Hawthorn East, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Hawthorn East is a leafy, well-established suburb about seven kilometres east of central Melbourne, in the City of Boroondara. The Wurundjeri people are the traditional owners of the land, having lived in the area for many thousands of years, and are today represented by the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation. The suburb took shape in the late nineteenth century, and many of its gracious period homes and buildings survive. Daily life centres on two shopping strips, along Glenferrie Road and Burke Road, while Fritsch Holzer Park, named after the brickmakers who once worked the site, and Anderson Park, with its sweeping views of the city skyline, give residents generous open space. The supermarket group Coles has its head office in the suburb, on a site once occupied by the Toorak Drive-In Theatre.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Hawthorn East is more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1132, 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 Hawthorn East 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 Hawthorn East 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
98/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (98/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
15/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $415 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 15% 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.
Hawthorn East at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 14,834
- Median age
- 36
- Median weekly household income
- $2,253
- SEIFA score
- 1132
- Local government area
- Boroondara
- Coordinates
- -37.8307, 145.0498
Map of Hawthorn East
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Hawthorn East
What it costs to live in Hawthorn East and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $415
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,500
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 57%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 40%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Hawthorn East demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Hawthorn East demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Hawthorn East 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 34% and 32% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,205 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,951 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 5,043 | 34% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,403 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,247 | 15% |
Share of the 14,849 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,845 | 29% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,767 | 28% |
| Rented | 2,493 | 40% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,067 | 33% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,124 | 18% |
| Flats & apartments | 3,044 | 49% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 6,250 occupied private dwellings in Hawthorn East.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,242
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,244
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 4,556 (32%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 3,588 (25%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 40 (0%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 10,203 (84%)
- Labour-force participation
- 69.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4%
- Employed full-time
- 5,469
- Employed part-time
- 2,580
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 Hawthorn East
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Hawthorn East 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 Hawthorn East
Is Hawthorn East 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, Hawthorn East rates 70/100 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 Hawthorn East?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Hawthorn East was $415, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,500. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Hawthorn East?
Hawthorn East is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Boroondara local government area.
What is the population of Hawthorn East?
At the 2021 Census, Hawthorn East had a population of about 14,834.
Is Hawthorn East an advantaged area?
Hawthorn East has an ABS SEIFA score of 1132, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 98 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Hawthorn East?
Hawthorn East 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).
Where Hawthorn East ranks
Hawthorn East appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
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