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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Doncaster is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 25,020, making it a sizeable community. Located approximately 14 km from the Melbourne CBD, Doncaster is a middle ring area in Victoria. The median household income is $82,784 per year.
Moderate income levels in Doncaster indicate steady rental demand from working households. Close CBD access strengthens tenant appeal and resale value.
Official Australia Post postcode for Doncaster. 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 6 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Doncaster on My School →Estimated 10 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.
With 25,020 residents, Doncaster is one of Victoria's more populous suburbs — roughly 3.4× the state median of 7,416 — giving it a deep buyer and tenant pool that typically supports higher transaction volumes and shorter average days on market. Household income of $82,784/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. Median weekly rent of $450 equates to $1,950/month — about 90% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,167/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. 14 km from Melbourne places Doncaster in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs. Only 46% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 78% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
This suburb suits long-term investors looking for a balance of rental yield and capital growth. Schools and transport underpin family demand. Local rents consume roughly 28% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Doncaster stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Doncaster sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Doncaster | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 25,020 | 7,416 | +237% |
| Median household income | $82,784/yr | $95,160/yr | -13% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $450 | $380 | +18% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $2,167 | $1,950 | +11% |
| Distance to CBD | 14 km | 32 km | -56% |
| Separate houses | 46% | 78% | -32pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Doncaster — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Doncaster's 25,020-person market and $82,784 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: $450/week (~$1,950/month) covers 90% of the $2,167/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $217/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 46% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 78% VIC median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Doncaster property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Doncaster are modest for 2026 — incomes 13% below the VIC median of $95,160 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~90% of the typical mortgage ($1,950/month rent vs $2,167/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 70/100 places Doncaster in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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Doncaster scores 70/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 25,020, median household income of $82,784/year and median weekly rent of $450. 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 Doncaster are proximity to Melbourne (14 km), a median household income of $82,784/year, a dwelling mix that is 46% separate houses, roughly 6 schools and 10 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.
Doncaster has a usual resident population of approximately 25,020, 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.
Doncaster sits 14 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $450 in Doncaster, equating to approximately $23,400/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 Doncaster is $2,167, or approximately $26,004/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 $450 works out to $1,950/month, covering 90% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,167/month. That leaves a $217/month shortfall (around $2,604/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 interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,167 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.