Kew (Vic.), VIC

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 1 June 2026

Kew is a leafy, well-to-do suburb of Melbourne, set on a bend of the Yarra River a few kilometres east of the city within the City of Boroondara. The area is part of the country of the Wurundjeri people, and the surrounding parish was given the Woiwurrung name Boroondara, said to mean 'a place of shade'. The suburb itself was named in 1851 by Nicholas Fenwick, who subdivided his land and borrowed the name of Kew in London — much as the nearby riverside district had taken the name Richmond — laying out streets named for British statesmen. It quickly became a sought-after address, and the commercial hub of Kew Junction grew up through the 1850s. Kew is known today for its grand period homes, historic mansions such as Raheen, and a remarkable concentration of established private schools.

98/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Kew (Vic.) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1134, 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 Kew (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.

74/100

Livability

Strong on the data we score

A weighted blend of the 3 components we can score for Kew (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

98/100

Among 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

8/100

Among the more expensive suburbs

Median weekly rent was $476 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 8% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021

Amenities & access

92/100

Plenty mapped nearby

About 209 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.

Kew (Vic.) at a glance

Population (2021): 24,499
Median age: 41
Median weekly household income: $2,497
SEIFA score: 1134
Local government area: Boroondara
Coordinates: -37.8015, 145.0411

Map of Kew (Vic.)

Housing & property in Kew (Vic.)

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

Median rent: $476; per week
Median mortgage: $3,000; per month
Owner-occupied: 69%; of dwellings
Rented: 29%; of dwellings

The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Kew (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 Kew (Vic.) for yourself.

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

Kew (Vic.) demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Kew (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 27% and 32% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	3,708	15%
Youth (15–24)	3,463	14%
Young adults (25–44)	5,998	24%
Mid-life (45–64)	6,590	27%
Seniors (65+)	4,745	19%

Share of the 24,504 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	3,583	40%
Owned with a mortgage	2,628	29%
Rented	2,590	29%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	4,577	50%
Townhouses & semis	2,137	24%
Flats & apartments	2,324	26%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 9,069 occupied private dwellings in Kew (Vic.).

Average household size: 2.5 people
Median weekly family income: $3,301
Median weekly personal income: $1,120

Community and culture

Born overseas: 7,505 (32%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 6,455 (27%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 92 (0%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 16,245 (83%)
Labour-force participation: 63.6%
Unemployment rate: 3.9%
Employed full-time: 7,475
Employed part-time: 4,483

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 Kew (Vic.)

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Kew (Vic.) 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).

Places in and around Kew (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

35 nearby

Skinny Dog Hotel · Postmaster Hotel · KFC · McDonald's · Harp of Erin Hotel · Willo Cafe

Parks & recreation

130 nearby

Alexandra Gardens · Victoria Park · Kew Tennis Club · Eglinton Reserve · Jack O'Toole Reserve · Hyde Park

Shops & groceries

15 nearby

Kew Friendly Supermarket · IGA · Cannings Free Range Butchers · Bakers Delight · Laurent Bakery · Woodfrog Bakery

Healthcare

11 nearby

Willsmere Dental · Star Pharmacy · Kew Junction Medical Clinic · Kew Skin Therapy · Harp Village Pharmacy · Chemist Warehouse

Schools & education

13 nearby

Peppercorn early learning · Ruyton Girls' School · Kew Primary School · Kew East Primary School · Sacred Heart Primary School · St Anne's Primary School

Things to do

5 nearby

Kew Toy Library · Kew Court House · Sentinel · Kew Library

Eat & drink in and around Kew (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.

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Adeney Milkbar CafeCafé
70 Adeney Avenue, Kew
Bivio's Pizza BistroRestaurant
Briquettes CafeCafé
6 Harp Rd
ChicciRestaurant
321 High Street, Kewchicci.com.au
Chook and ChipsTakeaway
329 High Street
CocoaCafé
Di Palma'sRestaurant
Dumpling GuysTakeaway
313 High Street, Kewdumplingguys.orderup.com.au
EstivoRestaurant
Fly LieBar
309 High Street, Kew
Funky FillingsTakeaway
Harp of Erin HotelPub
KFCTakeaway
349 High Streetkfc.com.au
KucheCafé
682 High Street, Kew Eastkucheonhigh.com.au
Little Pho Tuck ShopRestaurant
6 Woodford Avenue, Kew
McDonald'sTakeaway
261-267 High Streetmcdonalds.com.au
Ora Specialty CoffeeCafé
156 Parkington Street, Kew
Penang CornerRestaurant
Postmaster HotelPub
186 High Streetpostmasterhotel.com
Skinny Dog HotelPub
155 High Streetskinnydoghotel.com.au
Strictly ThaiRestaurant
SubwayTakeaway
221 High Streetsubway.com.au
Thai TerraceRestaurant
164 Pakington Street, Kewthaiterracerestaurant.com.au
The Burger BlockRestaurant
85 Willsmere Road, Kewtheburgerblock.com
Tomomi Japanese RestaurantRestaurant
8 Cotham Road, Kew
Tsuko'sCafé
V SeriesRestaurant
26 Princess Streetvseries.com.au
Vicky's RestaurantRestaurant
5-7 Strathalbyn Street, Kew East
Willo CafeCafé
56 Willsmere Road, Kew
Zakka LifeCafé

Showing 30 mapped places; more may exist that aren't yet on OpenStreetMap.

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Common questions about Kew (Vic.)

Is Kew (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, Kew (Vic.) rates 74/100 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 Kew (Vic.)?

At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Kew (Vic.) was $476, 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 Kew (Vic.)?

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

What is the population of Kew (Vic.)?

At the 2021 Census, Kew (Vic.) had a population of about 24,499.

Is Kew (Vic.) an advantaged area?

Kew (Vic.) has an ABS SEIFA score of 1134, 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 Kew (Vic.)?

Kew (Vic.) 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 Kew (Vic.) ranks

Kew (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#16 of 25

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