Suburb Overview
Coolaroo is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,193, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 18 km from the Melbourne CBD, Coolaroo is a middle ring area in Victoria. The median household income is $53,300 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3048
Postcode for Coolaroo, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
3,193
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$335/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
$53,300
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
18 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
$572,000
Median house sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,324/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 Coolaroo
- Well-connected to Melbourne at ~18 km from the CBD.
- Strong transport links into the city and nearby employment hubs.
- Predominantly separate houses (82%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Established streets, local shops, and schools within the neighbourhood.
Who Coolaroo Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Mortgage costs are lower than the Victoria median, improving cash-flow margins.
- Solid transport links into employment hubs.
- Established infrastructure and existing community base.
Cons
- Rent-to-income ratio is above comfortable thresholds — watch tenant affordability.
- Fewer schools inside the suburb itself — verify catchments for neighbouring areas.
Investment Insight
Coolaroo is a smaller community of 3,193 — about 43% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Coolaroo's median household income of $53,300/year is 44% 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 $335 equated to $1,452/month — about 110% of the then-median mortgage repayment of $1,324/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. 18 km from Melbourne places Coolaroo 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
Middle-ring locations like this one historically reward patient holders — focus on homes near catchment-zone schools and major transport. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 33% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Coolaroo vs Victoria Median
How Coolaroo stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Coolaroo sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Coolaroo | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,193 | 7,416 | -57% |
| Median household income | $53,300/yr | $95,160/yr | -44% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $335 | $380 | -12% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,324 | $1,950 | -32% |
| Distance to CBD | 18 km | 32 km | -44% |
| Separate houses | 82% | 78% | +4pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Coolaroo — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 3,193 residents — 43% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $53,300/year (-44% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $335/week rent (≈ $1,452/month) covered ~110% of the $1,324/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 18 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 ~$132/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,324/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 33% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 44% below the VIC median ($53,300 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: $335/week (~$1,452/month) covered 110% of the $1,324/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.
With 82% houses in a 3,193-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 $1,324/month median mortgage in Coolaroo means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $132/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Coolaroo are 44% below the Victoria median ($53,300 vs $95,160), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 3,193 residents, Coolaroo has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Coolaroo regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Coolaroo with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
Run the numbers on a Coolaroo property
Walk the journey to a place like Coolaroo
Seven guided stops — government schemes compared for your exact numbers, a real budget, suburb shortlisting and every contract deadline tracked. Free, no signup to start.
Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Coolaroo are modest for 2026 — incomes 44% below the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 3,193 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~110% of the typical mortgage ($1,452/month rent vs $1,324/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Coolaroo is balanced heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Victoria median.
Share your experience of Coolaroo
Lived in Coolaroo? Help other investors with an honest 100-word review. Sign-in required; all reviews are manually moderated before they appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Coolaroo a good suburb for investment?
Whether Coolaroo suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 3,193, a median household income of $53,300/year and median weekly rent of $335. 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 Coolaroo?
The main demand drivers in Coolaroo are proximity to Melbourne (18 km), a median household income of $53,300/year, a dwelling mix that is 82% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Coolaroo?
Coolaroo has a usual resident population of approximately 3,193, 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 Coolaroo from the Melbourne CBD?
Coolaroo sits 18 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 Coolaroo?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $335 in Coolaroo, equating to approximately $17,420/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 Coolaroo?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Coolaroo is $1,324, or approximately $15,888/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 Coolaroo cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $335 works out to $1,452/month, covering 110% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,324/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $128/month, so on these numbers Coolaroo 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 Coolaroo?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (3,193 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,324 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($53,300 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 Coolaroo 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.