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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Cockatoo is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 4,408, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 49 km from the Melbourne CBD, Cockatoo is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $103,532 per year.
Above-average earnings in Cockatoo support sustained property values. Distance from major centres is a consideration, though regional markets can offer higher rental yields.
Official Australia Post postcode for Cockatoo. 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 Cockatoo 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.
Cockatoo is a smaller community of 4,408 — about 59% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Households here earn $103,532/year on average — 9% above the VIC suburb median of $95,160 — a modest premium that supports resilient owner-occupier demand. Median weekly rent of $370 equates to $1,603/month — about 92% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,742/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. At 49 km from Melbourne, Cockatoo is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price. Separate houses make up 94% of dwellings — 16 percentage points above the Victoria median of 78% — pointing to a family-oriented, land-rich market where value is concentrated in the underlying block.
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 19% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Cockatoo stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Cockatoo sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Cockatoo | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,408 | 7,416 | -41% |
| Median household income | $103,532/yr | $95,160/yr | +9% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $370 | $380 | -3% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,742 | $1,950 | -11% |
| Distance to CBD | 49 km | 32 km | +53% |
| Separate houses | 94% | 78% | +16pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Cockatoo — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Cockatoo's 4,408-person market and $103,532 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: $370/week (~$1,603/month) covers 92% of the $1,742/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $139/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
With 94% houses in a 4,408-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 Cockatoo property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Cockatoo are modest for 2026 — incomes 9% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 4,408 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~92% of the typical mortgage ($1,603/month rent vs $1,742/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 57/100 places Cockatoo in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
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Cockatoo scores 57/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 4,408, median household income of $103,532/year and median weekly rent of $370. 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 Cockatoo are an above-state-median household income of $103,532/year, a dwelling mix that is 94% 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.
Cockatoo has a usual resident population of approximately 4,408, 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.
Cockatoo sits 49 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is an outer-metro location; local employment and infrastructure announcements tend to move prices more than CBD connectivity alone.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $370 in Cockatoo, equating to approximately $19,240/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 Cockatoo is $1,742, or approximately $20,904/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 $370 works out to $1,603/month, covering 92% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,742/month. That leaves a $139/month shortfall (around $1,668/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 (4,408 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,742 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.