Brighton (Vic.), VIC

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 30 May 2026

Brighton is an affluent bayside suburb of Melbourne, about 11 km south-east of the city centre in the City of Bayside. It is best known for the row of 82 brightly painted bathing boxes that line Dendy Street Beach — one of the city's most photographed sights — and for its swimming beaches, the Middle Brighton Pier and the enclosed Middle Brighton Baths. The Church Street precinct offers upmarket shopping, and the Royal Brighton Yacht Club sits on the foreshore. Large period homes and leafy garden streets give the suburb its character. Brighton takes its name from the seaside resort of Brighton in England.

99/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Brighton (Vic.) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 99% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1145, 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 Brighton (Vic.) 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.

73/100

Livability

Strong on the data we score

A weighted blend of the 3 components we can score for Brighton (Vic.) 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

99/100

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (99/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021

Housing affordability

3/100

Among the more expensive suburbs

Median weekly rent was $600 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 3% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021

Amenities & access

92/100

Plenty mapped nearby

About 268 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap

Not yet scored

We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.

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.

Brighton (Vic.) at a glance

Population (2021): 23,252
Median age: 48
Median weekly household income: $2,710
SEIFA score: 1145
Local government area: Bayside (Vic.)
Coordinates: -37.9061, 144.9960

Map of Brighton (Vic.)

Housing & property in Brighton (Vic.)

What it costs to live in Brighton (Vic.) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.

Median rent: $600; per week
Median mortgage: $3,467; per month
Owner-occupied: 73%; of dwellings
Rented: 24%; of dwellings

The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Brighton (Vic.) demographics section below.

How we treat property data. StreetScout shows official ABS housing figures and nothing more — no sale-price estimates, no real-estate agent referrals or lead capture, and we never pass your details to anyone. Just the public data, so you can read Brighton (Vic.) for yourself.

Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.

Brighton (Vic.) demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Brighton (Vic.) 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 29% and 28% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	3,616	16%
Youth (15–24)	2,725	12%
Young adults (25–44)	4,287	18%
Mid-life (45–64)	6,844	29%
Seniors (65+)	5,793	25%

Share of the 23,265 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	4,048	45%
Owned with a mortgage	2,522	28%
Rented	2,131	24%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	5,133	57%
Townhouses & semis	2,011	22%
Flats & apartments	1,777	20%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 8,985 occupied private dwellings in Brighton (Vic.).

Average household size: 2.4 people
Median weekly family income: $3,778
Median weekly personal income: $1,259

Community and culture

Born overseas: 6,369 (28%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 3,655 (16%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 59 (0%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 14,751 (79%)
Labour-force participation: 59.4%
Unemployment rate: 3.7%
Employed full-time: 6,538
Employed part-time: 4,029

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 Brighton (Vic.)

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Brighton (Vic.) is January (average daytime high around 25.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 13.2°C). The area receives roughly 800 mm of rain across the year.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain
Jan	25.9°C	15.5°C	60 mm
Feb	24.9°C	15°C	40 mm
Mar	23.4°C	14.2°C	51 mm
Apr	19.9°C	11.6°C	68 mm
May	16.3°C	9.6°C	70 mm
Jun	13.8°C	7.5°C	68 mm
Jul	13.2°C	7.1°C	59 mm
Aug	13.8°C	7.3°C	76 mm
Sep	16.4°C	8.4°C	70 mm
Oct	19.3°C	9.8°C	84 mm
Nov	21.1°C	11.7°C	86 mm
Dec	23.7°C	13.4°C	68 mm

Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).

Places in and around Brighton (Vic.)

Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.

Eat & drink

65 nearby

Hotel Brighton · Two Many Chefs · The Baths · Subway · Brighton International · Olympic Bar

Parks & recreation

162 nearby

Ideal Personal Fitness · Brighton Swim School Aquatics · William Street Reserve · Wilson Reserve · Kamesburgh Gardens · Cora Lynn Park

Shops & groceries

16 nearby

Coles · Brumby's Bakeries · BP Shop · Fruit Specialists · Crowley's Butchery · Dockendorf Grocer

Healthcare

13 nearby

Brighton Discount Chemist · Chemist Warehouse · Brighton Family Medical Cenre · Love Dental · Brighton Spine & Sports Clnic · Dentalcare On Bay

Schools & education

6 nearby

Brighton Kids Childcare · Brighton Primary School · Star of the Sea College · St James Catholic Primary School · Brighton Grammar School · Firbank Grammar School

Things to do

6 nearby

Bayside Gallery · Summertime 2017 · Palace Brighton Bay · Brighton Library

Eat & drink in and around Brighton (Vic.)

Cafés, restaurants, pubs and takeaway mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre. Listings are drawn from OpenStreetMap and shown as plain data — we don't rank or rate them.

Own a café, restaurant or pub around here?

Claim your listing to feature it at the top of this section. Placement is paid advertising, clearly labelled — never editorial opinion.

Claim this listing

AkabaRestaurant
293 Bay Street, Brighton
Akiya Japanese RestaurantRestaurant
Back 2 NatureCafé
393 Bay Streetback2natureorganic.com
Bay Street Grill and PasteCafé
296 Bay Street, Brightonbaystreetgrillandpasta.com
Betty's BurgersTakeaway
22-24 Church Street
Bistro La ProvenceRestaurant
Botticelli of BrightonRestaurant
40A Church Street
Bowl Me OverCafé
414 New Street, Brighton
Bright 'N' FreshCafé
Brighton Bay Pizza & PastaTakeaway
322 Bay Street, Brightonbrightonbaypizza.com.au
Brighton InternationalRestaurant
Brighton SchoolhouseCafé
Buffalo BoyRestaurant
279 Bay Street, Brightonbuffaloboy.com.au
Captain & Co.Takeaway
310 Bay Street, Brightoncaptainandcofishbar.com.au
Dendi DeliRestaurant
Church Street, Brighton
Dumpling ParlourCafé
423 Bay Streetdumplingparlour.com.au
Fish n chipsTakeaway
Fish TankTakeaway
20 Church Street
Flatheads Fish & ChipsTakeaway
Brighton
FlorinetineRestaurant
Church Street, Brighton
FujiyamaRestaurant
292 Bay Street, Brightonfujiyama.com.au
Hachi KichiRestaurant
370 Bay Street, Brighton
Hecho En MexicoCafé
299 Bay Street, Brightonhechoenmexico.com.au
Holy Grounds CafeCafé
90 Church Street
Hotel BrightonPub
286 Bay Street, Brightonhotelbrighton.com.au
Humble HouseRestaurant
11 Church Street
IchikaRestaurant
Indian PalaceRestaurant
IsukiTakeaway
Brighton
KFCTakeaway
kfc.com.au
Kokoro SushiRestaurant
39A Church Street
Le Cinque TerreCafé
289 Bay Street, Brightonlecinqueterre.com.au
Little SisterCafé
350 Bay Street, Brighton
mothersMilk BrightonBar
Bay Street, Brighton
MylkCafé
65 Church Street
Olympic BarBar
rbyc.org.au
Pacco Pizzeria, Bakery & DeliTakeaway
7 Church Streetpantry.com.au
PantryRestaurant
1 Church Streetpantry.com.au
Pearl on BayCafé
300 Bay Street, Brightonpearlonbay.com.au
Raw GaloreCafé
21 Carpenter Street
Rice & NoodleTakeaway
Bay Street, Brighton
RoCafé
411 Bay Street
rocksaltCafé
364 Bay Street, Brightonrocksalt.net.au
Shalimar Indian RestaurantRestaurant
343 Bay Street, Brightonshalimar.com.au
Siriphren ThaiRestaurant
325 Bay Street, Brightonsiriphenthai.com.au
SubwayTakeaway
subway.com.au
SuperrandomCafé
416 New Street, Brighton
TakersRestaurant
rbyc.org.au
Ten Greek PlatesRestaurant
136 - 138 Martin Street
The BathsCafé
Brightonmiddlebrightonbaths.com.au
The BathsBar
Brighton
The BathsRestaurant
Brightonmiddlebrightonbaths.com.au
The BeaneryCafé
69 Church Streetthebeanery.com.au
The Royale BrothersTakeaway
1 Church Street
Turkish PlaceTakeaway
344 Bay Street
Two Many ChefsCafé
305 Bay Street, Brightontoomanychiefs.org
Vivace RistoranteRestaurant
317 Bay Street, Brightonvivace.com.au
Waterfront BrightonRestaurant
25-27 Church Street
Wild Bean CafeCafé
bp.com
ZeppelinCafé
368 Bay Street, Brightonzeppelinbakehouse.com

Showing 60 mapped places; more may exist that aren't yet on OpenStreetMap.

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Common questions about Brighton (Vic.)

Is Brighton (Vic.) a good place to live?

There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage, housing affordability and amenities, Brighton (Vic.) rates 73/100 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 Brighton (Vic.)?

At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Brighton (Vic.) was $600, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $3,467. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.

Where is Brighton (Vic.)?

Brighton (Vic.) is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Bayside (Vic.) local government area.

What is the population of Brighton (Vic.)?

At the 2021 Census, Brighton (Vic.) had a population of about 23,252.

Is Brighton (Vic.) an advantaged area?

Brighton (Vic.) has an ABS SEIFA score of 1145, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 99 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 99% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Brighton (Vic.)?

Brighton (Vic.) has average daytime highs of about 19.3°C and overnight lows of about 10.9°C, with roughly 800 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).

Does Brighton (Vic.) have high household incomes?

Brighton (Vic.) has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in Victoria — the 20th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($2,710 per week).

Where Brighton (Vic.) ranks

Brighton (Vic.) appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.

Most socio-economically advantaged suburbs in Victoria#9 of 25
Highest-income suburbs in Victoria#20 of 25

Nearby suburbs in Victoria

More suburb guides in Victoria

Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.