Suburb Overview
Ballarat East is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 5,937, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 99 km from the Melbourne CBD, Ballarat East is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $58,396 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3350
Postcode for Ballarat East, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
5,937
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$290/wk
Median weekly rent recorded at the 2021 Census — market rents have risen since, so treat this as a dated baseline, not a current figure.
Median household income
$58,396
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
99 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Sale prices & yield
Median house price
$477,000
Median house sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Median unit price
$412,000
Median unit sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,300/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
82% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why People Like Living in Ballarat East
- Regional location about 99 km from Melbourne.
- Local parks and reserves (around 2) within easy reach.
- Strong transport links into the city and nearby employment hubs.
- Predominantly separate houses (82%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Country-town feel with lower density and slower pace of life.
Who Ballarat East Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Mortgage costs are lower than the Victoria median, improving cash-flow margins.
- Solid transport links into employment hubs.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (99 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Fewer schools inside the suburb itself — verify catchments for neighbouring areas.
Investment Insight
5,937 residents places Ballarat East squarely in the middle of the Victoria suburb size distribution (state median 7,416), with market depth comparable to most VIC localities. Ballarat East's median household income of $58,396/year is 39% below the Victoria suburb median ($95,160) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. At the 2021 Census, median weekly rent of $290 equated to $1,257/month — about 97% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $1,300/month. Both figures have moved substantially since 2021, so treat the ratio as a historical signal that this suburb leaned cash-flow-friendly, and verify against current listings and rates. Ballarat East is 99 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment Tip
Regional property can deliver strong cash-flow yields but liquidity is tighter — plan for longer hold periods and verify local employment stability. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 26% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Ballarat East vs Victoria Median
How Ballarat East stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Ballarat East sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Ballarat East | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,937 | 7,416 | -20% |
| Median household income | $58,396/yr | $95,160/yr | -39% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $290 | $380 | -24% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,300 | $1,950 | -33% |
| Distance to CBD | 99 km | 32 km | +209% |
| Separate houses | 82% | 78% | +4pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Ballarat East — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 5,937 residents — 80% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $58,396/year (-39% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $290/week rent (≈ $1,257/month) covered ~97% of the $1,300/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 99 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 82% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$130/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,300/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 26% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 39% below the VIC median ($58,396 vs $95,160) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $290/week (~$1,257/month) covered 97% of the $1,300/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $43/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 82% houses in a 5,937-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,300/month median mortgage in Ballarat East means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $130/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Ballarat East are 39% below the Victoria median ($58,396 vs $95,160), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Commute distance: at 99 km from the nearest CBD, Ballarat East depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Ballarat East regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Ballarat East with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Ballarat East are modest for 2026 — incomes 39% below the VIC median of $95,160 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~97% of the typical mortgage ($1,257/month rent vs $1,300/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Ballarat East is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Victoria median.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ballarat East a good suburb for investment?
Whether Ballarat East suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 5,937, a median household income of $58,396/year and median weekly rent of $290. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Ballarat East?
The main demand drivers in Ballarat East are a median household income of $58,396/year, a dwelling mix that is 82% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Ballarat East?
Ballarat East has a usual resident population of approximately 5,937, compared with a Victoria suburb median of 7,416 — placing it in the lower 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.
How far is Ballarat East from the Melbourne CBD?
Ballarat East sits 99 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
What is the median rent in Ballarat East?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $290 in Ballarat East, equating to approximately $15,080/year in gross rental income (state median $380/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Ballarat East?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Ballarat East is $1,300, or approximately $15,600/year (vs $1,950/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.
Is Ballarat East cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $290 works out to $1,257/month, covering 97% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,300/month. That leaves a $43/month shortfall (around $516/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
What are the main risks of investing in Ballarat East?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,300 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($58,396 vs $95,160 state median), the broader Victoria market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Ballarat East profile
The population, postcode, median household income, and dwelling mix on this page are real figures from the ABS 2021 Census (income is the ABS median weekly household income annualised) and Australia Post. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage repayment are 2021 figures and are clearly labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.