Diggers Rest VIC 3427
Diggers Rest is a suburb in Victoria, 37 km from Melbourne CBD, around 37 minutes by car. Population is 5,669; the median age is 33 and the median household income is $103,532 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the middle range nationally. The suburb more than doubled between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $397 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,800. Diggers Rest is characterised by high bushfire risk and high aircraft noise risk. All 1 school within the suburb boundary rank above the state average, and walkability is moderate.
Is Diggers Rest a good suburb?
Diggers Rest scores a C (46/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on prices, weaker on safety.
Mixed results
1 school · 1 above peer schools
Somewhat walkable
Walkability 59/100 · 37.2 km · 37 min drive to Melbourne
More affordable than most
Median $673K · More affordable than 94% of VIC
High bushfire risk
Fire 75/100 · Crime 69/100 · Flood 15/100
Mid-range socio-economic
SEIFA decile 6/10 · median age 33 · 5,669 residents
Liveability Rating
46 / 100 · Ranked #480 in VICEach bar is Diggers Rest's rank among VIC suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
How do you rate the liveability in Diggers Rest?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
46 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataDiggers Rest's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $673,000, about 6% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$672,750
Based on 198 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 27 days — median across 135 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 7 sales $530K
- 3 bed 86 sales $609K
- 4 bed 94 sales $723K
- 5 bed 5 sales $779K
Land
$585,000
Based on 69 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 38 days — median across 51 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Diggers Rest are currently listed at around $732,000 on average. Based on 122 houses listed in the past six months.
$732K
122 houses listed in the last 6 months.
124 of the suburb's 2,056 dwellings (6.0%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Diggers Rest rent for around $530 a week on average, based on 66 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$530/wk
66 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
67 rentals advertised against an estimated 434 rented homes (15.4%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025128 Acceptable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 23% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3427.
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$530/week ($28,000 a year) on a $732,000 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.
Short-Stay Rentals
6 active Airbnb listings: 6 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.3% of the suburb's homes.
Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months. The share is against private dwellings at the 2021 Census.
Is Diggers Rest safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Diggers Rest sits in the moderate band, with 355 incidents recorded in 2026 — down about 2% on the prior year.
355 offences
2.2% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202529 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 3 of them fatal
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.
Aircraft Noise
ANEF Contour Details
Moderate impact — noise insulation required
Noticeable aircraft noise
Schools
One school serve Diggers Rest, and the cohort skews above peer-suburb performance. Diggers Rest Primary School leads the pack.
- • 560 students in one school (avg 560)
Primary
Walkability
Diggers Rest is somewhat walkable on foot — at 59/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Diggers Rest.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 72.8 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 64.7 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 40.5 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 20.8 hours
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 Diggers Rest.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 80%
- Premises covered
- 3,418
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
Melton: 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 13 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 7 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Diggers Rest is home to about 5,700 residents, with a median age of 33, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $104,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.2%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
5,669
Median Age
33
Median Household Income
$103,532/yr
Census Median Rent
$397/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,800/mo
Avg Household Size
2.6
Median Personal Income
$50,440/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.2%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.6%
Total Dwellings
2,056
Owner-Occupier Rate
78.9%
Houses
92.6%
Rental Stress
19.9%
Mortgage Stress
20.9%
Work From Home
26.3%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 70.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 70.9%
- Employment Rate
- 68.3%
- Completed Year 12
- 45.2%
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.
218 residents (3.8%) 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.
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 5,146 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
16% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (494 of 3,062).
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 577 people work here; 3,062 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.2 jobs per working resident. At least 80% of employed residents must work outside the suburb.
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 $1,779 a year through Melton based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 89%
- Residential 8%
- Infrastructure and transport 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 — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Melton
In the year to August 2026, 4,602 new dwellings were approved across Melton. That mix is 3,953 houses and 649 units. Approvals are up 5.1% on the same period a year earlier.
New Homes Planned
New homes planned in this suburb: 2,954 homes
- Lots in approved subdivisions, not yet titled 276 homes
- Land zoned for housing, not yet subdivided 2,678 homes
From the Victorian Government's Urban Development Program: growth-area land and approved lots (metropolitan 2025, regional June 2024) and projects of 10 or more homes in Melbourne (2025), by stage. Lots and homes are counted as published; a lot usually becomes one home.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Registered Aboriginal Party for this area is Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage 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.
Air Quality
CLEANPM2.5 averaged 4.4 µg/m³ in 2025 — below the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³).
Days over the limit in 2025: ozone 0.
From the Melton monitoring station, 14.9 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Melbourne Airport, 13.0 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 212 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 30.1 km
- Annual rainfall
- 518 mm
- 81 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 26.7°C
- 12 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 6.0°C
- 1 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
4 facilities within 5 km- 2.0 km
- 4.4 km
- 4.6 kmGravel and Sand QuarryingTop reported: Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide
- 4.6 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Ammonia (total) · Total Phosphorus
EV adoption
In postcode 3427, 58 of 5,359 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.6% (142 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.7%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3427, 1,097 rooftop-solar systems totalling 7.2 MW have been installed since 2001, against 2,188 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 109 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.
42 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3427 in 2025-26, rank 33 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 147, in 2018-19.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
3 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb.
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 $672,750 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 2026-10-27 — 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 Sam Rae Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sam Rae | 57.6% | 42.4% | +0.0 |
| 2022 | Sam Rae | 57.6% | 42.4% | +2.6 |
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 Josh Bull Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Josh Bull ALP | 56.4% | 56.4% | 43.6% |
| 2018 | Josh Bull ALP | 58.4% | 64.3% | 35.7% |
| 2014 | Josh Bull ALP | 54.3% | 54.3% | 45.7% |
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 Diggers Rest?
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 5,669 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.
Featured in
Checking the whole city?
Suburbs to avoid in Melbourne There is no list of bad suburbs, but there are hazards the state measures and publishes — recorded crime, bushfire exposure, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Melbourne suburbs ranked on them, with what the numbers do and don't mean.Nearby suburbs
Sunbury VIC 3429
Gisborne South VIC 3437
Toolern Vale VIC 3337
Bulla VIC 3428
Plumpton VIC 3335
Keilor North VIC 3036
Compare Diggers Rest to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other VIC suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about Diggers Rest
Is Diggers Rest a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Diggers Rest is moderate (69/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Diggers Rest?
Diggers Rest has a high recorded bushfire history (75/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a low share of it (15/100). Part of it sits inside an aircraft noise contour. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Diggers Rest a good place to live?
Diggers Rest has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (46/100), 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 Diggers Rest?
Diggers Rest, VIC had a population of 5,669 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Diggers Rest, VIC?
The postcode for Diggers Rest, VIC is 3427.
How far is Diggers Rest from Melbourne?
Diggers Rest is 37 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 37 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Diggers Rest?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Diggers Rest was $103,532 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 Diggers Rest?
The median advertised rent in Diggers Rest is $530 a week for houses (66 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Diggers Rest?
The median age of residents in Diggers Rest was 33 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Diggers Rest at risk of bushfire?
Diggers Rest has a high recorded bushfire history (75/100). 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 Diggers Rest?
There is 1 school inside the Diggers Rest boundary: 1 above similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Diggers Rest walkable?
Diggers Rest scores 59/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it somewhat walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the air quality in Diggers Rest?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Diggers Rest (Melton) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 4.4 µg/m³. That puts Diggers Rest below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Diggers Rest?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Diggers Rest, Melbourne Airport (13 km away), summer days average 26.7°C, winter nights 6°C, 518 mm of rain a year over 81 rainy days, and 12 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Diggers Rest?
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 Diggers Rest belong to?
Diggers Rest sits within the Melton local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Diggers Rest?
The average residential rates bill through Melton is $1,779 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Diggers Rest?
Across Melton, 4,602 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 5.1% 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 Diggers Rest in?
Diggers Rest sits within the federal Division of Hawke, currently held by Sam Rae (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
- Air quality · 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- 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.