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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Mount Best is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 46, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 145 km from the Melbourne CBD, Mount Best is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $55,224 per year.
Household earnings in Mount Best are below the state average, which may affect long-term capital growth. Regional positioning means lower entry costs but potentially longer hold periods for capital gains.
Official Australia Post postcode for Mount Best. 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 Mount Best 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.
Mount Best is a smaller community of 46 — about 1% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Mount Best's median household income of $55,224/year is 42% 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 $250/week (71% coverage of the $1,517/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $434/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Mount Best is 145 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
How Mount Best stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Mount Best sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Mount Best | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 46 | 7,416 | -99% |
| Median household income | $55,224/yr | $95,160/yr | -42% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $250 | $380 | -34% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,517 | $1,950 | -22% |
| Distance to CBD | 145 km | 32 km | +353% |
| Separate houses | 65% | 78% | -13pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Mount Best — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 46 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $250/week covers 71% of a $1,517/month mortgage, leaving a $434/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 65% 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 Mount Best property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Mount Best are modest for 2026 — incomes 42% below the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 46 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~71% of the typical mortgage ($1,083/month rent vs $1,517/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 23/100 places Mount Best in the lower tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Mount Best scores 23/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 46, median household income of $55,224/year and median weekly rent of $250. 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 Mount Best are a median household income of $55,224/year, a dwelling mix that is 65% 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.
Mount Best has a usual resident population of approximately 46, 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.
Mount Best sits 145 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $250 in Mount Best, equating to approximately $13,000/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 Mount Best is $1,517, or approximately $18,204/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 $250 works out to $1,083/month, covering 71% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,517/month. That leaves a $434/month shortfall (around $5,208/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 (46 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,517 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($55,224 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.