Suburb Overview
Clifton Springs is a coastal suburb in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 7,646, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 51 km from the Melbourne CBD, Clifton Springs is a coastal area in Victoria. The median household income is $70,096 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3222
Postcode for Clifton Springs, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
7,646
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$350/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
$70,096
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
51 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
$624,000
Median house sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Median unit price
$540,000
Median unit sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,517/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
89% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why People Like Living in Clifton Springs
- Regional location about 51 km from Melbourne.
- Several schools in the area (around 2), attractive for families.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) within easy reach.
- Strong transport links into the city and nearby employment hubs.
- Predominantly separate houses (89%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
Who Clifton Springs 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.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) add to liveability.
- Solid transport links into employment hubs.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (51 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment Insight
7,646 residents places Clifton Springs squarely in the middle of the Victoria suburb size distribution (state median 7,416), with market depth comparable to most VIC localities. Clifton Springs's median household income of $70,096/year is 26% 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 $350 equated to $1,517/month — about 100% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $1,517/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. Clifton Springs is 51 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment Tip
This suburb can suit investors targeting renter demand driven by lifestyle. Insurance, climate risk, and seasonal rental patterns all warrant a close look. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 26% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Clifton Springs vs Victoria Median
How Clifton Springs stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Clifton Springs sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Clifton Springs | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 7,646 | 7,416 | +3% |
| Median household income | $70,096/yr | $95,160/yr | -26% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $350 | $380 | -8% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,517 | $1,950 | -22% |
| Distance to CBD | 51 km | 32 km | +59% |
| Separate houses | 89% | 78% | +11pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Clifton Springs — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 7,646 residents — 103% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $70,096/year (-26% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $350/week rent (≈ $1,517/month) covered ~100% of the $1,517/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 51 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 89% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$152/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,517/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 26% below the VIC median ($70,096 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: $350/week (~$1,517/month) covered 100% of the $1,517/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $0/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
A dwelling mix skewed to houses (89% vs 78% VIC median) combined with a population of 7,646 creates a deeper market for value-add renovations — older stock, separate titles and stronger buyer competition are the usual pattern here.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,517/month median mortgage in Clifton Springs means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $152/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Clifton Springs are 26% below the Victoria median ($70,096 vs $95,160), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Commute distance: at 51 km from the nearest CBD, Clifton Springs depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- House-dominant stock: 89% of dwellings are separate houses, so value is concentrated in land — weather events, insurance repricing and land-tax changes hit investors here more directly than in a unit-heavy suburb.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Clifton Springs regardless of local market conditions.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Clifton Springs are modest for 2026 — incomes 26% below the VIC median of $95,160 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~100% of the typical mortgage ($1,517/month rent vs $1,517/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs a good suburb for investment?
Whether Clifton Springs suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 7,646, a median household income of $70,096/year and median weekly rent of $350. 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 Clifton Springs?
The main demand drivers in Clifton Springs are a median household income of $70,096/year, a dwelling mix that is 89% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Clifton Springs?
Clifton Springs has a usual resident population of approximately 7,646, 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 Clifton Springs from the Melbourne CBD?
Clifton Springs sits 51 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 Clifton Springs?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $350 in Clifton Springs, equating to approximately $18,200/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 Clifton Springs?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Clifton Springs is $1,517, or approximately $18,204/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 Clifton Springs cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $350 works out to $1,517/month, covering 100% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,517/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $-0/month, so on these numbers Clifton Springs 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.
What are the main risks of investing in Clifton Springs?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,517 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($70,096 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 Clifton Springs 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.