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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Lalor is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 23,219, making it a sizeable community. Located approximately 17 km from the Melbourne CBD, Lalor is a middle ring area in Victoria. The median household income is $70,096 per year.
Household earnings in Lalor are below the state average, which may affect long-term capital growth.
Official Australia Post postcode for Lalor. 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 Lalor on My School →Estimated 9 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 23,219 residents, Lalor is one of Victoria's more populous suburbs — roughly 3.1× 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. Lalor'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. Rent of $351/week (86% coverage of the $1,775/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $254/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. 17 km from Melbourne places Lalor in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.
Middle-ring locations like this one historically reward patient holders — focus on homes near catchment-zone schools and major transport. Local rents consume roughly 26% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Lalor stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Lalor sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Lalor | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 23,219 | 7,416 | +213% |
| Median household income | $70,096/yr | $95,160/yr | -26% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $351 | $380 | -8% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,775 | $1,950 | -9% |
| Distance to CBD | 17 km | 32 km | -47% |
| Separate houses | 84% | 78% | +6pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Lalor — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
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: $351/week (~$1,521/month) covers 86% of the $1,775/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $254/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
With 84% houses in a 23,219-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 Lalor property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Lalor are modest for 2026 — incomes 26% below the VIC median of $95,160 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~86% of the typical mortgage ($1,521/month rent vs $1,775/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 54/100 places Lalor 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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Lalor scores 54/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 23,219, median household income of $70,096/year and median weekly rent of $351. 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 Lalor are proximity to Melbourne (17 km), a median household income of $70,096/year, a dwelling mix that is 84% separate houses, roughly 6 schools and 9 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.
Lalor has a usual resident population of approximately 23,219, 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.
Lalor sits 17 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 $351 in Lalor, equating to approximately $18,252/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 Lalor is $1,775, or approximately $21,300/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 $351 works out to $1,521/month, covering 86% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,775/month. That leaves a $254/month shortfall (around $3,048/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 $1,775 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.
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.