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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Brown Hill is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 4,489, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 97 km from the Melbourne CBD, Brown Hill is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $91,364 per year.
Above-average earnings in Brown Hill support sustained property values. Regional positioning means lower entry costs but potentially longer hold periods for capital gains.
Official Australia Post postcode for Brown Hill. 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 Brown Hill 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.
Brown Hill is a smaller community of 4,489 — about 61% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. At $91,364/year, household income in Brown Hill is within 4% of the Victoria median ($95,160), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Rent of $290/week (78% coverage of the $1,619/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $362/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Brown Hill is 97 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
This suburb suits yield-focused investors who are comfortable with lower liquidity. Employment concentration and local population trends matter more here than in metro markets. Local rents consume roughly 17% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Brown Hill stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Brown Hill sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Brown Hill | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,489 | 7,416 | -39% |
| Median household income | $91,364/yr | $95,160/yr | -4% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $290 | $380 | -24% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,619 | $1,950 | -17% |
| Distance to CBD | 97 km | 32 km | +203% |
| Separate houses | 83% | 78% | +5pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Brown Hill — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Brown Hill's 4,489-person market and $91,364 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $290/week covers 78% of a $1,619/month mortgage, leaving a $362/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
With 83% houses in a 4,489-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Run the numbers on a Brown Hill property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Brown Hill are modest for 2026 — incomes close to the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 4,489 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~78% of the typical mortgage ($1,257/month rent vs $1,619/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 49/100 places Brown Hill in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Brown Hill scores 49/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 4,489, median household income of $91,364/year and median weekly rent of $290. 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 Brown Hill are a median household income of $91,364/year, a dwelling mix that is 83% 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.
Brown Hill has a usual resident population of approximately 4,489, 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.
Brown Hill sits 97 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.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $290 in Brown Hill, 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.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Brown Hill is $1,619, or approximately $19,428/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.
A median weekly rent of $290 works out to $1,257/month, covering 78% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,619/month. That leaves a $362/month shortfall (around $4,344/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.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (4,489 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,619 median mortgage, the broader Victoria 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.