NorthcoteVIC · suburb profile
VIC 3070 · Darebin
Daily life in Northcote is characterized by a strong community feel and diverse work patterns. A significant portion of the population, 46.8%, works from home, reflecting a modern, flexible lifestyle. Commuting is varied, with 24.6% driving to work and 6.7% using public transport. The suburb offers a mix of housing options, with 49.1% living in separate houses and a notable 37.5% renting, indicating a balanced housing market. The median weekly rent is $475, and the median monthly mortgage is $2400.
Sales · 12 months to August 2026
What property sold for in Northcote
Houses · Houses in Northcote sell for a median of $1,650,000 — 86.4% above the Victorian median, and down 4.6% on the year across 170 sales.
The middle half of houses sold between $1,372,000 and $2,100,000.
Houses
$1.65m
median of 170 sales
4.6% down on the previous twelve months.
Dearer than 93% of the 426 suburbs we cover in Victoria.
Half sold between $1.37m and $2.10m.
Last sold within the past two weeks
Units
$551k
median of 158 sales
3.4% down on the previous twelve months.
Cheaper than 58% of the 162 suburbs we cover in Victoria.
Half sold between $399k and $669k.
Last sold within the past two weeks
Townhouses
$936k
median of 45 sales
3% down on the previous twelve months.
Dearer than 68% of the 113 suburbs we cover in Victoria.
Half sold between $825k and $1.17m.
Last sold within the past month
373 sales on record · data to 30 August 2026
Since 2022
How prices have moved
Houses · Since 2022 this has been a flat market for houses, $1,653,000 moving to $1,650,000.
- 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 | $1.63m | $555k | $872k |
| 2025 · part year | $1.73m | $556k | $1.02m |
| 2024 | $1.60m | $636k | |
| 2023 | $1.61m | $625k | |
| 2022 | $1.65m | $631k |
Quarter by quarter
| Quarter | Median | Sales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q2 | $1.57m | 28 | -5.7%low confidence28 sales this quarter, 29 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2026 Q1 | $1.67m | 29 | -0.9%low confidence29 sales this quarter, 88 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2025 Q4 | $1.69m | 88 | -4% |
| Quarter | Median | Sales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q2 | $557k | 42 | +12.1% |
| 2026 Q1 | $497k | 35 | -6.2% |
| 2025 Q4 | $530k | 59 | -3.3% |
| Quarter | Median | Sales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q2 | $804k | 8 | -9.2%low confidence8 sales this quarter, 9 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2026 Q1 | $885k | 9 | -16%low confidence9 sales this quarter, 22 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2025 Q4 | $1.05m | 22 |
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 Northcote
Houses · 3-bedroom houses, the most common sale here, run about $1,650,000; moving from 3 to 4 bedrooms adds roughly $750,000.
Houses
| Bedrooms | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $1.30m | 38 |
| 3 | $1.65m | 81 |
| 4 | $2.40m | 44 |
Units
| Bedrooms | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $390k | 69 |
| 2 | $650k | 80 |
| 3 | $1.13m | 9 · few |
Townhouses
| Bedrooms | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | $854k | 24 · few |
| 3 | $1.09m | 20 · few |
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.
6 schools · 2025 figures
Who goes to school in Northcote
All schools · Northcote's 6 schools teach 3,620 students, down 5.9% in ten years — and 11 government catchments cross the suburb.
Schools here
6
3 primary · 2 secondary · 1 Prep-to-12
Students, all schools
3,620
2025 · −5.9% 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?”
−10.5%
1,043 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.
−8.8%
895 · 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 Northcote have fallen 5.9% over 10 years.
- Primary schools
- Secondary schools
- Prep-to-12 & specialist
Show data table
| Year | Primary schools | Secondary schools | Prep-to-12 & specialist |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 1,112 | 2,558 | 179 |
| 2016 | 1,144 | 2,580 | 187 |
| 2017 | 1,176 | 2,669 | 183 |
| 2018 | 1,193 | 2,728 | 176 |
| 2019 | 1,167 | 2,764 | 160 |
| 2020 | 1,165 | 2,723 | 149 |
| 2021 | 1,113 | 2,691 | 146 |
| 2022 | 1,073 | 2,619 | 136 |
| 2023 | 1,022 | 2,596 | 128 |
| 2024 | 1,032 | 2,511 | 130 |
| 2025 | 1,043 | 2,447 | 130 |
Which schools in Northcote 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 | 937 | 2,558 | 354 | 3,849 |
| 2016 | 973 | 2,580 | 358 | 3,911 |
| 2017 | 1,011 | 2,669 | 348 | 4,028 |
| 2018 | 1,015 | 2,728 | 354 | 4,097 |
| 2019 | 1,015 | 2,764 | 312 | 4,091 |
| 2020 | 981 | 2,723 | 333 | 4,037 |
| 2021 | 975 | 2,691 | 284 | 3,950 |
| 2022 | 913 | 2,619 | 296 | 3,828 |
| 2023 | 885 | 2,596 | 265 | 3,746 |
| 2024 | 887 | 2,511 | 275 | 3,673 |
| 2025 | 895 | 2,447 | 278 | 3,620 |
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 6 schools in Northcote
Ordered by size, not by results — 4 government, 2 Catholic and 0 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northcote High School | Government | Secondary | 1,668 | −9.0% | +1.3% | 31 · 450 |
| Santa Maria College | Catholic | Secondary | 779 | −12.5% | −14.5% | 32 · 207 |
| Westgarth Primary School | Government | Primary | 550 | −14.3% | −7.1% | — |
| Northcote Primary School | Government | Primary | 303 | −22.5% | −14.2% | — |
| St Joseph's School | Catholic | Primary | 190 | +43.9% | +13.8% | — |
| Croxton School | Government | Prep-to-12 | 130 | −12.8% | −27.4% | — |
2 schools in Northcote reported median VCE study scores of 31 to 32, against a state median of 29.
Government zoning
Which catchments cover Northcote
11 government catchments cover Northcote — 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 |
|---|---|
| Fitzroy High School | Secondary |
| Northcote High School | Secondary |
| Thornbury High School | Secondary |
| Brunswick East Primary School | Primary |
| Fairfield Primary School | Primary |
| Merri Creek Primary School | Primary |
| Northcote Primary School | Primary |
| Spensley Street Primary School | Primary |
| Thornbury Primary School | Primary |
| Wales Street Primary School | Primary |
| Westgarth Primary School | Primary |
The read
What living here is actually like
Northcote is a vibrant suburb with a population of 25,281, characterized by a median age of 37, slightly younger than the Victorian average of 38. The gender distribution is relatively balanced, with 47.3% male and 52.7% female. The area is home to a diverse range of families, with 44.1% being couples with children and 41.6% couples without children. Single-parent families make up 12.5% of the population. The suburb has a high proportion of highly educated residents, with 54.3% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, significantly above the state average of 29.2%.
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
Northcote · 0–100
Show data table
| Buyer type | Score |
|---|---|
| Professionals | 85 |
| Investors | 80 |
| Families | 75 |
| Retirees | 65 |
| First home buyers | 60 |
Why professionals score highest
The signals doing the work
- 44.8% of workforce are professionals
- High work-from-home percentage at 46.8%
- Proximity to Melbourne CBD for commuting
- High educational attainment with 54.3% holding degrees
Against the state
How Northcote 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 | 22.8% |
| Separate houses | 49.1% |
| Townhouses | 27.4% |
How people get to work
Method of travel, 2021 Census
Show data table
| Method | Share |
|---|---|
| Worked from home | 46.8% |
| Drove a car | 24.6% |
| Public transport | 6.7% |
| Walked only | 2.5% |
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 - 54.3% hold bachelor degrees (vs VIC 29.2%)
- High median household income - $2287 weekly (vs VIC $1759)
- Significant work-from-home culture - 46.8% work from home
- Diverse ancestry - 34.3% English, 27.5% Australian
- Mixed housing market - 49.1% separate houses, 37.5% rented
Things to be aware of
- Higher property prices may challenge first-home buyers
- Lower percentage of residents with no health conditions (60% vs VIC 61%)
- High percentage of professionals may influence local culture
- Significant portion of population works from home, impacting local traffic patterns
- Rising rental prices with median weekly rent at $475
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 Northcote?
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.