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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Palmerston is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Canberra, Australia, with a population of approximately 5,579, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 10 km from the Canberra CBD, Palmerston is a middle ring area in Australian Capital Territory. The median household income is $120,432 per year.
Palmerston benefits from a high-income resident base, supporting premium property pricing. Its proximity to the CBD adds a strong location premium.
Official Australia Post postcode for Palmerston. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Palmerston on My School →Estimated 2 parks and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Palmerston's population of 5,579 sits 47% above the Australian Capital Territory suburb median of 3,808, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average ACT locality. At $120,432/year, household income in Palmerston is within 3% of the Australian Capital Territory median ($123,916), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Median weekly rent of $450 equates to $1,950/month — about 101% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,940/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. At 10 km from the Canberra CBD, Palmerston sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks.
This suburb suits long-term investors looking for a balance of rental yield and capital growth. Schools and transport underpin family demand. Local rents consume roughly 19% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Palmerston stacks up against the median of all Australian Capital Territory suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Palmerston sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Palmerston | ACT median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,579 | 3,808 | +47% |
| Median household income | $120,432/yr | $123,916/yr | -3% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $450 | $450 | 0% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,940 | $2,144 | -10% |
| Distance to CBD | 10 km | 10 km | 0% |
| Separate houses | 58% | 71% | -13pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Palmerston — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 5,579 and household income close to the ACT median ($120,432 vs $123,916) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Strong rental coverage: $450/week (~$1,950/month) covers 101% of the $1,940/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $0/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 58% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 71% ACT median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Palmerston property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Property values in Palmerston should track the wider Australian Capital Territory market through 2026, with the $120,432/year median household income (close to the $123,916 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. Rental coverage runs at ~101% of the typical mortgage ($1,950/month rent vs $1,940/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 84/100 places Palmerston in the top tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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Palmerston scores 84/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a strong rating. That score is driven by a population of 5,579, median household income of $120,432/year and median weekly rent of $450. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Palmerston are proximity to Canberra (10 km), a median household income of $120,432/year, a dwelling mix that is 58% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 2 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Palmerston has a usual resident population of approximately 5,579, compared with a Australian Capital Territory suburb median of 3,808 — placing it in the upper half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Palmerston sits 10 km straight-line from the Canberra CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Canberra employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $450 in Palmerston, equating to approximately $23,400/year in gross rental income (state median $450/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Palmerston is $1,940, or approximately $23,280/year (vs $2,144/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $450 works out to $1,950/month, covering 101% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,940/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $10/month, so on these numbers Palmerston leans cash-flow-positive before accounting for strata, council rates, insurance and maintenance. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,940 median mortgage, the broader Australian Capital Territory market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.