Sassafras VIC 3787
Sassafras sits 46 km from Melbourne CBD in Victoria, around 52 minutes by car. Census data records 970 residents with a median age of 47 and a median household income of $111,644 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 20% nationally. Population fell 8.6% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $410 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,000. The area shows high bushfire risk and no recorded flood exposure. Of 2 schools within the suburb boundary, 1 ranks above the state average, and walkability is moderate.
Is Sassafras a good suburb?
Sassafras scores a B (67/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on safety.
Mixed results
2 schools · 1 above peer schools
Some car dependence
Walkability 45/100 · 45.6 km · 52 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $957K
High bushfire risk
Fire 83/100 · Crime 31/100 · Flood 0/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 10/10 · median age 47 · 970 residents
Liveability Rating
67 / 100 · Ranked #188 in VICEach bar is Sassafras'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 Sassafras?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
67 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataSassafras's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $957,000, about 4% above where it sat a year earlier.
$957,000
5% below its 4 neighbours (median $1,007,500)
Based on 25 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 32 days — median across 4 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 16 sales $942K
- 4 bed 6 sales $1.08M
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Sassafras are currently listed at around $1.13 million on average. Based on 5 houses listed in the past six months.
$1.13M
5 houses listed in the last 6 months.
5 of the suburb's 359 dwellings (1.4%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Short-Stay Rentals
30 active Airbnb listings: 30 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 7.5% 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 Sassafras safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Sassafras sits in the low band, with 17 incidents recorded in 2026 — up roughly 21% on the prior year.
17 offences
21.4% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202511 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
Two schools serve Sassafras, and the cohort skews above peer-suburb performance. Sherbrooke Community School leads the pack.
- • 124 students across 2 schools (avg 62)
- • ICSEA 982-1055, median 1018 (around the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Sherbrooke Community School (95 students)
Primary
Combined
Walkability
Sassafras is car-dependent on foot — at 45/100, most errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Sassafras.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 28.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 25.3 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 16.1 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 16.0 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 Sassafras.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 50%
- Premises covered
- 502
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
Yarra Ranges: 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 4 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 2 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
Sassafras is home to 970 residents, with a median age of 47, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $112,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.2%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
970
Median Age
47
Median Household Income
$111,644/yr
Census Median Rent
$410/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,000/mo
Avg Household Size
2.6
Median Personal Income
$46,332/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.2%
Unoccupied Dwellings
11.7%
Total Dwellings
359
Owner-Occupier Rate
90.4%
Houses
98.6%
Rental Stress
19.1%
Mortgage Stress
21.5%
Work From Home
38.2%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 76.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 89.7%
- Employment Rate
- 64.1%
- Completed Year 12
- 56.0%
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.
19 residents (2.0%) 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 937 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
11% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (59 of 531).
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.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,161 a year through Yarra Ranges based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Parks and recreation 47%
- Rural and farming 44%
- Infrastructure and transport 7%
- Other and special use 2%
- Zones under 1% 1%
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: Yarra Ranges
In the year to August 2026, 416 new dwellings were approved across Yarra Ranges. That mix is 242 houses and 174 units. Approvals are down 57.0% on the same period a year earlier.
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
This station does not measure fine particles (PM2.5).
PM10 averaged 15.5 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 2.
From the Mooroolbark monitoring station, 10.0 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Scoresby Research Institute, 8.1 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 468 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 28.1 km
- Annual rainfall
- 777 mm
- 105 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 26.9°C
- 10 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 6.3°C
- 2 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
1 facility within 5 km- 4.7 kmHospitals (Except Psychiatric Hospitals)Top reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
EV adoption
In postcode 3787, 17 of 848 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.4% (20 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 4.4%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3787, 96 rooftop-solar systems totalling 0.6 MW have been installed since 2001, against 399 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 10 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.
0 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3787 in 2025-26. The most was 8, in 2005-06.
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 $957,000 this is $207,000 above 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 Aaron Violi Liberal
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Aaron Violi | 47.1% | 52.9% | -1.5 |
| 2022 | Aaron Violi | 48.5% | 51.5% | -3.1 |
| 2019 | Tony Smith | 45.4% | 54.6% | +0.1 |
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 Daniela De Martino Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Daniela De Martino ALP | 57.5% | 57.5% | 42.5% |
| 2018 | James Merlino ALP | 58.6% | 58.6% | 41.4% |
| 2014 | James Merlino ALP | 55.0% | 55.0% | 45.0% |
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 Sassafras?
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 970 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.
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
The Basin VIC 3154
Olinda VIC 3788
Ferny Creek VIC 3786
Mount Dandenong VIC 3767
Sherbrooke VIC 3789
Tremont VIC 3785
Compare Sassafras 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 Sassafras
Is Sassafras a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Sassafras is low (31/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Sassafras?
Sassafras has a high recorded bushfire history (83/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). No mapped flood overlay applies. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Sassafras a good place to live?
Sassafras has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (67/100), 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 Sassafras?
Sassafras, VIC had a population of 970 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Sassafras, VIC?
The postcode for Sassafras, VIC is 3787.
How far is Sassafras from Melbourne?
Sassafras is 46 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 52 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Sassafras?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Sassafras was $111,644 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 Sassafras?
There are too few current rental listings in Sassafras for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $410, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Sassafras?
The median age of residents in Sassafras was 47 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Sassafras at risk of bushfire?
Sassafras has a high recorded bushfire history (83/100). 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 Sassafras?
There are 2 schools inside the Sassafras boundary: 1 above and 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Sassafras walkable?
Sassafras scores 45/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it car-dependent. 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 Sassafras?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Sassafras, Scoresby Research Institute (8.1 km away), summer days average 26.9°C, winter nights 6.3°C, 777 mm of rain a year over 105 rainy days, and 10 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Sassafras?
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 Sassafras belong to?
Sassafras sits within the Yarra Ranges local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Sassafras?
The average residential rates bill through Yarra Ranges is $2,161 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Sassafras?
Across Yarra Ranges, 416 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 57.0% 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 Sassafras in?
Sassafras sits within the federal Division of Casey, currently held by Aaron Violi (Liberal).
Search another suburb or address
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.