EssendonVIC · suburb profile
VIC 3040 · Moonee Valley
Daily life in Essendon offers a mix of commuting options and a strong sense of community. With 39.6% of residents driving to work and 7.1% using public transport, there is a reliance on cars, but a notable 34.9% work from home, which is higher than the Victorian average of 25.7%. The suburb has a diverse employment landscape with a significant number of professionals and managers.
Sales · 12 months to August 2026
What property sold for in Essendon
Units · Units in Essendon sell for a median of $490,000, 14.5% below the Victorian median, and have held roughly steady over the year.
Most sales sit between $398,000 and $597,000, with the median in the middle.
Houses
$1.78m
median of 134 sales
1.9% up on the previous twelve months.
Dearer than 95% of the 426 suburbs we cover in Victoria.
Half sold between $1.42m and $2.24m.
Last sold within the past two weeks
Units
$490k
median of 197 sales
1% up on the previous twelve months.
Cheaper than 81% of the 162 suburbs we cover in Victoria.
Half sold between $398k and $597k.
Last sold within the past two weeks
Townhouses
$810k
median of 73 sales
2.8% down on the previous twelve months.
Dearer than 52% of the 113 suburbs we cover in Victoria.
Half sold between $705k and $930k.
Last sold within the past two weeks
404 sales on record · data to 30 August 2026
Since 2022
How prices have moved
Units · The longer arc is downward here, $600,000 in 2022 to $490,000 now.
- Houses
- Units
- Townhouses
Dashed lines and hollow points are part years — incomplete, so a dip may only mean fewer sales have happened yet. A break in a line is a year with no published figure, not a fall to zero.
| Year | Houses | Units | Townhouses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 · part year | $1.71m | $490k | $793k |
| 2025 · part year | $1.83m | $487k | $850k |
| 2024 | $1.74m | $543k | |
| 2023 | $1.79m | $535k | |
| 2022 | $1.85m | $600k |
Quarter by quarter
| Quarter | Median | Sales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q2 | $1.75m | 31 | +1.4% |
| 2026 Q1 | $1.73m | 32 | -7.2% |
| 2025 Q4 | $1.86m | 51 | +1.3% |
| Quarter | Median | Sales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q2 | $490k | 49 | +13.2% |
| 2026 Q1 | $433k | 42 | -12.3% |
| 2025 Q4 | $494k | 65 | +0.8% |
| Quarter | Median | Sales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q2 | $755k | 20 | -5.4%low confidence20 sales this quarter, 18 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2026 Q1 | $798k | 18 | -6.7%low confidence18 sales this quarter, 24 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2025 Q4 | $855k | 24 |
A change is marked low confidence where either quarter had fewer than 30 sales. The medians are real; with a handful of sales the movement between them is mostly which homes happened to change hands, not the market moving.
Last 12 months
What an extra bedroom costs in Essendon
Units · The step from 1 to 2 bedrooms is the expensive one in Essendon, worth about $194,000.
Houses
| Bedrooms | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $1.08m | 10 · few |
| 3 | $1.44m | 44 |
| 4 | $2.00m | 65 |
| 5 | $2.39m | 13 · few |
Units
| Bedrooms | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $351k | 68 |
| 2 | $545k | 122 |
| 3 | $952k | 6 · few |
Townhouses
| Bedrooms | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $735k | 36 |
| 3 | $915k | 32 |
Counts with fewer than five sales are left out rather than estimated, and bigger does not always mean dearer — a bedroom count with few sales can be pulled either way by the particular homes that happened to change hands.
7 schools · 2025 figures
Who goes to school in Essendon
All schools · Essendon's 7 schools teach 5,651 students, up 2.9% in ten years — and 11 government catchments cross the suburb.
Schools here
7
3 primary · 3 secondary · 1 Prep-to-12
Students, all schools
5,651
2025 · +2.9% since 2015
At primary schoolsStudents at schools whose type is “Primary”. It excludes children in primary years at a Prep-to-12 college — they are counted in the tile beside this one. This number answers “are the primary schools here filling or emptying?”
−9.3%
1,290 students · five years
Children in primary yearsChildren in Years 1–6 at any school, including Prep-to-12 colleges. This answers “are there still young families here?” — a different question from the tile on the left, which is why the two can move in opposite directions.
Prep and ungraded students are counted separately again; see the chart below.
−3.8%
1,407 · Years 1–6, anywhere
11 years · two ways to read them
Enrolments, 2015–2025
The same students, counted two ways — by the kind of school they attend, and by the year they are in. They answer different questions and can point in different directions. Both views are in the page; the buttons only change which is visible.
Enrolments in Essendon have grown 2.9% over 10 years.
- Primary schools
- Secondary schools
- Prep-to-12 & specialist
Show data table
| Year | Primary schools | Secondary schools | Prep-to-12 & specialist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,329 | 3,377 | 788 |
| 2016 | 1,373 | 3,417 | 787 |
| 2017 | 1,433 | 3,459 | 785 |
| 2018 | 1,415 | 3,516 | 794 |
| 2019 | 1,376 | 3,502 | 802 |
| 2020 | 1,423 | 3,559 | 820 |
| 2021 | 1,374 | 3,574 | 798 |
| 2022 | 1,367 | 3,506 | 809 |
| 2023 | 1,397 | 3,456 | 838 |
| 2024 | 1,323 | 3,453 | 874 |
| 2025 | 1,290 | 3,502 | 859 |
Which schools in Essendon are filling and which are emptying. A school that covers Prep to Year 12 is counted once, in its own line — its primary-age students are not in the primary schools line.
- Years 1–6
- Years 7–12
- Prep & ungradedTwo groups that sit outside the numbered year levels: Prep — the first year of school, which the national data does not number — and ungraded students at specialist schools, who are not placed in a year level at all.
A suburb with a specialist school will have a large line here.
Show data table
| Year | Years 1–6 | Years 7–12 | Prep & ungraded | All students |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,425 | 3,828 | 241 | 5,494 |
| 2016 | 1,454 | 3,891 | 232 | 5,577 |
| 2017 | 1,461 | 3,951 | 265 | 5,677 |
| 2018 | 1,477 | 4,020 | 228 | 5,725 |
| 2019 | 1,438 | 4,020 | 222 | 5,680 |
| 2020 | 1,463 | 4,089 | 250 | 5,802 |
| 2021 | 1,449 | 4,081 | 216 | 5,746 |
| 2022 | 1,450 | 3,997 | 235 | 5,682 |
| 2023 | 1,490 | 3,965 | 236 | 5,691 |
| 2024 | 1,484 | 3,990 | 176 | 5,650 |
| 2025 | 1,407 | 4,033 | 211 | 5,651 |
This counts children by the year they are in, not by the kind of school they attend — so a Prep-to-12 college contributes to every line. The three add up to every student in the suburb.
2025 · ACARA
All 7 schools in Essendon
Ordered by size, not by results — 3 government, 3 Catholic and 1 independent. Schools with more than one campus are counted once.
What these columns mean
- Type
- Prep-to-12 is one school a child can start and finish at without changing schools. Specialist schools also appear as Prep-to-12.
- 5 yr
- Change in enrolments against five years ago, not against last year. Enrolments move slowly, so a single year is mostly noise.
- VCE median
- The middle study score of that school’s Year 12 students, on a scale of 0–50. The state median in 2025 was 29.0, so a school above that sits above the middle and one below it sits below. The smaller number after it is how many students the figure rests on. Under 30 students we show nothing at all — a small cohort’s result swings from year to year on who happened to sit the exams, which is easily mistaken for the school changing.
| School | Sector | Type | Students | 5 yr | 10 yr | VCE median |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| St Bernard's College | Catholic | Secondary | 1,567 | +2.3% | +9.2% | 31 · 312 |
| St Columba's College | Catholic | Secondary | 1,047 | +1.5% | +4.4% | 32 · 256 |
| Buckley Park College | Government | Secondary | 888 | −10.8% | −5.4% | 30 · 207 |
| Lowther Hall Anglican Grammar School | Independent | Prep-to-12 | 859 | +4.8% | +9.0% | 34 · 126 |
| St Therese's School | Catholic | Primary | 529 | +1.7% | −1.1% | — |
| Essendon Primary School | Government | Primary | 387 | −22.6% | −18.7% | — |
| Aberfeldie Primary School | Government | Primary | 374 | −7.2% | +17.6% | — |
4 schools in Essendon reported median VCE study scores of 30 to 34, against a state median of 29.
Government zoning
Which catchments cover Essendon
11 government catchments cover Essendon — 3 secondary and 8 primary — so which one applies depends on the address, not the suburb.
| CatchmentThe area around a government school where living there guarantees your child a place. Boundaries follow streets, not suburb lines, so an address near the edge of a suburb may be zoned elsewhere. They are redrawn each year. | Level |
|---|---|
| Buckley Park College | Secondary |
| Rosehill Secondary College | Secondary |
| Strathmore Secondary College | Secondary |
| Aberfeldie Primary School | Primary |
| Brunswick North West Primary School | Primary |
| Essendon North Primary School | Primary |
| Essendon Primary School | Primary |
| Moonee Ponds Primary School | Primary |
| Moonee Ponds West Primary School | Primary |
| Pascoe Vale South Primary School | Primary |
| Strathmore Primary School | Primary |
The read
What living here is actually like
Essendon is an established suburb with a total population of 21,240. The median age is 39, slightly above the Victorian average of 38, indicating a mature community. The suburb has a balanced gender distribution with 48.5% males and 51.5% females. Families are a significant part of the community, with 48.6% of households being couples with children and 37.5% being couples without children. The average household size is 2.4 people, reflecting a mix of family and single-person households.
Buyer fit
Who this suburb suits
One score per buyer type, out of 100, built from the demographic, housing and commute profile. Strongest first.
Buyer-fit score
Essendon · 0–100
Show data table
| Buyer type | Score |
|---|---|
| Professionals | 80 |
| Families | 75 |
| Investors | 70 |
| Retirees | 65 |
| First home buyers | 60 |
Why professionals score highest
The signals doing the work
- 32.8% of residents are professionals
- High work-from-home rate - 34.9%
- Above average personal income - $1,067 weekly
- Proximity to industries like computer system design
Against the state
How Essendon differs from Victoria
Every bar is this suburb. The vertical tick is the Victorian figure — the gap between them is the story.
Housing & movement
What’s built here, and how people leave in the morning
Dwelling mix
Share of occupied private dwellings
Show data table
| Dwelling type | Share |
|---|---|
| Apartments | 33% |
| Separate houses | 47.2% |
| Townhouses | 19.6% |
How people get to work
Method of travel, 2021 Census
Show data table
| Method | Share |
|---|---|
| Worked from home | 34.9% |
| Drove a car | 39.6% |
| Public transport | 7.1% |
| Walked only | 1.7% |
| Car passenger | 2.6% |
Costs 2021 Census
Census figures, collected in 2021. Rents and repayments have moved since — for what property is selling for now, see .
Top occupations
Share of the employed workforce
Key highlights
- Highly educated population - 41.4% hold bachelor degrees (vs VIC 29.2%)
- Above average household income - $2,132 weekly (vs VIC $1,759)
- Low unemployment rate - 4.2% (vs VIC 5.0%)
- Diverse housing options with 33.0% apartments
- High work-from-home rate - 34.9% (vs VIC 25.7%)
Things to be aware of
- Lower percentage of separate houses - 47.2% (vs VIC 73.4%)
- Higher rental market presence - 35.6% rented (vs VIC 28.5%)
- Higher median monthly mortgage - $2,275
- Lower percentage of residents born overseas - 27.9% (vs VIC 35.0%)
Coming soon to this page
Where the richer profile lands
Schools & catchments
Zoned primary and secondary, NAPLAN bands, distances.
Transport & access
Stations, tram routes, drive time to the CBD, walkability.
Development activity
Permits approved, projects underway, zoning changes.
Want to dig into one address in Essendon?
A suburb page gets you this far. For a specific block you get what homes of that size sell for here, the schools that address is zoned to, any subdivisions proposed within 500 m, plus lot dimensions, easements, planning overlays and true sun aspect — free, no account.
X-Ray an address →Data sources
Demographic figures from the Census of Population and Housing © Australian Bureau of Statistics, used under Creative Commons Attribution.
Cadastral and boundary data contains information © State of Victoria (Vicmap), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Narrative summaries are AI-generated from the underlying data and may contain errors.
School details, enrolments and senior secondary results from the National Schools Data Collection © Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
School catchment boundaries contain information © State of Victoria (Department of Education), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Base map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap. Improve this map at openstreetmap.org/fixthemap.
Informational only — not financial, legal or planning advice. Verify zoning, overlays and catchments with the relevant council before relying on them. Data vintage: 2021 Census.