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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Willow Grove is a regional centre in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 654, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 109 km from the Melbourne CBD, Willow Grove is a regional area in Victoria. The median household income is $93,652 per year.
Strong household incomes in Willow Grove underpin solid property demand. Distance from major centres is a consideration, though regional markets can offer higher rental yields.
Official Australia Post postcode for Willow Grove. 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 Willow Grove 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.
Willow Grove is a smaller community of 654 — about 9% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. At $93,652/year, household income in Willow Grove is within 2% of the Victoria median ($95,160), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Median rent of $243/week (~$1,053/month) covers only 66% of the median mortgage of $1,600/month — the remaining $547/month must be funded from other income, so this suburb tilts toward capital growth rather than yield. Willow Grove is 109 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Separate houses make up 93% of dwellings — 15 percentage points above the Victoria median of 78% — pointing to a family-oriented, land-rich market where value is concentrated in the underlying block.
How Willow Grove stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Willow Grove sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Willow Grove | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 654 | 7,416 | -91% |
| Median household income | $93,652/yr | $95,160/yr | -2% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $243 | $380 | -36% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,600 | $1,950 | -18% |
| Distance to CBD | 109 km | 32 km | +241% |
| Separate houses | 93% | 78% | +15pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Willow Grove — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 654 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Victoria market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $243/week covers 66% of a $1,600/month mortgage, leaving a $547/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
With 93% houses in a 654-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 Willow Grove property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Willow Grove are modest for 2026 — incomes close to the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 654 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~66% of the typical mortgage ($1,053/month rent vs $1,600/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 40/100 places Willow Grove 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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Willow Grove scores 40/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 654, median household income of $93,652/year and median weekly rent of $243. 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 Willow Grove are a median household income of $93,652/year, a dwelling mix that is 93% 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.
Willow Grove has a usual resident population of approximately 654, 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.
Willow Grove sits 109 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 $243 in Willow Grove, equating to approximately $12,636/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 Willow Grove is $1,600, or approximately $19,200/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 $243 works out to $1,053/month, covering 66% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,600/month. That leaves a $547/month shortfall (around $6,564/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 (654 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,600 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.
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.