Suburb Overview
Preston is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 33,790, making it a sizeable community. Located approximately 9 km from the Melbourne CBD, Preston is a middle ring area in Victoria. The median household income is $95,888 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3072
Postcode for Preston, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
33,790
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$392/wk
Median weekly rent recorded at the 2021 Census — market rents have risen since, so treat this as a dated baseline, not a current figure.
Median household income
$95,888
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
9 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Sale prices & yield
Median house price
$1,099,500
Median house sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Median unit price
$600,000
Median unit sale price — as at 2025 (preliminary), Valuer-General Victoria (CC BY 4.0).
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,000/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
50% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why People Like Living in Preston
- Middle-ring location about 9 km from Melbourne — balance of commute and affordability.
- Plenty of schooling options nearby — around 8 schools within reach.
- Good green-space access with around 14 parks and reserves nearby.
- Strong transport links into the city and nearby employment hubs.
- Established streets, local shops, and schools within the neighbourhood.
Who Preston Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Access to several schools nearby (around 8).
- Local parks and reserves (around 14) add to liveability.
- Solid transport links into employment hubs.
- Short distance to the CBD makes commuting straightforward.
Cons
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
- Prices may rise further as demand continues.
Investment Insight
With 33,790 residents, Preston is one of Victoria's more populous suburbs — roughly 4.6× 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. At $95,888/year, household income in Preston is within 1% of the Victoria median ($95,160), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. At the 2021 Census, rent of $392/week covered 85% of the $2,000/month median mortgage recorded at the same Census, leaving a gap of roughly $301/month at the time. Rents and repayments have both risen since — re-run the numbers with current figures before drawing conclusions. At 9 km from the Melbourne CBD, Preston sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 50% 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.
Investment Tip
This suburb suits long-term investors looking for a balance of rental yield and capital growth. Schools and transport underpin family demand. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 21% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Preston vs Victoria Median
How Preston stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Preston sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Preston | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 33,790 | 7,416 | +356% |
| Median household income | $95,888/yr | $95,160/yr | +1% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $392 | $380 | +3% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,000 | $1,950 | +3% |
| Distance to CBD | 9 km | 32 km | -72% |
| Separate houses | 50% | 78% | -28pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Preston — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 33,790 residents — 456% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $95,888/year (+1% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $392/week rent (≈ $1,699/month) covered ~85% of the $2,000/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 9 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Dwelling mix: 50% separate houses — mixed market (vs 78% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$200/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,000/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 21% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 33,790 and household income close to the VIC median ($95,888 vs $95,160) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $392/week (~$1,699/month) covered 85% of the $2,000/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $301/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
Only 50% 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.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $2,000/month median mortgage in Preston means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $200/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Preston regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Preston with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
Run the numbers on a Preston property
Walk the journey to a place like Preston
Seven guided stops — government schemes compared for your exact numbers, a real budget, suburb shortlisting and every contract deadline tracked. Free, no signup to start.
Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Property values in Preston should track the wider Victoria market through 2026, with the $95,888/year median household income (close to the $95,160 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~85% of the typical mortgage ($1,699/month rent vs $2,000/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Preston is constructive heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Victoria median.
Share your experience of Preston
Lived in Preston? Help other investors with an honest 100-word review. Sign-in required; all reviews are manually moderated before they appear.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Preston a good suburb for investment?
Whether Preston suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 33,790, a median household income of $95,888/year and median weekly rent of $392. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Preston?
The main demand drivers in Preston are proximity to Melbourne (9 km), an above-state-median household income of $95,888/year, a dwelling mix that is 50% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Preston?
Preston has a usual resident population of approximately 33,790, 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.
How far is Preston from the Melbourne CBD?
Preston sits 9 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Melbourne employment nodes.
What is the median rent in Preston?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $392 in Preston, equating to approximately $20,384/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.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Preston?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Preston is $2,000, or approximately $24,000/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.
Is Preston cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $392 works out to $1,699/month, covering 85% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,000/month. That leaves a $301/month shortfall (around $3,612/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.
What are the main risks of investing in Preston?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,000 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.
How we built this Preston profile
The population, postcode, median household income, and dwelling mix on this page are real figures from the ABS 2021 Census (income is the ABS median weekly household income annualised) and Australia Post. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage repayment are 2021 figures and are clearly labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.