Craigieburn, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Craigieburn sits about 25 kilometres north of central Melbourne, a satellite suburb on the city's northern urban-rural fringe in the City of Hume, rising towards Mount Ridley at its edge. The Wurundjeri people are the first people of the area. The suburb takes its name from an old bluestone inn that once served travellers along the Old Sydney Road; the name joins the Gaelic craigie, meaning craggy, with the Scots word burn, a stream. Craigieburn was a small farming hamlet by the 1860s, gained a railway station on the line to Seymour in 1872, and stayed quiet until 1972, when the first big residential subdivision began its transformation into one of Melbourne's major growth suburbs. The Hume Highway, which long ran through the centre, was diverted around the town by the Craigieburn Bypass in 2005, and the railway line was electrified through to Craigieburn in 2007. Today it is a large, fast-growing and notably multicultural suburb with extensive new estates, shopping centres and sporting facilities.
Less advantaged than the national average
Craigieburn is more socio-economically advantaged than about 32% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 956, 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.
Craigieburn at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 65,178
- Median age
- 32
- Median weekly household income
- $1,798
- SEIFA score
- 956
- Coordinates
- -37.5814, 144.9259
Craigieburn demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Craigieburn 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 35%, 28% of homes are rented, and 51% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 16,759 | 26% |
| Youth (15–24) | 8,545 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 22,985 | 35% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 12,455 | 19% |
| Seniors (65+) | 4,439 | 7% |
Share of the 65,183 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,855 | 15% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 10,166 | 54% |
| Rented | 5,379 | 28% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 16,907 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,812 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 222 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 18,965 occupied private dwellings in Craigieburn.
- Median weekly rent
- $380
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,850
- Average household size
- 3.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,855
- Median weekly personal income
- $700
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 31,681 (51%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 38,543 (63%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 424 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 29,061 (63%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.8%
- Employed full-time
- 16,537
- Employed part-time
- 9,555
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 Craigieburn
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Craigieburn is January (average daytime high around 26.5°C) and the coolest is July (around 11.3°C). The area receives roughly 763 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26.5°C | 13.9°C | 60 mm |
| Feb | 25.2°C | 13.2°C | 28 mm |
| Mar | 23.1°C | 12.3°C | 53 mm |
| Apr | 18.7°C | 9.7°C | 65 mm |
| May | 14.5°C | 7.4°C | 65 mm |
| Jun | 11.8°C | 5.6°C | 72 mm |
| Jul | 11.3°C | 5°C | 50 mm |
| Aug | 12.1°C | 5°C | 68 mm |
| Sep | 14.9°C | 6.2°C | 70 mm |
| Oct | 18.4°C | 7.8°C | 81 mm |
| Nov | 20.6°C | 9.8°C | 83 mm |
| Dec | 23.9°C | 11.5°C | 68 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Craigieburn
Where is Craigieburn?
Craigieburn is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Craigieburn?
At the 2021 Census, Craigieburn had a population of about 65,178.
Is Craigieburn an advantaged area?
Craigieburn has an ABS SEIFA score of 956, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 32 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 32% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Craigieburn?
Craigieburn has average daytime highs of about 18.4°C and overnight lows of about 9°C, with roughly 763 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Craigieburn?
Craigieburn is one of the most populous suburbs in Australia — the 2nd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 65,178 usual residents).
Where Craigieburn ranks
Craigieburn appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Australia#2 of 25
- Largest suburbs in Victoria#2 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.