Methodology

How we source, process, and present suburb comparison data.

Data source

Primary statistics come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Census of Population and Housing 2021, General Community Profile at the Suburbs and Localities (SAL) level.

Trend figures also use the 2016 Census General Community Profile for State Suburbs (SSC), joined to 2021 SAL boundaries with the ABS geographic correspondence file CG_SSC_2016_SAL_2021. Population charts additionally use the 2011 Census Basic Community Profile (SSC), allocated via CG_SSC_2011_SSC_2016 then onto 2021 SAL boundaries. Then-and-now tables include 2011 population and selected medians (age, income, rent, mortgage, household size) where the mapping allows.

Geography

Suburbs and Localities (SAL) are ABS-defined boundaries that approximate commonly recognised suburb names. Some suburbs include a state suffix in their official name (e.g. “Richmond (Vic.)”) to distinguish suburbs with the same name in different states.

Postcodes use the ABS Postal Area (POA) correspondence to SAL — so searching “2026” finds suburbs that fall in that postal area. A suburb may overlap more than one postcode; we show the primary (largest overlap) first.

Trends & population charts

On suburb profiles we show change in population, median rent, household income and median age where both Census 2016 and 2021 have usable values. Population growth pages chart 2011 → 2016 → 2021 where available. Because suburb boundaries were redrawn between Censuses, a small number of places will not have a clean historical match, and comparisons are approximate where overlap is partial.

SEIFA

Suburb profiles and city rankings also use ABS SEIFA 2021 indexes published for Suburbs and Localities (SAL):

IRSD — Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (lower score / decile = more relative disadvantage)
IRSAD — Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage
IER — Index of Economic Resources
IEO — Index of Education and Occupation

Scores are ABS-published index values (typically around 800–1200 nationally). Deciles rank areas from 1 (lowest 10% nationally) to 10 (highest 10%). City rankings for most disadvantaged / most advantaged use IRSD and IRSAD scores respectively, among suburbs with at least 1,000 usual residents.

Metrics

We present 17 key indicators across four categories:

People — population, median age, born overseas, household size
Income — median household and personal income (weekly)
Housing — rent, mortgage, dwelling types, tenure, unoccupied dwellings
Work — employment rate, unemployment, Year 12+ education

Percentage metrics are calculated from raw Census counts. Median values are as reported by the ABS and may be suppressed for very small areas.

Limitations

Census data is a snapshot (2016 / 2021) and does not reflect current market conditions.
Suburb boundaries may not match colloquial neighbourhood names and can change between Censuses.
Small suburbs may have suppressed or less reliable medians.
This tool is for informational purposes only — not financial or relocation advice.

Updates

Data will be refreshed when the ABS releases 2026 Census results. Rebuild with npm run fetch-data, then npm run enrich-2016, npm run enrich-2011, and npm run enrich-seifa.