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South Melbourne
Ranked #9 of 216 Melbourne suburbs for cafés. Every number below comes from open data — official crime statistics, ABS census and GPS activity traces — not opinion.
South Melbourne suburb profile: score breakdown
South Melbourne crime rate, rent, prices and other numbers
| Population | 11,548 |
| Area | 2.15 km² |
| Postcode | 3205 |
| Median household income | $2,101/wk |
| Median rent | $421/wk |
| Median house price (Oct–Dec 2025) | $1,932,500 (26 sales this quarter; up 25.9% YoY, up 32.6% QoQ) |
| Median unit price (Oct–Dec 2025) | $630,000 (79 sales this quarter; down 2.3% YoY, down 6.0% QoQ) |
| Crime rate | 245.4 incidents per 1,000 people — 86% of offences are against property, 14% against the person |
| Parks | 15 (0.28 ha per 1,000 people) |
| Schools (government data) | 3 — 1 primary, 1 secondary; nearest primary 0.17 km, secondary 0.97 km |
| Families score | 44/100 (safety 30 · schools 25 · parks per 1,000 15 · kinders 10 · price-for-size 10 · transit 10) |
| Within 400m of a park | 94.3% of the suburb |
| Cafés | 41 |
| Gyms & sport venues | 13 |
| Public transport stops | 60 (1 train station, 37 tram/light-rail stops, 22 bus stops) |
| Nearest parkrun | Albert parkrun, Melbourne (1.24 km) |
| Schools nearby (OSM, not catchment zoning) | 2 schools in the suburb, plus 3 kindergartens — nearest is Galilee Regional Catholic Primary School (0.35 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 South Melbourne
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 South Melbourne — the fields above are everything the census data behind this site currently carries.
Common questions about South Melbourne
What is the postcode for South Melbourne?
The postcode for South Melbourne, Melbourne is 3205.
Is South Melbourne a good suburb?
There is no single invented "overall" score here -- South Melbourne is measured on 10 separate categories rather than blended into one number. Its strongest is cafés, ranking #9 of 216 Melbourne suburbs, and it ranks in the top half of Melbourne for 7 of the 10 categories measured here. The full breakdown is above.
Is South Melbourne safe?
It is on the less safe side of Melbourne, scoring 1/100 for safety and ranking #214 of 216 suburbs. Recorded offences run at 245 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 South Melbourne good for families?
Mixed, and the weak spot is safety. Here are the family measures we can compute — safety 1/100, parks 59/100 and green space 40/100, with a median age of 39. It has 3 schools in the suburb, with the nearest primary 0.2 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 South Melbourne expensive to live in?
The median house sale price was $1,932,500 in Oct–Dec 2025 (Victorian Property Sales Report), up 25.9% YoY, up 32.6% QoQ. Median rent is $421 a week, and household income ranks #88 of 216 in Melbourne. Against what the suburb offers, it scores 58/100 for value.
Does South Melbourne have good public transport?
It scores 85/100 for transit, #32 of 216 in Melbourne. That measures train, tram and bus access within the suburb boundary, weighted by mode.
Are there parks in South Melbourne?
94% of the suburb is within walking distance of a park, at 0.3 hectares per 1,000 residents — 40/100 for green space.
Is South Melbourne good for running?
The nearest parkrun is Albert parkrun, Melbourne, 1.2 km away, and GPS activity traces put it at 38/100 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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