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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Elsternwick is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 10,887, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 9 km from the Melbourne CBD, Elsternwick is a outer metro area in Victoria. The median household income is $114,868 per year.
Above-average earnings in Elsternwick support sustained property values. The short commute to the city centre is a key demand driver.
Official Australia Post postcode for Elsternwick. 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 3 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Elsternwick on My School →Estimated 4 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.
Elsternwick's population of 10,887 sits 47% above the Victoria suburb median of 7,416, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average VIC locality. Median household income of $114,868/year runs 21% above the Victoria suburb median of $95,160, indicating strong purchasing power and the type of demographic profile that tends to sustain premium property prices through market cycles. Rent of $441/week (80% coverage of the $2,400/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $489/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. At 9 km from the Melbourne CBD, Elsternwick sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 34% 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 due to steady population growth and affordable entry prices. Look for established streets close to schools and shops rather than raw new-estate land. Local rents consume roughly 20% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Elsternwick stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Elsternwick sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Elsternwick | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 10,887 | 7,416 | +47% |
| Median household income | $114,868/yr | $95,160/yr | +21% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $441 | $380 | +16% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $2,400 | $1,950 | +23% |
| Distance to CBD | 9 km | 32 km | -72% |
| Separate houses | 34% | 78% | -44pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Elsternwick — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Strong buy-and-hold fundamentals: household incomes run 21% above the Victoria suburb median ($114,868 vs $95,160), and the 9 km CBD distance keeps this suburb in the primary demand zone. In Victoria, suburbs with this profile have historically clustered in the upper tercile of 10-year capital growth.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $441/week covers 80% of a $2,400/month mortgage, leaving a $489/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 34% 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 Elsternwick property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Elsternwick enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 21% above the Victoria suburb median of $95,160 and a population of 10,887 give it the depth and purchasing power to outperform the wider VIC market over the next 12–18 months. Rental coverage runs at ~80% of the typical mortgage ($1,911/month rent vs $2,400/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 78/100 places Elsternwick 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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Elsternwick scores 78/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 10,887, median household income of $114,868/year and median weekly rent of $441. 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 Elsternwick are proximity to Melbourne (9 km), an above-state-median household income of $114,868/year, a dwelling mix that is 34% separate houses, roughly 3 schools and 4 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.
Elsternwick has a usual resident population of approximately 10,887, 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.
Elsternwick sits 9 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Melbourne employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $441 in Elsternwick, equating to approximately $22,932/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 Elsternwick is $2,400, or approximately $28,800/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 $441 works out to $1,911/month, covering 80% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,400/month. That leaves a $489/month shortfall (around $5,868/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 $2,400 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (34% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, 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.