Surrey Hills, Victoria
ABS Census 2021 Greater Melbourne

About

Surrey Hills (VIC 3127): population 13,655, median age 42, median household income $2,503/week, SEIFA IRSD decile 10. Victorian suburb guide with housing, jobs and community insights.

Surrey Hills is a suburb in Boroondara, Victoria (postcode 3127), located in the Greater Melbourne region. At the ABS Census 2021 it had a population of 13,655 people.

At a glance

Population (2021)
13,655
Median age
42
Household income
$2,503/wk
Weekly rent
$462
Unemployment
4.2%
SEIFA IRSD decile
10 / 10

Age distribution

0-4
3.9%
5-14
12.6%
15-19
7.7%
20-24
6.8%
25-34
9.8%
35-44
11.6%
45-54
15.7%
55-64
13.1%
65-74
10.9%
75-84
5.3%
85+
2.7%

Housing tenure

Owned
41.8%
Mortgage
34.7%
Rented
21.6%
Other
1.5%

Key statistics

IndicatorValue
Postcode3127
Population (2021)13,655
Males6,508 (47.7%)
Females7,145 (52.3%)
Median age42 years
Average household size2.6
Median weekly household income$2,503
Median weekly family income$3,339
Median weekly rent$462
Median monthly mortgage$3,000
Labour force7,558
Unemployment rate4.2%
Participation rate68.2%
Born overseas26.9%
Separate houses61.6%
Worked at home44.6%
SEIFA IRSD decile10 of 10
Bachelor degree or higher76.4%
Completed Year 12 or equivalent86.0%
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander residents0.3%
Residents needing assistance with core activities4.2%
Households with 2+ vehicles57.5%
Distance from Melbourne CBD12.1 km (straight line)

Age profile

Median age: 42 years. Residents under 15: 16.5%. Residents aged 65 and over: 18.8%.

Age groupPeopleShare of population
0-45333.9%
5-141,72612.6%
15-191,0507.7%
20-249276.8%
25-341,3449.8%
35-441,58011.6%
45-542,13915.7%
55-641,78413.1%
65-741,48210.9%
75-847205.3%
85 and over3682.7%

Households and families

Household typeCountShare of households
Total households5,003
Average household size2.6
One person1,16123.2%
Two persons1,59331.8%
Three persons79615.9%
Four persons98219.6%
Five persons3867.7%
Six or more persons921.8%
Family typeCountShare of families
Total families3,754
Couples with children2927.8%
Couples without children1,31735.1%
One-parent families43111.5%
Other families501.3%

Children ever born

MeasureValue
Average children per woman aged 15+1.44
Women with no children36.1%
Women with three or more children21.2%

Of the 1,948 couple families with children in Surrey Hills, 5.1% are step or blended families.

Marital status

Marital status of residents aged 15 and over in Surrey Hills.

StatusShare of adults
Married (registered marriage)53.4%
Married (de facto)7.3%
Not married39.3%

Housing

DwellingsCountShare of dwellings
Total dwellings5,440
Occupied5,00392.0%
Unoccupied4348.0%
Dwelling structureCountShare of dwellings
Separate house3,34961.6%
Semi-detached or townhouse1,02518.8%
Flat or apartment61511.3%
Other dwelling120.2%
TenureCountShare of households
Owned outright2,09141.8%
Owned with a mortgage1,73634.7%
Rented1,07921.6%
Other tenure741.5%

Weekly rent

Rent bandShare of renting households
Under $350 per week12.7%
$350 to $549 per week54.0%
$550 or more per week33.4%

1.2% of renting households rent through a state or community housing provider.

Monthly mortgage repayments

Repayment bandShare of mortgaged households
Under $1,00013.9%
$1,000 to $1,79912.9%
$1,800 to $2,99922.4%
$3,000 or more50.8%

Bedrooms per dwelling

BedroomsShare of dwellings
None or one bedroom1.8%
Two bedrooms26.0%
Three bedrooms32.8%
Four or more bedrooms39.5%

Employment

Labour force statusCountShare
Labour force7,558
Employed7,23995.8%
Unemployed3214.2%
Not in the labour force3,530
Unemployment rate4.2%
Participation rate68.2%

38.3% of employed residents work part time, fewer than 35 hours per week.

Household income

Household incomes in Surrey Hills are distributed across the following weekly bands.

Weekly household incomeShare of households
Under $65011.7%
$650 to $1,49918.6%
$1,500 to $2,99925.7%
$3,000 or more44.0%

For residents aged 15 and over, personal weekly income is distributed as follows.

Weekly personal incomeShare of residents 15+
Under $50030.3%
$500 to $99917.3%
$1,000 to $1,99925.4%
$2,000 or more27.0%

Travel to work

MethodCountShare of workers
Car driver2,32232.1%
Car passenger1682.3%
Train2153.0%
Bus150.2%
Tram490.7%
Bicycle260.4%
Walked only1432.0%
Worked at home3,22944.6%

Religious affiliation

ReligionCountShare of residents
Christianity5,90643.3%
No religion6,36346.6%
Islam870.6%
Hinduism2261.7%
Buddhism3242.4%
Judaism350.3%
Other or not stated7145.2%

Socio-economic profile (SEIFA 2021)

SEIFA deciles run from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (least disadvantaged) nationally.

IndexScoreDecilePercentile
IRSD (disadvantage)11021097
IRSAD (advantage and disadvantage)113810
IER (economic resources)10799
IEO (education and occupation)115610

Where residents were born

72.5% of residents were born in Australia and 27.5% were born overseas. The most common overseas birthplaces in Surrey Hills are listed below.

Country of birthPeopleShare of residents
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)8136.1%
England4983.7%
Malaysia2882.2%
India2071.5%
New Zealand1761.3%
Hong Kong (SAR of China)1110.8%

When overseas-born residents arrived

Year of arrivalShare of overseas-born residents
2016 to 202115.8%
2011 to 201513.8%
2001 to 201023.4%
Before 200147.1%

Languages spoken at home

79.1% of residents speak only English at home. The most common other languages in Surrey Hills are listed below. Across all households, 2.5% of residents speak English not well or not at all.

LanguagePeopleShare of residents
Chinese: Mandarin1,0668.0%
Chinese: Cantonese2772.1%
Greek2251.7%
Vietnamese1080.8%
Italian900.7%
Indo-Aryan: Hindi750.6%

Ancestry

Residents of Surrey Hills most commonly report the following ancestries.

AncestryResponsesShare of responses
English4,84325.4%
Australian3,91520.5%
Chinese2,00810.5%
Irish1,8229.6%
Scottish1,6948.9%
Italian6683.5%

Work and industry

The largest employment sectors for Surrey Hills residents are listed below.

Industry of employmentWorkersShare of workers
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services1,11315.9%
Health Care and Social Assistance1,09815.7%
Education and Training80311.5%
Retail Trade6158.8%
Financial and Insurance Services5477.8%
Construction4045.8%

The most common occupations among Surrey Hills residents are listed below.

OccupationWorkersShare of workers
Professionals2,93741.1%
Managers1,45920.4%
Clerical and Administrative Workers79311.1%
Community and Personal Service Workers6178.6%
Sales Workers5868.2%
Technicians and Trades Workers3855.4%

Education

Of residents attending an education institution in Surrey Hills, 27.0% are at university or higher education, 5.4% are at TAFE or vocational education, and 65.4% are at school.

86.0% of residents aged 15 and over have completed Year 12 or equivalent.

The most common fields of study among Surrey Hills residents with qualifications are listed below.

Field of studyPeopleShare
Management and Commerce2,30729.7%
Society and Culture1,12714.5%
Health1,06913.8%
Engineering and Related Technologies7559.7%
Education7259.3%
Natural and Physical Sciences4205.4%

Long-term health conditions

60.3% of residents report no long-term health condition. The most commonly reported conditions in Surrey Hills are listed below.

Health conditionPeopleShare of residents
Asthma1,0417.1%
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety)1,0216.9%
Arthritis9656.5%
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina)4773.2%
Cancer (including remission)4352.9%
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes)3812.6%
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema)1220.8%
Dementia (including Alzheimer's)870.6%
Stroke840.6%
Kidney disease730.5%

19.9% of residents report one condition, 5.3% report two, and 1.6% report three or more.

Community and care

How residents of Surrey Hills contribute to their community (share of residents aged 15 and over).

Community activityShare
Volunteers for an organisation or group21.7%
Provides unpaid assistance to a person with a disability or health condition15.3%
Provides unpaid child care56.2%
Does 15 or more hours of unpaid domestic work22.3%
Has served or is serving in the Australian Defence Force1.8%

Moving and stability

MobilityShare of residents
Same address 1 year ago88.2%
Moved within Victoria in the last year9.2%
Moved interstate in the last year0.4%
Moved from overseas in the last year0.9%
Same address 5 years ago64.3%
Moved within Victoria in the last 5 years23.9%
Moved interstate in the last 5 years2.2%
Moved from overseas in the last 5 years5.7%

Photo: Surrey Hills, Victoria. Credit: Peter Campbell / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Crime and safety

Victoria Police recorded 366 offences in Surrey Hills in the 12 months to March 2026.

Offence divisionRecorded offences
A Crimes against the person28
B Property and deception offences273
C Drug offences20
D Public order and security offences19
E Justice procedures offences26
F Other offences0

That is a calculated rate of 26.8 recorded offences per 1,000 residents, based on the ABS Census 2021 population. This rate was calculated by My Victoria AU and is not a Crime Statistics Agency figure.

For context, the Boroondara local government area recorded 5,670 offences per 100,000 residents in the same period. That figure is the official Crime Statistics Agency rate for the LGA.

Five-year trend

2022
237
2023
242
2024
268
2025
289
2026
366

Recorded offences count crimes reported to Victoria Police in this locality, not crimes committed by or against its residents. Areas with shopping centres, transport hubs, hospitals or entertainment precincts record more offences regardless of how safe they are for people who live there. Counts are revised as investigations progress.

Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, Data tables - Recorded offences, Year ending March 2026. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Rates per 1,000 residents are calculations by My Victoria AU using ABS Census 2021 population and are not CSA figures. View the source dataset.

Location

<iframe src="https://www.openstreetmap.org/export/embed.html?bbox=145.0876%2C-37.8343%2C145.1116%2C-37.8163&layer=mapnik&marker=-37.825277%2C145.099570" width="100%" height="320" style="border:0;border-radius:12px;max-width:100%;" loading="lazy" title="Map of Surrey Hills, Victoria"></iframe>

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby suburbs

Browse more suburbs in Boroondara, or explore the wider Greater Melbourne region of Victoria.

Data disclaimer: The statistics on this page are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Census of Population and Housing 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (ASGS Edition 3), and are used under the ABS CC BY 4.0 licence. This directory is an independent community resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ABS.

Population 13655
Median Age 42
Average Household Size 2.6
Median Weekly Household Income $2503
Median Weekly Rent $462
Median Monthly Mortgage $3000
Unemployment Rate 4.2%
Participation Rate 68.2%
Born Overseas 26.9%
Separate House 61.6%
Worked at Home 44.6%
SEIFA IRSD Decile 10
SEIFA IRSD Percentile 97
SEIFA IRSAD Decile 10
Median Weekly Family Income $3339
Postcode 3127

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Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127, Australia

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