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Essendon West

Ranked #2 of 216 Melbourne suburbs for green space. Every number below comes from open data — official crime statistics, ABS census and GPS activity traces — not opinion.

By BestSuburbs research · Updated October 2026 · Melbourne
Essendon West suburb score card: safety, activity, value and other scores, Melbourne
Green space93#2 of 216
Parks90#15 of 216
Wealth81#42 of 216
Safety80#45 of 216

Essendon West suburb profile: score breakdown

Active
66
#63 of 216
Safety
80
#45 of 216
Wealth
81
#42 of 216
Value
72
#61 of 216
Parks
90
#15 of 216
Cafés
7
#198 of 216
Transit
21
#172 of 216
Green space
93
#2 of 216
Active & healthy
76
#10 of 216
Schools nearby (OSM)
54
#105 of 216

Essendon West crime rate, rent, prices and other numbers

Population1,559
Area1.0 km²
Postcode3040
Median household income$2,338/wk
Median rent$450/wk
Median house price (Oct–Dec 2025)$1,350,000 (low volume: 1 sales; down 20.6% YoY, down 14.3% QoQ)
Median unit price (Oct–Dec 2025)$685,000 (low volume: 1 sales; down 6.2% YoY, down 18.9% QoQ)
Crime rate34.6 incidents per 1,000 people — 86% of offences are against property, 14% against the person
Parks7 (23.31 ha per 1,000 people)
Schools (government data)1 — 0 primary, 1 secondary; nearest primary 1.05 km, secondary 0.58 km
Families score72/100 (safety 30 · schools 25 · parks per 1,000 15 · kinders 10 · price-for-size 10 · transit 10)
Within 400m of a park99.7% of the suburb
Cafés0
Gyms & sport venues17
Public transport stops9 (9 bus stops)
Nearest parkrunMaribyrnong parkrun (2.15 km)
Schools nearby (OSM, not catchment zoning)1 school in the suburb — nearest is St Bernard's College (0.51 km)

Sale prices: Victorian Property Sales Report, October–December 2025 quarter — © State of Victoria (Department of Transport and Planning / Valuer-General Victoria), Victorian Property Sales Report, CC BY 4.0. Quarterly median of sales settled in the quarter, per suburb. Figures marked as low-volume rest on fewer than 10 sales that quarter.

Who lives in Essendon West

Population
1,559
Median age
39 years
Median household income
$2,338/wk
Median rent
$450/wk
Median house price (Oct–Dec 2025)
$1,350,000
Median unit price (Oct–Dec 2025)
$685,000

Source: ABS Census 2021; sale prices Victorian Property Sales Report, October–December 2025 quarter. We do not hold a suburb-level renter/owner split, families-with-children rate, born-overseas rate or dwelling-type breakdown for Essendon West — the fields above are everything the census data behind this site currently carries.

Common questions about Essendon West

What is the postcode for Essendon West?

The postcode for Essendon West, Melbourne is 3040.

Is Essendon West a good suburb?

There is no single invented "overall" score here -- Essendon West is measured on 10 separate categories rather than blended into one number. Its strongest is green space, ranking #2 of 216 Melbourne suburbs, and it ranks in the top half of Melbourne for 8 of the 10 categories measured here. The full breakdown is above.

Is Essendon West safe?

Yes — it is one of the safer parts of Melbourne, scoring 80/100 for safety and ranking #45 of 216 suburbs. Recorded offences run at 35 per 1,000 residents. That score is recorded offences per 1,000 residents from official crime statistics, as a percentile against every other suburb in the city.

Is Essendon West good for families?

It rates well on the family measures we can compute — safety 80/100, parks 90/100 and green space 93/100, with a median age of 39. It has 1 school in the suburb, with the nearest primary 1.1 km from its centre. School counts and distances feed the families score; catchment zoning and school results do not (we cannot publish those) — see our Melbourne families ranking for the full method.

Is Essendon West expensive to live in?

The median house sale price was $1,350,000 in Oct–Dec 2025 (Victorian Property Sales Report), down 20.6% YoY, down 14.3% QoQ. Median rent is $450 a week, and household income ranks #42 of 216 in Melbourne. Against what the suburb offers, it scores 72/100 for value.

Does Essendon West have good public transport?

It scores 21/100 for transit, #172 of 216 in Melbourne. That measures train, tram and bus access within the suburb boundary, weighted by mode.

Are there parks in Essendon West?

100% of the suburb is within walking distance of a park, at 23.3 hectares per 1,000 residents — 93/100 for green space.

Is Essendon West good for running?

The nearest parkrun is Maribyrnong parkrun, 2.1 km away, and GPS activity traces put it at 66/100 for how much walking, running and riding actually happens there.

Scores are percentiles against every other suburb in Melbourne: 100 is the best in the city, 50 is mid-table. Updated October 2026 (last updated 2026-10-12). Sources: open GPS activity traces, official crime statistics, ABS census, OpenStreetMap.
About this data: every number on this page is computed from public sources — it is not an opinion or a sponsored placement. See how we rank suburbs for the full method.
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