Carnegie, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Carnegie is a lively, multicultural suburb in Melbourne's south-east, on the railway line between Caulfield and Oakleigh in the City of Glen Eira. Its heart is Koornang Road, a well-regarded eat street where cafes, restaurants and grocers offer cuisines from around the world between Dandenong Road and Neerim Road. The suburb was originally called Rosstown, after the property developer William Murray Ross, whose ambitious sugar-beet mill and private railway were begun in the eighteen-seventies but never came into use. It was renamed Carnegie in 1909, reportedly in a bid to win library funding from the philanthropist Andrew Carnegie. Today Packer Park, with its historic velodrome once used by Olympic cyclists, anchors local recreation, while the leafy Djerring Trail follows the rail line and links Carnegie to neighbouring Murrumbeena and Caulfield.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Carnegie is more socio-economically advantaged than about 93% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1088, 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.
Carnegie at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 17,909
- Median age
- 36
- Median weekly household income
- $1,878
- SEIFA score
- 1088
- Coordinates
- -37.8948, 145.0561
Carnegie demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Carnegie 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 young adults (25–44) at 38%, 42% of homes are rented, and 45% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,482 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 2,076 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 6,751 | 38% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,859 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,735 | 15% |
Share of the 17,903 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,047 | 26% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 2,258 | 29% |
| Rented | 3,300 | 42% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,493 | 32% |
| Townhouses & semis | 2,199 | 28% |
| Flats & apartments | 3,097 | 40% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 7,808 occupied private dwellings in Carnegie.
- Median weekly rent
- $395
- Median monthly mortgage
- $2,040
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,545
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,005
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 7,772 (45%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 6,886 (40%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 57 (0%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 11,876 (79%)
- Labour-force participation
- 69%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.6%
- Employed full-time
- 6,375
- Employed part-time
- 3,237
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 Carnegie
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Carnegie 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).
Common questions about Carnegie
Where is Carnegie?
Carnegie is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Carnegie?
At the 2021 Census, Carnegie had a population of about 17,909.
Is Carnegie an advantaged area?
Carnegie has an ABS SEIFA score of 1088, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 93 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 93% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Carnegie?
Carnegie 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).
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.