Tarneit, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Tarneit is a rapidly growing outer suburb of Melbourne, about 25 km west of the city centre in the City of Wyndham. The Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation were the first inhabitants of the area. European settlers used the land for grazing from the 1830s, and the name — recorded when the district was surveyed in 1839–1840 — is said to come from a Wadawurrung word for the colour white. Tarneit stayed rural and sparsely settled until large-scale residential subdivision began in the early 2000s, with much of today's arterial road network still following an early square-mile grid. One of the few colonial-era landmarks is Doherty's House, a bluestone homestead built in the 1870s, whose walls and chimney survive a later fire. The suburb's growth was transformed by the Regional Rail Link, which opened in 2015 with a new Tarneit station offering a faster route into the city than the older Werribee line.
More advantaged than the national average
Tarneit is more socio-economically advantaged than about 63% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1010, 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 Tarneit 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 Tarneit 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
63/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (63/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
23/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $380 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 23% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Amenities & access
80/100Plenty mapped nearby
About 81 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 10.3% 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 42 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.
Tarneit at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 56,370
- Median age
- 30
- Median weekly household income
- $2,103
- SEIFA score
- 1010
- Local government area
- Wyndham
- Coordinates
- -37.8364, 144.6595
Map of Tarneit
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Tarneit
What it costs to live in Tarneit and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $380
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,950
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 67%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 29%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Tarneit demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Tarneit demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Tarneit 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 42% and 60% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 16,346 | 29% |
| Youth (15–24) | 6,637 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 23,515 | 42% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 7,521 | 13% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,362 | 4% |
Share of the 56,381 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,513 | 10% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 8,845 | 57% |
| Rented | 4,583 | 29% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 13,914 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,571 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 41 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 15,543 occupied private dwellings in Tarneit.
- Average household size
- 3.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,081
- Median weekly personal income
- $850
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 32,147 (60%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 36,210 (69%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 220 (0%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 28,899 (76%)
- Labour-force participation
- 69.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.3%
- Employed full-time
- 15,524
- Employed part-time
- 8,502
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 Tarneit
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Tarneit is January (average daytime high around 26.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.9°C). The area receives roughly 658 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26.6°C | 14.8°C | 57 mm |
| Feb | 25.5°C | 14.2°C | 29 mm |
| Mar | 23.8°C | 13.3°C | 42 mm |
| Apr | 19.9°C | 10.8°C | 57 mm |
| May | 16.1°C | 8.6°C | 53 mm |
| Jun | 13.4°C | 6.8°C | 58 mm |
| Jul | 12.9°C | 6.2°C | 46 mm |
| Aug | 13.6°C | 6.3°C | 52 mm |
| Sep | 16.2°C | 7.3°C | 57 mm |
| Oct | 19.4°C | 8.8°C | 71 mm |
| Nov | 21.5°C | 10.7°C | 70 mm |
| Dec | 24.2°C | 12.5°C | 66 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Places in and around Tarneit
Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.
Eat & drink
2 nearbyMcDonald's
Parks & recreation
72 nearbyMoorookyle Country Club · Moorookyle Avenue Park · The Ruins · Edmund Drive Park · Butterfly Boulevard Park · Riverdale Park
Shops & groceries
3 nearbyColes · Aldi
Healthcare
1 nearbyAdam's Chemist
Schools & education
3 nearbySt John the Apostle Primary School · Tarneit Rise Primary School · Tarneit YMCA Early Learning Centre
Eat & drink in and around Tarneit
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- McDonald'sTakeaway
Showing 1 mapped place; 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 Tarneit
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Common questions about Tarneit
Is Tarneit 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, Tarneit rates 64/100 overall (Around the national middle). Schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Tarneit?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Tarneit was $380, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,950. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Tarneit?
Tarneit is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Wyndham local government area.
What is the population of Tarneit?
At the 2021 Census, Tarneit had a population of about 56,370.
Is Tarneit an advantaged area?
Tarneit has an ABS SEIFA score of 1010, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 63 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 63% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Tarneit?
Tarneit has average daytime highs of about 19.4°C and overnight lows of about 10°C, with roughly 658 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Tarneit?
Tarneit is one of the most populous suburbs in Australia — the 3rd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 56,370 usual residents).
Where Tarneit ranks
Tarneit appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Australia#3 of 25
- Largest suburbs in Victoria#3 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.