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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Merrimu is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 397, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 46 km from the Melbourne CBD, Merrimu is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $126,932 per year.
Strong household incomes in Merrimu underpin solid property demand. As a regional location, growth prospects depend on local economic conditions and infrastructure investment.
Official Australia Post postcode for Merrimu. 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 Merrimu on My School →Estimated 1 park 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.
Merrimu is a smaller community of 397 — about 5% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Median household income of $126,932/year runs 33% 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. Weekly rent of $100 covers just 22% of the median $1,950/month mortgage repayment, leaving a $1,517/month gap — investors should only pursue this suburb with a clear capital-growth thesis and sufficient external income to fund the shortfall. At 46 km from Melbourne, Merrimu is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price.
How Merrimu stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Merrimu sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Merrimu | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 397 | 7,416 | -95% |
| Median household income | $126,932/yr | $95,160/yr | +33% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $100 | $380 | -74% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,950 | $1,950 | 0% |
| Distance to CBD | 46 km | 32 km | +44% |
| Separate houses | 86% | 78% | +8pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Merrimu — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 397 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Weak cash flow: $100/week rent covers only 22% of the $1,950/month median mortgage — a $1,517/month gap that must be funded from other income. This suburb is a capital-growth play, not a yield play.
With 86% houses in a 397-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 Merrimu property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Merrimu are modest for 2026 — incomes 33% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 397 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~22% of the typical mortgage ($433/month rent vs $1,950/month repayment), meaning investors will rely on capital growth rather than yield. The EquitySight investment score of 50/100 places Merrimu 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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Merrimu scores 50/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 397, median household income of $126,932/year and median weekly rent of $100. 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 Merrimu are an above-state-median household income of $126,932/year, a dwelling mix that is 86% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 1 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.
Merrimu has a usual resident population of approximately 397, 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.
Merrimu sits 46 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 $100 in Merrimu, equating to approximately $5,200/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 Merrimu is $1,950, or approximately $23,400/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 $100 works out to $433/month, covering 22% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,950/month. That leaves a $1,517/month shortfall (around $18,204/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 (397 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,950 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.