Suburb Overview
Clarinda is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 7,441, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 19 km from the Melbourne CBD, Clarinda is a outer metro area in Victoria. The median household income is $82,628 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3169
Postcode for Clarinda, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
7,441
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$394/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
$82,628
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
19 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
$1,101,000
Median house sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Median unit price
$885,000
Median unit sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,000/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
84% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why People Like Living in Clarinda
- Well-connected to Melbourne at ~19 km from the CBD.
- Several schools in the area (around 2), attractive for families.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) within easy reach.
- Reasonable transport access — car-friendly with some public transport options.
- Predominantly separate houses (84%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
Who Clarinda Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) add to liveability.
- Solid transport links into employment hubs.
Cons
- New-estate oversupply risk — many similar homes can compete for the same buyers.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment Insight
7,441 residents places Clarinda squarely in the middle of the Victoria suburb size distribution (state median 7,416), with market depth comparable to most VIC localities. Household income of $82,628/year is 13% below the Victoria median of $95,160, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. At the 2021 Census, rent of $394/week covered 85% of the $2,000/month median mortgage recorded at the same Census, leaving a gap of roughly $293/month at the time. Rents and repayments have both risen since — re-run the numbers with current figures before drawing conclusions. 19 km from Melbourne places Clarinda in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.
Investment Tip
Outer-metro suburbs reward careful property selection — aim for homes near infrastructure rather than generic house-and-land packages. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 25% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Clarinda vs Victoria Median
How Clarinda stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Clarinda sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Clarinda | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 7,441 | 7,416 | 0% |
| Median household income | $82,628/yr | $95,160/yr | -13% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $394 | $380 | +4% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,000 | $1,950 | +3% |
| Distance to CBD | 19 km | 32 km | -41% |
| Separate houses | 84% | 78% | +6pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Clarinda — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 7,441 residents — 100% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $82,628/year (-13% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $394/week rent (≈ $1,707/month) covered ~85% of the $2,000/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 19 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 84% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$200/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,000/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 25% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment Strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Clarinda's 7,441-person market and $82,628 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $394/week (~$1,707/month) covered 85% of the $2,000/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $293/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 84% houses in a 7,441-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 $2,000/month median mortgage in Clarinda means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $200/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Clarinda regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Clarinda 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 Clarinda are modest for 2026 — incomes 13% below the VIC median of $95,160 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~85% of the typical mortgage ($1,707/month rent vs $2,000/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Clarinda is balanced 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 Clarinda a good suburb for investment?
Whether Clarinda suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 7,441, a median household income of $82,628/year and median weekly rent of $394. 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 Clarinda?
The main demand drivers in Clarinda are proximity to Melbourne (19 km), a median household income of $82,628/year, a dwelling mix that is 84% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Clarinda?
Clarinda has a usual resident population of approximately 7,441, compared with a Victoria suburb median of 7,416 — 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.
How far is Clarinda from the Melbourne CBD?
Clarinda sits 19 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
What is the median rent in Clarinda?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $394 in Clarinda, equating to approximately $20,488/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 Clarinda?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Clarinda is $2,000, or approximately $24,000/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 Clarinda cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $394 works out to $1,707/month, covering 85% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,000/month. That leaves a $293/month shortfall (around $3,516/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 Clarinda?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,000 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.
How we built this Clarinda 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.