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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Swan Hill is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 11,186, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 302 km from the Melbourne CBD, Swan Hill is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $72,280 per year.
Swan Hill has a solid income profile that supports reliable occupancy rates. Distance from major centres is a consideration, though regional markets can offer higher rental yields.
Official Australia Post postcode for Swan Hill. 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 Swan Hill on My School →Estimated 4 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.
Swan Hill's population of 11,186 sits 51% above the Victoria suburb median of 7,416, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average VIC locality. Swan Hill's median household income of $72,280/year is 24% 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 $235/week (78% coverage of the $1,300/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $282/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Swan Hill is 302 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Regional property can deliver strong cash-flow yields but liquidity is tighter — plan for longer hold periods and verify local employment stability. Local rents consume roughly 17% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Swan Hill stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Swan Hill sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Swan Hill | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 11,186 | 7,416 | +51% |
| Median household income | $72,280/yr | $95,160/yr | -24% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $235 | $380 | -38% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,300 | $1,950 | -33% |
| Distance to CBD | 302 km | 32 km | +844% |
| Separate houses | 76% | 78% | -2pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Swan Hill — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 24% below the VIC median ($72,280 vs $95,160) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $235/week covers 78% of a $1,300/month mortgage, leaving a $282/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
With 76% houses in a 11,186-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 Swan Hill property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Swan Hill are modest for 2026 — incomes 24% below the VIC median of $95,160 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~78% of the typical mortgage ($1,018/month rent vs $1,300/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 44/100 places Swan Hill in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Swan Hill scores 44/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 11,186, median household income of $72,280/year and median weekly rent of $235. 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 Swan Hill are a median household income of $72,280/year, a dwelling mix that is 76% separate houses, roughly 3 schools and 4 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.
Swan Hill has a usual resident population of approximately 11,186, 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.
Swan Hill sits 302 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 $235 in Swan Hill, equating to approximately $12,220/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 Swan Hill is $1,300, or approximately $15,600/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.
A median weekly rent of $235 works out to $1,018/month, covering 78% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,300/month. That leaves a $282/month shortfall (around $3,384/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 $1,300 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($72,280 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.