Sunshine West VIC 3020
Sunshine West is a suburb in Victoria, 15 km from Melbourne CBD, around 26 minutes by car. Population is 18,552; the median age is 38 and the median household income is $73,632 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $346 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,700. Sunshine West is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. Of 10 schools within the suburb boundary, 3 rank above the state average, and walkability is high.
Is Sunshine West a good suburb?
Sunshine West scores a B (57/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on community.
Mixed results
10 schools · 3 above peer schools
Walkable and central
Walkability 81/100 · 14.6 km · 26 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $755K
Moderate crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 66/100 · Flood 42/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 38 · 18,552 residents
Liveability Rating
57 / 100 · Ranked #311 in VICEach bar is Sunshine West's rank among VIC suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better).
How do you rate the liveability in Sunshine West?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
57 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataSunshine West's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $755,000, roughly 13% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$755,000
8% above its 7 neighbours (median $700,000)
Based on 337 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 27 days — median across 181 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 14 sales $610K
- 3 bed 212 sales $735K
- 4 bed 82 sales $825K
- 5 bed 13 sales $865K
Units
$585,000
41% above its 5 neighbours (median $415,000)
Based on 36 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 31 days — median across 15 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 1 bed 5 sales $375K
- 2 bed 13 sales $505K
- 3 bed 16 sales $618K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Sunshine West are currently listed at around $772,000 on average. Based on 106 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$772K
106 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$471K
10 units listed in the last 6 months.
116 of the suburb's 6,214 dwellings (1.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Sunshine West rent for around $550 a week on average, based on 86 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$550/wk
5% below its 6 neighbours (median $580/wk)
86 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$500/wk
8 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
94 rentals advertised against an estimated 1,796 rented homes (5.2%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025134 Acceptable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 22% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3020.
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$550/week ($29,000 a year) on a $772,000 median
$500/week ($26,000 a year) on a $471,000 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
18 active Airbnb listings: 14 whole homes and 4 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.2% 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 Sunshine West safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Sunshine West sits in the moderate band, with 1,073 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 14% on the prior year.
1,073 offences
13.5% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202551 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.
Schools
Ten schools serve Sunshine West, and results are mixed — some outperforming peer-suburb schools, some below. Ardeer South Primary School and Marian College lead the pack.
- • 3,611 students across 8 schools (avg 451)
- • Sectors: 6 Government, 3 Catholic, 1 Independent
- • ICSEA 921-1029, median 989 (around the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Sunshine College (1,217 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Universities nearby
2.5% of residents here are full-time university students aged 15–24.
Distance is measured to the suburb centre. A campus nearby does not by itself mean a student rental market — most suburbs within a few kilometres of one have a student share close to the national norm, and the figure above is what tells them apart.
Walkability
Sunshine West is very walkable on foot — at 81/100, most daily errands can be done on foot. Within the suburb there are 4 supermarkets, 27 parks and 4 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Sunshine West.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 275.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 214.4 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 169.9 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 19.3 hours
- Direct to CBD (peak)
- 23 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 Sunshine West.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 15%
- Premises covered
- 7,989
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
Brimbank: 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 43 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Sunshine West is home to about 18,600 residents, with a median age of 38, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $74,000 a year, with unemployment at 8.7%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
18,552
Median Age
38
Median Household Income
$73,632/yr
Census Median Rent
$346/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,700/mo
Avg Household Size
2.8
Median Personal Income
$29,380/yr
Unemployment Rate
8.7%
Unoccupied Dwellings
8.4%
Total Dwellings
6,214
Owner-Occupier Rate
71.1%
Houses
82.6%
Rental Stress
24.4%
Mortgage Stress
27.7%
Work From Home
20.7%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
160 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 24 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 1,727 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 43.0%
- English Spoken at Home
- 31.7%
- Employment Rate
- 48.5%
- Completed Year 12
- 44.4%
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.
1,281 residents (6.9%) 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 17,518 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
18% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (1,347 of 7,499).
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 9,205 people work here; 7,499 employed residents live here.
Roughly as many jobs as working residents (1.2 per resident). At least 18% 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 $1,847 a year through Brimbank based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 57%
- Industrial 26%
- Infrastructure and transport 9%
- Parks and recreation 6%
- 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: Brimbank
In the year to August 2026, 670 new dwellings were approved across Brimbank. That mix is 233 houses and 437 units. Approvals are up 39.7% 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 23.2 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 12.
From the Brooklyn monitoring station, 4.1 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Laverton RAAF, 8.1 kmDry climate — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 39 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 8.2 km
- Near high-voltage lines
- 5.4% of addresses
- 489 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- Annual rainfall
- 482 mm
- 76 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 25.9°C
- 11 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 6.2°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
48 facilities within 5 km- 1.5 kmBasic Organic Chemical ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Ethanol · Methanol
- 1.9 kmGlass and Glass Product ManufacturingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
- 2.0 km
- 2.1 kmPrintingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 2.3 kmOil and Fat ManufacturingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
EV adoption
In postcode 3020, 300 of 33,629 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 4.5% (1,530 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 5.4%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3020, 4,666 rooftop-solar systems totalling 32.1 MW have been installed since 2001, against 16,700 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 310 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.
52 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3020 in 2025-26, rank 28 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 333, in 2001-02.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
4 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 25 across postcode 3020.
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 $755,000 this is $5,000 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 2026-10-26 — 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 Daniel Mulino Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Daniel Mulino | 72.0% | 28.0% | +5.5 |
| 2022 | Daniel Mulino | 66.5% | 33.5% | +1.6 |
| 2019 | Daniel Mulino | 64.2% | 35.8% | +5.6 |
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 Sarah Connolly Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Sarah Connolly ALP | 52.1% | 68.0% | 32.0% |
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 Sunshine West?
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 18,552 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
Deer Park VIC 3023
Sunshine VIC 3020
Derrimut VIC 3026
Albion VIC 3020
Ardeer VIC 3022
Brooklyn VIC 3012
Compare Sunshine West 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 Sunshine West
Is Sunshine West a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Sunshine West is moderate (66/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Sunshine West?
Sunshine West has no recorded bushfire history. Flood overlays cover a moderate share of it (42/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Sunshine West a good place to live?
Sunshine West has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (57/100), 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 Sunshine West?
Sunshine West, VIC had a population of 18,552 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Sunshine West, VIC?
The postcode for Sunshine West, VIC is 3020.
How far is Sunshine West from Melbourne?
Sunshine West is 15 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 26 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Sunshine West?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Sunshine West was $73,632 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 Sunshine West?
The median advertised rent in Sunshine West is $550 a week for houses (86 listings) and $500 a week for units (8 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Sunshine West?
The median age of residents in Sunshine West was 38 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Sunshine West?
There are 10 schools inside the Sunshine West boundary: 3 above, 3 at, and 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Sunshine West walkable?
Sunshine West scores 81/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very 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 Sunshine West?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Sunshine West, Laverton RAAF (8.1 km away), summer days average 25.9°C, winter nights 6.2°C, 482 mm of rain a year over 76 rainy days, and 11 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Sunshine West?
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 Sunshine West belong to?
Sunshine West sits within the Brimbank local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Sunshine West?
The average residential rates bill through Brimbank is $1,847 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Sunshine West?
Across Brimbank, 670 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 39.7% 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 Sunshine West in?
Sunshine West sits within the federal Division of Fraser, currently held by Daniel Mulino (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.