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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
South Melbourne is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Melbourne, Australia, with a population of approximately 11,548, making it a smaller community. Located 2 km from the Melbourne CBD, South Melbourne is a outer metro area in Victoria. The median household income is $109,252 per year.
South Melbourne benefits from a high-income resident base, supporting premium property pricing. Its proximity to the CBD adds a strong location premium.
Official Australia Post postcode for South Melbourne. 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 3 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near South Melbourne on My School →Estimated 5 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.
South Melbourne's population of 11,548 sits 56% above the Victoria suburb median of 7,416, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average VIC locality. Median household income of $109,252/year runs 15% 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. Rent of $421/week (83% coverage of the $2,200/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $376/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. At 2 km from the Melbourne CBD, South Melbourne sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 4% 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.
Outer-metro suburbs reward careful property selection — aim for homes near infrastructure rather than generic house-and-land packages. Local rents consume roughly 20% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How South Melbourne stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean South Melbourne sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | South Melbourne | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 11,548 | 7,416 | +56% |
| Median household income | $109,252/yr | $95,160/yr | +15% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $421 | $380 | +11% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $2,200 | $1,950 | +13% |
| Distance to CBD | 2 km | 32 km | -94% |
| Separate houses | 4% | 78% | -74pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for South Melbourne — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 11,548 and household income close to the VIC median ($109,252 vs $95,160) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $421/week covers 83% of a $2,200/month mortgage, leaving a $376/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 4% 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 South Melbourne property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Property values in South Melbourne should track the wider Victoria market through 2026, with the $109,252/year median household income (15% above the $95,160 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. Rental coverage runs at ~83% of the typical mortgage ($1,824/month rent vs $2,200/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 77/100 places South Melbourne in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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South Melbourne scores 77/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 11,548, median household income of $109,252/year and median weekly rent of $421. 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 South Melbourne are proximity to Melbourne (2 km), an above-state-median household income of $109,252/year, a dwelling mix that is 4% separate houses, roughly 3 schools and 5 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.
South Melbourne has a usual resident population of approximately 11,548, 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.
South Melbourne sits 2 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Melbourne employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $421 in South Melbourne, equating to approximately $21,892/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 South Melbourne is $2,200, or approximately $26,400/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 $421 works out to $1,824/month, covering 83% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,200/month. That leaves a $376/month shortfall (around $4,512/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 $2,200 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (4% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, 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.