Suburb Overview
Somerton is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 6, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 20 km from the Melbourne CBD, Somerton is a middle ring area in Victoria. The median household income is $61,724 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
3062
Postcode for Somerton, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
6
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$115/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
$61,724
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
20 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$800/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
N/A
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Investment Insight
Somerton is a smaller community of 6 — about 0% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Somerton's median household income of $61,724/year is 35% 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. At the 2021 Census, median rent of $115/week (~$498/month) covered only 62% of the $800/month median mortgage recorded at the same Census — a dated snapshot, but one that suggests this suburb tilted toward capital growth rather than yield. 20 km from Melbourne places Somerton in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.
Somerton vs Victoria Median
How Somerton stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Somerton sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Somerton | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 6 | 7,416 | -100% |
| Median household income | $61,724/yr | $95,160/yr | -35% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $115 | $380 | -70% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $800 | $1,950 | -59% |
| Distance to CBD | 20 km | 32 km | -37% |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Somerton — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 6 residents — 0% of the VIC suburb median (7,416).
- Purchasing power: median household income $61,724/year (-35% vs Victoria suburb median of $95,160).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $115/week rent (≈ $498/month) covered ~62% of the $800/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 20 km straight-line from Melbourne (state suburb median 32 km).
- Home mix: the housing-type split was not captured — verify on the ground.
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$80/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $800/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 10% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 6 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Weak cash flow at the 2021 Census: $115/week rent covered only 62% of the $800/month median mortgage — a $302/month gap funded from other income. On the Census snapshot this reads as a capital-growth play, not a yield play; verify current rents before deciding.
With a population of 6, the resale market in Somerton may not reliably reward cosmetic renovations — a longer hold is typically a better strategy at this scale, letting land-value appreciation do the work instead.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $800/month median mortgage in Somerton means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $80/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Somerton are 35% below the Victoria median ($61,724 vs $95,160), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 6 residents, Somerton has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Somerton regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Somerton with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Somerton are modest for 2026 — incomes 35% below the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 6 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~62% of the typical mortgage ($498/month rent vs $800/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Somerton is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Victoria median.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Somerton a good suburb for investment?
Whether Somerton suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 6, a median household income of $61,724/year and median weekly rent of $115. 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 Somerton?
The main demand drivers in Somerton are proximity to Melbourne (20 km), a median household income of $61,724/year. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Somerton?
Somerton has a usual resident population of approximately 6, 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.
How far is Somerton from the Melbourne CBD?
Somerton sits 20 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
What is the median rent in Somerton?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $115 in Somerton, equating to approximately $5,980/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 Somerton?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Somerton is $800, or approximately $9,600/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 Somerton cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $115 works out to $498/month, covering 62% of the median mortgage repayment of $800/month. That leaves a $302/month shortfall (around $3,624/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 Somerton?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (6 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $800 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($61,724 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.
How we built this Somerton 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.