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Upper Ferntree Gully

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Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria
ABS Census 2021 Greater Melbourne

About

Upper Ferntree Gully (VIC 3156): population 3,417, median age 41, median household income $2,039/week, SEIFA IRSD decile 7. Victorian suburb guide with housing, jobs and community insights.

Upper Ferntree Gully is a suburb in Knox, Victoria (postcode 3156), located in the Greater Melbourne region. At the ABS Census 2021 it had a population of 3,417 people.

At a glance

Population (2021)
3,417
Median age
41
Household income
$2,039/wk
Weekly rent
$369
Unemployment
3.3%
SEIFA IRSD decile
7 / 10

Age distribution

0-4
5.5%
5-14
11.6%
15-19
5.9%
20-24
5.4%
25-34
12.0%
35-44
12.8%
45-54
14.0%
55-64
14.2%
65-74
10.1%
75-84
5.4%
85+
2.8%

Housing tenure

Owned
36.5%
Mortgage
47.8%
Rented
14.0%
Other
0.4%

Key statistics

IndicatorValue
Postcode3156
Population (2021)3,417
Males1,683 (49.3%)
Females1,737 (50.8%)
Median age41 years
Average household size2.6
Median weekly household income$2,039
Median weekly family income$2,411
Median weekly rent$369
Median monthly mortgage$2,000
Labour force1,882
Unemployment rate3.3%
Participation rate68.9%
Born overseas19.2%
Separate houses92.1%
Worked at home25.9%
SEIFA IRSD decile7 of 10
Bachelor degree or higher44.1%
Completed Year 12 or equivalent63.0%
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander residents0.4%
Residents needing assistance with core activities7.7%
Households with 2+ vehicles65.6%
Distance from Melbourne CBD32.0 km (straight line)

Age profile

Median age: 41 years. Residents under 15: 17.1%. Residents aged 65 and over: 18.4%.

Age groupPeopleShare of population
0-41875.5%
5-1439611.6%
15-192035.9%
20-241835.4%
25-3440912.0%
35-4443712.8%
45-5447814.0%
55-6448414.2%
65-7434610.1%
75-841865.4%
85 and over962.8%

Households and families

Household typeCountShare of households
Total households1,234
Average household size2.6
One person28222.9%
Two persons40332.7%
Three persons23018.6%
Four persons20416.5%
Five persons826.6%
Six or more persons282.3%
Family typeCountShare of families
Total families942
Couples with children303.2%
Couples without children33735.8%
One-parent families14315.2%
Other families141.5%

Children ever born

MeasureValue
Average children per woman aged 15+1.62
Women with no children30.5%
Women with three or more children25.2%

Of the 444 couple families with children in Upper Ferntree Gully, 8.8% are step or blended families.

Marital status

Marital status of residents aged 15 and over in Upper Ferntree Gully.

StatusShare of adults
Married (registered marriage)44.9%
Married (de facto)15.9%
Not married39.1%

Housing

DwellingsCountShare of dwellings
Total dwellings1,288
Occupied1,23495.8%
Unoccupied574.4%
Dwelling structureCountShare of dwellings
Separate house1,18692.1%
Semi-detached or townhouse181.4%
Flat or apartment191.5%
Other dwelling00.0%
TenureCountShare of households
Owned outright45036.5%
Owned with a mortgage59047.8%
Rented17314.0%
Other tenure50.4%

Weekly rent

Rent bandShare of renting households
Under $350 per week42.7%
$350 to $549 per week55.4%
$550 or more per week1.9%

0.0% of renting households rent through a state or community housing provider.

Monthly mortgage repayments

Repayment bandShare of mortgaged households
Under $1,00014.6%
$1,000 to $1,79926.3%
$1,800 to $2,99943.4%
$3,000 or more15.7%

Bedrooms per dwelling

BedroomsShare of dwellings
None or one bedroom2.2%
Two bedrooms15.6%
Three bedrooms48.1%
Four or more bedrooms34.2%

Employment

Labour force statusCountShare
Labour force1,882
Employed1,81596.4%
Unemployed623.3%
Not in the labour force850
Unemployment rate3.3%
Participation rate68.9%

39.1% of employed residents work part time, fewer than 35 hours per week.

Household income

Household incomes in Upper Ferntree Gully are distributed across the following weekly bands.

Weekly household incomeShare of households
Under $65012.5%
$650 to $1,49925.2%
$1,500 to $2,99933.6%
$3,000 or more28.7%

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

Weekly personal incomeShare of residents 15+
Under $50033.9%
$500 to $99922.4%
$1,000 to $1,99929.6%
$2,000 or more14.1%

Travel to work

MethodCountShare of workers
Car driver92250.8%
Car passenger482.6%
Train372.0%
Bus140.8%
Tram00.0%
Bicycle00.0%
Walked only211.2%
Worked at home47025.9%

Religious affiliation

ReligionCountShare of residents
Christianity1,26937.1%
No religion1,86054.4%
Islam90.3%
Hinduism110.3%
Buddhism391.1%
Judaism00.0%
Other or not stated2296.7%

Socio-economic profile (SEIFA 2021)

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

IndexScoreDecilePercentile
IRSD (disadvantage)1046770
IRSAD (advantage and disadvantage)10278
IER (economic resources)10497
IEO (education and occupation)10338

Where residents were born

81.1% of residents were born in Australia and 18.9% were born overseas. The most common overseas birthplaces in Upper Ferntree Gully are listed below.

Country of birthPeopleShare of residents
England1725.3%
New Zealand451.4%
Germany351.1%
India341.0%
South Africa240.7%
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)220.7%

When overseas-born residents arrived

Year of arrivalShare of overseas-born residents
2016 to 20213.4%
2011 to 20155.5%
2001 to 201019.2%
Before 200171.9%

Languages spoken at home

91.3% of residents speak only English at home. The most common other languages in Upper Ferntree Gully are listed below. Across all households, 0.9% of residents speak English not well or not at all.

LanguagePeopleShare of residents
German411.2%
Greek260.8%
Chinese: Mandarin250.8%
Italian170.5%
Polish140.4%
Indo-Aryan: Sinhalese140.4%

Ancestry

Residents of Upper Ferntree Gully most commonly report the following ancestries.

AncestryResponsesShare of responses
English1,41128.8%
Australian1,32227.0%
Irish4399.0%
Scottish4268.7%
German2344.8%
Dutch1332.7%

Work and industry

The largest employment sectors for Upper Ferntree Gully residents are listed below.

Industry of employmentWorkersShare of workers
Health Care and Social Assistance27315.6%
Construction23513.4%
Education and Training18710.7%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services1649.4%
Retail Trade1589.0%
Manufacturing1408.0%

The most common occupations among Upper Ferntree Gully residents are listed below.

OccupationWorkersShare of workers
Professionals46426.0%
Technicians and Trades Workers27715.5%
Managers24914.0%
Community and Personal Service Workers22712.7%
Clerical and Administrative Workers20511.5%
Sales Workers1377.7%

Education

Of residents attending an education institution in Upper Ferntree Gully, 17.9% are at university or higher education, 9.2% are at TAFE or vocational education, and 70.7% are at school.

63.0% of residents aged 15 and over have completed Year 12 or equivalent.

The most common fields of study among Upper Ferntree Gully residents with qualifications are listed below.

Field of studyPeopleShare
Engineering and Related Technologies28817.2%
Society and Culture24914.9%
Management and Commerce24214.4%
Health21913.1%
Education1669.9%
Architecture and Building1619.6%

Long-term health conditions

49.1% of residents report no long-term health condition. The most commonly reported conditions in Upper Ferntree Gully are listed below.

Health conditionPeopleShare of residents
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety)40510.1%
Arthritis3548.9%
Asthma2967.4%
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina)1483.7%
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes)1303.3%
Cancer (including remission)1042.6%
Dementia (including Alzheimer's)721.8%
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema)591.5%
Stroke451.1%
Kidney disease411.0%

22.0% of residents report one condition, 7.2% report two, and 4.0% report three or more.

Community and care

How residents of Upper Ferntree Gully contribute to their community (share of residents aged 15 and over).

Community activityShare
Volunteers for an organisation or group15.2%
Provides unpaid assistance to a person with a disability or health condition14.5%
Provides unpaid child care54.7%
Does 15 or more hours of unpaid domestic work23.5%
Has served or is serving in the Australian Defence Force2.5%

Moving and stability

MobilityShare of residents
Same address 1 year ago91.1%
Moved within Victoria in the last year7.7%
Moved interstate in the last year0.3%
Moved from overseas in the last year0.3%
Same address 5 years ago72.1%
Moved within Victoria in the last 5 years22.9%
Moved interstate in the last 5 years0.9%
Moved from overseas in the last 5 years1.4%

Photo: Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria. Credit: Matthew Paul Argall / CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Crime and safety

Victoria Police recorded 225 offences in Upper Ferntree Gully in the 12 months to March 2026.

Offence divisionRecorded offences
A Crimes against the person34
B Property and deception offences149
C Drug offences21
D Public order and security offences13
E Justice procedures offences5
F Other offences3

That is a calculated rate of 65.8 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 Knox local government area recorded 6,190 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
145
2023
170
2024
179
2025
242
2026
225

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=145.2997%2C-37.9077%2C145.3237%2C-37.8897&layer=mapnik&marker=-37.898656%2C145.311685" width="100%" height="320" style="border:0;border-radius:12px;max-width:100%;" loading="lazy" title="Map of Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria"></iframe>

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby suburbs

Browse more suburbs in Knox, 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 3417
Median Age 41
Average Household Size 2.6
Median Weekly Household Income $2039
Median Weekly Rent $369
Median Monthly Mortgage $2000
Unemployment Rate 3.3%
Participation Rate 68.9%
Born Overseas 19.2%
Separate House 92.1%
Worked at Home 25.9%
SEIFA IRSD Decile 7
SEIFA IRSD Percentile 70
SEIFA IRSAD Decile 8
Median Weekly Family Income $2411
Postcode 3156

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Upper Ferntree Gully, Victoria 3156, Australia
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