 as the primary guardians, keepers and knowledge holders of Aboriginal cultural heritage for their area. They are the body to contact about cultural heritage here.
Climate & Setting
from Castlemaine Prison, 3.1 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, cold winters with occasional frost.
- Elevation
- 300 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Annual rainfall
- 598 mm
- 83 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 27.9°C
- 11 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 3.7°C
- 19 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
5 facilities within 5 km- 0.7 kmHospitals (Except Psychiatric Hospitals)Top reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- 1.2 kmCured Meat and Smallgoods ManufacturingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
- 1.6 km
- 2.4 km
- 4.4 km
EV adoption
In postcode 3450, 88 of 6,078 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.2% (194 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 4.6%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3450, 1,863 rooftop-solar systems totalling 9.0 MW have been installed since 2001, against 3,539 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 110 went up in the last year.
Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$10,000 for new homes priced up to $750,000.
The separate First Home Buyer Duty Reduction (stamp-duty concession) runs alongside this grant.
2 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3450 in 2025-26, rank 176 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 63, in 2000-01.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
Land transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with State Revenue Office Victoria
The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $750,000 may qualify for $10,000 — see what qualifies with State Revenue Office Victoria.
At $735,000 this is under the $750,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $10,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with State Revenue Office Victoria.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-26 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Lisa Chesters Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Lisa Chesters | 51.4% | 48.6% | +51.4 |
| 2022 | Lisa Chesters | 62.1% | 37.9% | -3.3 |
| 2019 | Lisa Chesters | 59.0% | 41.0% | -5.2 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Maree Edwards Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Maree Edwards ALP | 50.7% | 64.3% | 35.6% |
| 2018 | Maree Edwards ALP | 53.5% | 68.5% | 31.4% |
| 2014 | Maree Edwards ALP | 50.4% | 62.2% | 37.8% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Victorian Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0.
Looking at a specific address in Castlemaine?
Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 7,506 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Nearby suburbs
Campbells Creek VIC 3451
McKenzie Hill VIC 3451
Chewton VIC 3451
Barkers Creek VIC 3451
Muckleford VIC 3451
Moonlight Flat VIC 3450
Compare Castlemaine to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other VIC suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Castlemaine
Is Castlemaine a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Castlemaine is high (76/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect Castlemaine?
Castlemaine has a moderate recorded bushfire history (48/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a moderate share of it (58/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Castlemaine a good place to live?
Castlemaine has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (33/100), ranked against other VIC suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.
What is the population of Castlemaine?
Castlemaine, VIC had a population of 7,506 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Castlemaine, VIC?
The postcode for Castlemaine, VIC is 3450.
How far is Castlemaine from Melbourne?
Castlemaine is 128 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 90 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Castlemaine?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Castlemaine was $57,512 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.
What is the median weekly rent in Castlemaine?
The median advertised rent in Castlemaine is $548 a week for houses (14 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Castlemaine?
The median age of residents in Castlemaine was 52 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Castlemaine at risk of bushfire?
Castlemaine has a moderate recorded bushfire history (48/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the suburb relative to its size, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history. It records where fire has burned, not a bushfire-prone land designation, which your council's planning scheme sets.
How are the schools in Castlemaine?
There are 6 schools inside the Castlemaine boundary: 2 at and 3 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Castlemaine walkable?
Castlemaine scores 90/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it exceptionally walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the weather like in Castlemaine?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Castlemaine, Castlemaine Prison (3.1 km away), summer days average 27.9°C, winter nights 3.7°C, 598 mm of rain a year over 83 rainy days, and 11 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Castlemaine?
First-home buyers in VIC may be eligible for $10,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $750,000. The grant is administered by State Revenue Office Victoria; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does Castlemaine belong to?
Castlemaine sits within the Mount Alexander local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Castlemaine?
The average residential rates bill through Mount Alexander is $1,885 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Castlemaine?
Across Mount Alexander, 102 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 6.7% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is Castlemaine in?
Castlemaine sits within the federal Division of Bendigo, currently held by Lisa Chesters (Australian Labor Party).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2024–25
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2026
- Road crashes · 2021–2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- State electorate · 2022
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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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.