Balwyn, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Balwyn is a leafy, affluent suburb about 10 kilometres east of central Melbourne in the City of Boroondara, and the recognised traditional owners of the area are the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation. The name dates to the late 1850s, when Andrew Murray, a writer for The Argus newspaper, built a house on the hill above Canterbury Gardens and called it Balwyn, said to combine the Gaelic bal and the Saxon wyn to mean the home of the vine. Balwyn Road and the wider district took their name from the house. Largely farmland and grand estates in the nineteenth century, Balwyn filled with housing as Melbourne expanded, and today it is among Victoria's most sought-after suburbs. Local landmarks include the long-running Balwyn Cinema and the Maranoa Botanic Gardens, which is devoted to native plants.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Balwyn is more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1105, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Balwyn a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Balwyn from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
96/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (96/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
9/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $451 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 9% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Balwyn at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 13,495
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,975
- SEIFA score
- 1105
- Local government area
- Boroondara
- Coordinates
- -37.8099, 145.0873
Map of Balwyn
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Balwyn
What it costs to live in Balwyn and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $451
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $3,000
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 69%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 27%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Balwyn demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Balwyn demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Balwyn using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is mid-life (45–64) at 27% and 47% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,184 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,845 | 14% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 3,026 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,591 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,850 | 21% |
Share of the 13,496 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,145 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,376 | 27% |
| Rented | 1,356 | 27% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,977 | 59% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,320 | 26% |
| Flats & apartments | 768 | 15% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 5,080 occupied private dwellings in Balwyn.
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,492
- Median weekly personal income
- $850
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 6,141 (47%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 6,186 (47%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 32 (0%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 8,638 (81%)
- Labour-force participation
- 57.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 5%
- Employed full-time
- 3,574
- Employed part-time
- 2,300
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Balwyn
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Balwyn is January (average daytime high around 27°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.9°C). The area receives roughly 724 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27°C | 14.9°C | 62 mm |
| Feb | 25.8°C | 14.1°C | 32 mm |
| Mar | 24°C | 13.3°C | 47 mm |
| Apr | 20°C | 10.5°C | 62 mm |
| May | 16°C | 8.4°C | 63 mm |
| Jun | 13.4°C | 6.5°C | 63 mm |
| Jul | 12.9°C | 6.1°C | 50 mm |
| Aug | 13.7°C | 6.2°C | 59 mm |
| Sep | 16.3°C | 7.3°C | 65 mm |
| Oct | 19.6°C | 8.8°C | 76 mm |
| Nov | 21.6°C | 10.8°C | 79 mm |
| Dec | 24.5°C | 12.6°C | 66 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Balwyn
Is Balwyn a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Balwyn rates 67/100 overall (Strong on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Balwyn?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Balwyn was $451, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $3,000. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Balwyn?
Balwyn is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Boroondara local government area.
What is the population of Balwyn?
At the 2021 Census, Balwyn had a population of about 13,495.
Is Balwyn an advantaged area?
Balwyn has an ABS SEIFA score of 1105, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 96 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Balwyn?
Balwyn has average daytime highs of about 19.6°C and overnight lows of about 10°C, with roughly 724 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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