Reservoir (Vic.), VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Reservoir sits about twelve kilometres north of central Melbourne, within the City of Darebin. The land was first surveyed by Robert Hoddle in 1837 and drew its boundaries from the earlier Jika Jika and Keelbundoora parishes. The Rose Shamrock Hotel opened on Plenty Road in 1854, and a post office followed around 1921, by which time Reservoir had taken shape as a suburb. Its name comes from a trio of water reservoirs first built in 1863 and known collectively as the Preston Reservoir, which still helps supply Melbourne's inner and western suburbs; the Maroondah Aqueduct was added between 1886 and 1891 to feed them. In 1914 Thomas Dyer Edwardes gave the City of Preston some thirty-four acres of land, later developed into Edwardes Lake Park. Today the suburb mixes established brick and weatherboard homes with newer developments, and is served by the Edwardes Street and Broadway shopping strips.
Around the national middle
Reservoir (Vic.) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 51% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 988, 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 Reservoir (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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 5 components we can score for Reservoir (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
51/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (51/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
27/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $360 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 27% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Amenities & access
92/100Plenty mapped nearby
About 173 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap
Green space
66/100A good amount of green space nearby
About 11.4% of the area within ~1.2 km of the centre is mapped as green space — parks, reserves, sportsgrounds and the like. An area estimate from a radius around the centre, not the suburb boundary. · OpenStreetMap
Transport
90/100Well served by public-transport stops
About 63 public-transport stops (bus, train, tram or ferry) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. Stop coverage, not timetable frequency. · 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.
- 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.
Reservoir (Vic.) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 51,096
- Median age
- 38
- Median weekly household income
- $1,541
- SEIFA score
- 988
- Local government area
- Darebin
- Coordinates
- -37.7124, 145.0023
Map of Reservoir (Vic.)
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Reservoir (Vic.)
What it costs to live in Reservoir (Vic.) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $360
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,986
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 60%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 36%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Reservoir (Vic.) demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Reservoir (Vic.) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Reservoir (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 young adults (25–44) at 34% and 38% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 7,962 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 5,228 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 17,484 | 34% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 11,602 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 8,831 | 17% |
Share of the 51,107 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 6,267 | 31% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 5,885 | 29% |
| Rented | 7,383 | 36% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 12,804 | 63% |
| Townhouses & semis | 6,582 | 32% |
| Flats & apartments | 786 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 20,258 occupied private dwellings in Reservoir (Vic.).
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,983
- Median weekly personal income
- $741
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 18,158 (38%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 20,740 (43%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 687 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 25,833 (62%)
- Labour-force participation
- 60.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.9%
- Employed full-time
- 14,308
- Employed part-time
- 8,314
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 Reservoir (Vic.)
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Reservoir (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 Reservoir (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
33 nearbyZagame's · Off the boat Pizzaria · Marn Bo Take Away · Misty's 1950's Diner · Pizza Hut · Relux
Parks & recreation
97 nearbyCurves · Bodyfit Training · 24/7 Xercise Gym · Anytime Fitness · Crispe Park · Edwardes Lake Park
Shops & groceries
20 nearby7-Eleven · IGA · Tran Bakery · Paradise Food City · Magid Supermarket · One Way Fresh Supermarket
Healthcare
12 nearbyJoseph Amerena Pharmacy · Edwards Street Family Clinic · Discount Drug Stores · Doctors On Broadway · The Dental Place · Broadway Medical
Schools & education
9 nearbyKoala Pre-school · United Family Day Care Pty. Ltd. · Reservoir Primary School · St Gabriel's Primary School · Gellibrand Crescent Kindergarten · Starfish Early Learning Centre
Things to do
2 nearbyReservoir Public Library and Community Centre · A2 964 Steam Locomotive
Eat & drink in and around Reservoir (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- 3 Cheers CafeCafé
- Blend N BrewTakeaway
- Broadway Pizza and PastaTakeaway
- Clayton & MeCaféclaytonandme.com.au
- CrustTakeaway
- Domino'sTakeaway
- Felix CulpaCafé210Bfelixculpa.com.au
- Fish Hut Fish and ChipsTakeaway
- Five Star KebabsTakeaway939 High Street, Reservoir
- GellibrandCaféfacebook.com
- GlintCafé
- Kaneo Charcoal GrillRestaurant
- KFCTakeawaykfc.com.au
- La PorchettaRestaurant275 Spring Street
- Lady BowerCafé
- Marn Bo Take AwayTakeaway
- Misty's 1950's DinerTakeaway
- Northside CafeCafé
- Off the boat PizzariaRestaurant
- Oregano's Middle Eats CafeCafé
- Phon Pi SaiRestaurant
- Pizza HutRestaurant317 Spring Streetpizzahut.com.au
- ReluxBar
- Reservoir Noodle HouseRestaurant62 Edwardes Streetreservoir-noodle-house.business.site
- Snappy's Pizza And KebabTakeawayroshakebab.com.au
- SubwayTakeaway931 High Street, Reservoir
- Super Fish ShopTakeaway70 Edwardes Street
- Tasty RoosterTakeawaytasty-rooster.com.au
- Tropical ChickenTakeaway88B Strathmerton Street, Reservoir
- Zagame'sRestaurantzagames.com.au
Showing 30 mapped places; more may exist that aren't yet on OpenStreetMap.
Listings © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Own a venue here? Suggest a correction.
Share your local knowledge of Reservoir (Vic.)
Lived here or spent time in Reservoir (Vic.)? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Reservoir (Vic.)
Is Reservoir (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, amenities, green space and transport, Reservoir (Vic.) rates 63/100 overall (Around the national middle). Schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Reservoir (Vic.)?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Reservoir (Vic.) was $360, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,986. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Reservoir (Vic.)?
Reservoir (Vic.) is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Darebin local government area.
What is the population of Reservoir (Vic.)?
At the 2021 Census, Reservoir (Vic.) had a population of about 51,096.
Is Reservoir (Vic.) an advantaged area?
Reservoir (Vic.) has an ABS SEIFA score of 988, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 51 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 51% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Reservoir (Vic.)?
Reservoir (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).
How big is Reservoir (Vic.)?
Reservoir (Vic.) is one of the most populous suburbs in Australia — the 6th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 51,096 usual residents).
Where Reservoir (Vic.) ranks
Reservoir (Vic.) appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Australia#6 of 25
- Largest suburbs in Victoria#6 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.