Family-friendly ranking · Greater Melbourne
By the average ICSEA of their schools, among suburbs where families with dependants are at least 40% of households, the ten best Greater Melbourne suburbs for families are Clifton Hill, Toorak, Fitzroy North, Surrey Hills, Alphington, Ivanhoe East, Ashburton, Brunswick East, Princes Hill and South Yarra.
Updated 1 October 2026. Medians for the latest published quarter (updated May 2026). Ranked from 277 Greater Melbourne suburbs.
The ten, in order
Clifton Hill (3068) is about 4 km from the Melbourne CBD. The two schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1178 (ACARA), the highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 63% of households. The median house price is $1,735,000. 6,606 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Toorak (3142) is about 6 km from the Melbourne CBD. The four schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1169 (ACARA), the 2nd highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 60% of households. The median house price is $5,000,000. 12,817 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Fitzroy North (3068) is about 4 km from the Melbourne CBD. The five schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1166 (ACARA), the 3rd highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 53% of households. The median house price is $1,790,500. 12,781 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Surrey Hills (3127) is about 12 km from the Melbourne CBD. The four schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1159 (ACARA), the 4th highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 74% of households. The median house price is $2,260,000. 13,655 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Alphington (3078) is about 6 km from the Melbourne CBD. The three schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1155 (ACARA), the 5th highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 64% of households. The median house price is $2,025,000. 5,702 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Ivanhoe East (3079) is about 10 km from the Melbourne CBD. The one school we hold for the suburb has an ICSEA of 1155 (ACARA), the 6th highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 78% of households. The median house price is $2,732,500. 3,762 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Ashburton (3147) is about 12 km from the Melbourne CBD. The three schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1152 (ACARA), the 7th highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 78% of households. The median house price is $1,905,000. 7,952 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Brunswick East (3057) is about 5 km from the Melbourne CBD. The three schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1152 (ACARA), the 8th highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 49% of households. The median house price is $1,335,000. 13,279 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
Princes Hill (3054) is about 3 km from the Melbourne CBD. The one school we hold for the suburb has an ICSEA of 1152 (ACARA), the 9th highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 57% of households. The median house price is $1,800,000. 2,005 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
South Yarra (3141) is about 4 km from the Melbourne CBD. The six schools we hold for the suburb average an ICSEA of 1152 (ACARA), the 10th highest in Greater Melbourne among suburbs where families are at least 40% of households. Families with dependants are 42% of households. The median house price is $2,100,000. 25,028 people lived there at the 2021 Census.
| # | Suburb | Avg school ICSEA | Family households | Median house price | Km to CBD | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clifton Hill 3068 | 1178 | 63% | $1,735,000 | 4 | View profile → |
| 2 | Toorak 3142 | 1169 | 60% | $5,000,000 | 6 | View profile → |
| 3 | Fitzroy North 3068 | 1166 | 53% | $1,790,500 | 4 | View profile → |
| 4 | Surrey Hills 3127 | 1159 | 74% | $2,260,000 | 12 | View profile → |
| 5 | Alphington 3078 | 1155 | 64% | $2,025,000 | 6 | View profile → |
| 6 | Ivanhoe East 3079 | 1155 | 78% | $2,732,500 | 10 | View profile → |
| 7 | Ashburton 3147 | 1152 | 78% | $1,905,000 | 12 | View profile → |
| 8 | Brunswick East 3057 | 1152 | 49% | $1,335,000 | 5 | View profile → |
| 9 | Princes Hill 3054 | 1152 | 57% | $1,800,000 | 3 | View profile → |
| 10 | South Yarra 3141 | 1152 | 42% | $2,100,000 | 4 | View profile → |
A dash means the suburb’s own page publishes no figure. “Area” marks an ABS statistical-area median.
Ranks 11 to 15 on the same rule, for a shortlist that runs past the ten.
Common questions
By the average ICSEA of their schools, among Greater Melbourne suburbs where families with dependants are at least 40% of households, the top three are Clifton Hill (ICSEA 1178), Toorak (ICSEA 1169) and Fitzroy North (ICSEA 1166). ICSEA is ACARA's index of the socio-educational backgrounds of a school's students, published for every Australian school; it is a proxy for resourcing and outcomes, not a measure of teaching, so check the in-catchment school for an address before buying. The ranking is drawn from 277 suburbs.
All ten suburbs on this page have a published median house price, from $1,335,000 in Brunswick East to $5,000,000 in Toorak. Prices are Land Victoria's quarterly suburb medians. A dash in the table means the suburb's own page publishes no median, because its source is distrusted or it rests on fewer than five recorded sales.
We do not publish a list of suburbs to avoid. This page ranks suburbs for families on measured figures, and a suburb missing from it may simply have no school with an ICSEA we hold, a family share under 40% of households or fewer than 1,000 residents. Each suburb's own page shows its crime figures where the state publishes them and its rents and sales, so check those for the address you are looking at rather than the suburb's reputation.
We do not predict which suburbs will boom, and we hold no growth figure to rank Melbourne suburbs on: the medians we publish for Victoria are quarterly medians for the latest published quarter (updated May 2026), and they come without a 12-month change. A figure beside a suburb here is a median, a rent, a yield, a walk score or a school ICSEA, each measured and sourced, never a forecast. Each suburb's own page shows its published median and says where it comes from.
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