Located in Victoria, Whittlesea sits 62 km from Melbourne CBD, around 1 hour 10 minutes by car. The suburb has 6,117 residents, a median age of 41, and a median household income of $84,656 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the middle range nationally. Population grew 9.0% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $347 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,842. The area shows high bushfire risk. 4 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is low.
Is Whittlesea a good suburb?
Whittlesea scores a D (22/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on schools, transit, and safety.
Below the state average
4 schools · Bottom 13% in VIC
Car-dependent
Walkability 0/100 · 61.7 km · 71 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $794K
High bushfire risk
Fire 96/100 · Crime 56/100 · Flood 38/100
Mid-range socio-economic
SEIFA decile 5/10 · median age 41 · 6,117 residents
Liveability Rating
22 / 100 · Ranked #810 in VICEach bar is Whittlesea's rank among VIC suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better).
How do you rate the liveability in Whittlesea?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
22 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataWhittlesea's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $794,000, about 6% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$794,000
Based on 146 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 24 days — median across 64 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 7 sales $630K
- 3 bed 59 sales $690K
- 4 bed 66 sales $880K
- 5 bed 12 sales $878K
Units
$450,000
Based on 19 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 42 days — median across 10 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 12 sales $436K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Whittlesea are currently listed at around $855,000 on average. Based on 51 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$855K
51 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$470K
4 units listed in the last 6 months.
55 of the suburb's 2,124 dwellings (2.6%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Whittlesea rent for around $580 a week on average, based on 13 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$580/wk
13 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$520/wk
3 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
16 rentals advertised against an estimated 397 rented homes (4.0%) 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 3757.
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$580/week ($30,000 a year) on a $855,000 median
$520/week ($27,000 a year) on a $470,000 median
Based on a small sample (3 listings) — indicative only.
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
4 active Airbnb listings: 4 whole homes and 0 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 Whittlesea safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Whittlesea sits in the moderate band, with 237 incidents recorded in 2026 — down 0.8% on the prior year.
237 offences
0.8% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202518 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
Four schools serve Whittlesea, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 1,380 students across 3 schools (avg 460)
- • Sectors: 3 Government, 1 Catholic
- • ICSEA 967-1032, median 977 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Whittlesea Secondary College (723 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Walkability
Whittlesea is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car.
We hold no public transport timetable data for this area, so public transport is not rated here and the score is spread across the remaining components. It is not counted as zero.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Whittlesea.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 40.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 43.3 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 32.6 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 17.2 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 Whittlesea.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 49%
- Premises covered
- 2,710
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
Whittlesea: 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 17 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 8 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Whittlesea is home to about 6,100 residents, with a median age of 41, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $85,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.7%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
6,117
Median Age
41
Median Household Income
$84,656/yr
Census Median Rent
$347/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,842/mo
Avg Household Size
2.7
Median Personal Income
$37,388/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.7%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.2%
Total Dwellings
2,124
Owner-Occupier Rate
81.3%
Houses
87.0%
Rental Stress
21.3%
Mortgage Stress
26.1%
Work From Home
18.8%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
34 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 3 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 388 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 84.0%
- English Spoken at Home
- 89.1%
- Employment Rate
- 56.7%
- Completed Year 12
- 34.7%
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.
25 residents (0.4%) 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 5,777 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
6% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (161 of 2,816).
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 1,713 people work here; 2,816 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.6 jobs per working resident. At least 37% 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 $1,899 a year through Whittlesea based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 40%
- Infrastructure and transport 35%
- Parks and recreation 16%
- Environmental 5%
- Residential 4%
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: Whittlesea
In the year to August 2026, 2,632 new dwellings were approved across Whittlesea. That mix is 2,157 houses and 475 units. Approvals are down 27.5% 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
CLEANPM2.5 averaged 3.9 µg/m³ in 2025 — below the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³).
From the Macleod monitoring station, 29.3 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Melbourne Airport, 34.4 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 297 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 45.3 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.
EV adoption
In postcode 3757, 67 of 8,420 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 1.2% (102 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.0%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3757, 1,619 rooftop-solar systems totalling 11.0 MW have been installed since 2001, against 3,483 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 94 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 3757 in 2025-26, rank 176 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 109, in 2001-02.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
2 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 $794,000 this is $44,000 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 Rob Mitchell Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Rob Mitchell | 54.8% | 45.2% | +0.9 |
| 2022 | Rob Mitchell | 53.3% | 46.7% | +2.0 |
| 2019 | Rob Mitchell | 55.0% | 45.0% | +1.0 |
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 Lauren Kathage Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Lauren Kathage ALP | 50.2% | 54.5% | 45.5% |
| 2018 | Danielle Green ALP | 54.3% | 67.0% | 33.0% |
| 2014 | Danielle Green ALP | 53.6% | 53.6% | 46.4% |
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 Whittlesea?
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 6,117 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
Compare Whittlesea 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 Whittlesea
Is Whittlesea a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Whittlesea is moderate (56/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Whittlesea?
Whittlesea has a high recorded bushfire history (96/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a low share of it (38/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Whittlesea a good place to live?
Whittlesea has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (22/100), 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 Whittlesea?
Whittlesea, VIC had a population of 6,117 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Whittlesea, VIC?
The postcode for Whittlesea, VIC is 3757.
How far is Whittlesea from Melbourne?
Whittlesea is 62 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 71 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Whittlesea?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Whittlesea was $84,656 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 Whittlesea?
The median advertised rent in Whittlesea is $580 a week for houses (13 listings) and $520 a week for units (3 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Whittlesea?
The median age of residents in Whittlesea was 41 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Whittlesea at risk of bushfire?
Whittlesea has a high recorded bushfire history (96/100). 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 Whittlesea?
There are 4 schools inside the Whittlesea boundary: 1 at and 2 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
What is the air quality in Whittlesea?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Whittlesea (Macleod) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 3.9 µg/m³. That puts Whittlesea below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Whittlesea?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Whittlesea, Melbourne Airport (34.4 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 Whittlesea?
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 Whittlesea belong to?
Whittlesea sits within the Whittlesea local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Whittlesea?
The average residential rates bill through Whittlesea is $1,899 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Whittlesea?
Across Whittlesea, 2,632 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 27.5% 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 Whittlesea in?
Whittlesea sits within the federal Division of Mcewen, currently held by Rob Mitchell (Australian Labor Party).
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.