Surrey Hills, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Surrey Hills is a leafy residential suburb about eleven kilometres east of central Melbourne, spread across the City of Boroondara and the City of Whitehorse. The land was bought from the Crown by Henry Elgar in 1841, and the suburb took shape after the railway reached the district in 1882, when estates of brick and weatherboard homes in Victorian, Federation and Edwardian styles were laid out. Many streets carry regal names such as Empress, Windsor and Balmoral, and are lined with now-mature plane and pin oak trees. A small enclave between Canterbury and Riversdale Roads, the English Counties District, has streets named for Norfolk, Durham, Kent and other shires. The suburb's modest shopping strip runs along Union Road, and parks include Surrey Gardens and South Surrey Park.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Surrey Hills is more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1138, 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 Surrey Hills 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 Surrey Hills 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
9/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $462 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 9% 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.
Surrey Hills at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 13,655
- Median age
- 42
- Median weekly household income
- $2,503
- SEIFA score
- 1138
- Local government area
- Boroondara
- Coordinates
- -37.8253, 145.1004
Map of Surrey Hills
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Surrey Hills
What it costs to live in Surrey Hills and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $462
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $3,000
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 77%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 22%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Surrey Hills demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Surrey Hills demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Surrey Hills 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 29% and 28% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,259 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,977 | 14% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,924 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,923 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,570 | 19% |
Share of the 13,653 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,091 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,736 | 35% |
| Rented | 1,079 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3,349 | 67% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,025 | 20% |
| Flats & apartments | 615 | 12% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 5,006 occupied private dwellings in Surrey Hills.
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,339
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,081
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 3,674 (28%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 2,792 (21%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 45 (0%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 8,871 (83%)
- Labour-force participation
- 66.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.2%
- Employed full-time
- 4,232
- Employed part-time
- 2,619
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 Surrey Hills
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Surrey Hills 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 Surrey Hills
Is Surrey Hills 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, Surrey Hills rates 68/100 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 Surrey Hills?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Surrey Hills was $462, 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 Surrey Hills?
Surrey Hills is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Boroondara local government area.
What is the population of Surrey Hills?
At the 2021 Census, Surrey Hills had a population of about 13,655.
Is Surrey Hills an advantaged area?
Surrey Hills has an ABS SEIFA score of 1138, 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 Surrey Hills?
Surrey Hills 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 Surrey Hills ranks
Surrey Hills appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.