Thomastown, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Thomastown is a northern suburb of Melbourne, about 16 kilometres from the central business district, in the City of Whittlesea. The suburb dates to 1848, when the family of John Honniball Thomas bought land here for market gardening; two years later William Westgarth acquired the ground to the north and set it aside for German settlers, whose farming community of Westgarthtown survives as a heritage precinct. A post office opened in 1862, and for many years the district was given over to farms and horse-racing. The Epping railway line reached Thomastown in 1889, and dairying flourished from the 1930s. After the Second World War the suburb grew quickly, drawing Italian, Macedonian and Greek families alongside the earlier German settlers. Today Thomastown centres on its High Street shops and railway station, and is home to one of Select Harvests' almond processing plants.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Thomastown is more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 900, 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 Thomastown 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.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 3 components we can score for Thomastown 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
12/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (12/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
32/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $350 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 32% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Amenities & access
80/100Plenty mapped nearby
About 88 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.
Thomastown at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 20,234
- Median age
- 39
- Median weekly household income
- $1,225
- SEIFA score
- 900
- Local government area
- Whittlesea
- Coordinates
- -37.6832, 145.0067
Map of Thomastown
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Thomastown
What it costs to live in Thomastown and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $350
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,690
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 68%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 29%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Thomastown demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Thomastown demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Thomastown 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 29% and 54% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 3,156 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 2,330 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 5,900 | 29% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 4,441 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 4,411 | 22% |
Share of the 20,238 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 3,135 | 43% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,842 | 25% |
| Rented | 2,105 | 29% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 6,192 | 84% |
| Townhouses & semis | 699 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 445 | 6% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 7,349 occupied private dwellings in Thomastown.
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,387
- Median weekly personal income
- $502
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 10,430 (54%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 13,269 (69%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 159 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 8,606 (52%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 8%
- Employed full-time
- 4,422
- Employed part-time
- 2,869
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 Thomastown
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Thomastown 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 Thomastown
Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.
Eat & drink
8 nearbySandy's Pizza · Station Street Coffee Club · Kebab 66 Kebab and Cafe · Excelsior Hotel · Saniha Vehra · The Celebrations Function Room
Parks & recreation
53 nearbyThomastown Aquatic and Recreation Centre · Anytime Fitness · Pandora Park · Chantal Park · Leilani Park · Victoria Park
Shops & groceries
12 nearbySupa IGA Thomastown · 7-Eleven · Mini Punjab · Fortune IGA · Patty and Dough · Easy Joy
Healthcare
6 nearbyMedical Surgery · First Peoples' Health and Wellbeing · Edgars Ultimate Medical Clinic.CO · 4Cyte Pathology
Schools & education
7 nearbyThomastown Child Care Centre · Thomastown Secondary College · Thomastown West Primary School · Thomastown Meadows Primary School · St Clare's Primary School · Thomastown Primary School
Things to do
2 nearbyThomastown Library · Spring Stret Community Hall
Eat & drink in and around Thomastown
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- Excelsior HotelPub
- Kebab 66 Kebab and CafeTakeaway
- Sandy's PizzaTakeaway
- Saniha VehraRestaurant
- Station Street Coffee ClubCafé
- The Celebrations Function RoomRestaurant
Showing 6 mapped places; more may exist that aren't yet on OpenStreetMap.
Listings © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Own a venue here? Suggest a correction.
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Common questions about Thomastown
Is Thomastown 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, Thomastown rates 34/100 overall (Lower 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 Thomastown?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Thomastown was $350, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,690. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Thomastown?
Thomastown is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Whittlesea local government area.
What is the population of Thomastown?
At the 2021 Census, Thomastown had a population of about 20,234.
Is Thomastown an advantaged area?
Thomastown has an ABS SEIFA score of 900, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 12 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Thomastown?
Thomastown 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).
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