IRSAD
Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage
Score 980
Measures relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.
Within AustraliaDecile 5 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 4 of 10
For state-level context, explore the Victoria economy.
Housing
Castlemaine
Victoria · Census 2021
$745k-0.5% yrmedian house · Dec 2025
Castlemaine is an inner-city suburb of Mount Alexander.
Median house price
$745k47th pctile
of 766 priced VIC suburbs
Household income
$1,106/wk16th pctile
of 2,844 VIC suburbs
Amenity score
100/10095th pctile
of 1,338 rated VIC suburbs
Median house price
Rolling median of settled transfers, state Valuer-General open data (CC BY 4.0). Median of Victoria suburb medians: $765k.
How it compares
Median house price47th percentile
<$210k766 priced suburbs$2.9M+
Household income / wk16th percentile
<$599ABS Census 2021$3,249+
Median house price-12% vs Greater Melbourne · +19% vs Rest of Vic.
MelbourneRest of state
Greater Melbourne $850k · Rest of Vic. $625kCastlemaine $745k
Percentiles rank this suburb against Victoria suburbs that carry the metric — never across states, and never against suburbs where it is missing. Price references are ABS median established-house transfer prices for the Mar 2026 quarter (CC BY 4.0); the suburb figure is a Valuer-General median over a different window, so read the gap as indicative. Income references are the Census 2021 median of the middle suburb in Victoria and nationally, not a household-weighted median.
People & housing
Population
7,506
Median age
52 yrs
Income / person / wk
$668
Household income / wk
$1,106
▼ 30% vs VIC
Median rent / wk
$300
Mortgage / month
$1,362
Who lives here
- Couples with children
- 17%
- −15 pts vs VIC
- Living alone
- 40%
- +14 pts vs VIC
- Unemployment
- 4%
- −1 pts vs VIC
- In the labour force
- 44%
- −18 pts vs VIC
- Bachelor degree or higher
- 32%
- +2 pts vs VIC
- Earning $1–$499 a week
- 27%
- +4 pts vs VIC
- Earning $2,000+ a week
- 7%
- −5 pts vs VIC
Households for the family mix, residents aged 15+ for work, education and income; unemployment is a share of the labour force. VIC figures weight each suburb by its dwellings or residents. ABS Census 2021 (CC BY 4.0). Withheld for very small populations — under 100 residents, or under 50 dwellings, households or workers for the shares that count those.
Housing stock
3,168 occupied private dwellings
- Separate house 92%
- Flat or apartment 0%
- Semi, terrace & other 7%
VIC: 73% separate houses · 12% flats & apartments
- Owned outright 49%
- Mortgaged 25%
- Rented 23%
- Other & not stated 3%
VIC: 32% owned outright · 36% mortgaged · 29% rented
ABS Census 2021 (CC BY 4.0). Withheld for very small populations — under 100 residents, or under 50 dwellings, households or workers for the shares that count those.
Socio-economic profile
IRSD
Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage
Score 985
Measures relative socio-economic disadvantage only; a higher score means less disadvantage.
Within AustraliaDecile 4 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 3 of 10
IER
Economic Resources
Score 947
Measures access to economic resources, including income, housing costs and assets.
Within AustraliaDecile 2 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 1 of 10
IEO
Education and Occupation
Score 1,046
Measures relative education and occupation characteristics.
Within AustraliaDecile 9 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 8 of 10
Scores are standardised across Australia to a mean of 1,000 and a standard deviation of 100. Deciles run from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (least disadvantaged).
Source: ABS SEIFA 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
Terrain & hazard exposure
Median elevation
310 m
range 271–374 m
Land below 5 m
0%
0% below 2 m
Shares are the proportion of the suburb's land area. Land where Landsat saw water in at least 1% of clear passes since 1987, excluding permanent water and filtered by DEA's confidence layer. Satellites miss flood peaks, so this is a floor, not a risk estimate; dense high-rise cores can still register tower shadow as water. A statutory planning-control boundary, not a flood extent, and it can lag the latest flood study. Designated for development control; a designation, not a prediction of fire behaviour. The Building Regulations' Designated Bushfire Prone Area, the like-for-like of NSW Bush Fire Prone Land; the narrower Bushfire Management Overlay is a separate planning control. Elevation is orthometric height from a 30 m model; no hydrology or drainage is modelled.
Planning & zoning
Zoning mix (share of the suburb's land)
Show on map →- Rural31%
- Conservation25%
- General / medium / high-density residential25%
- Infrastructure & special purpose10%
- Industrial & employment4.4%
- Low-density residential2.4%
- Centres & mixed use1.4%
- Open space & recreation0.8%
In a heritage area
20%
conservation area / Heritage Overlay
Show on map →Planning instrument: Mount Alexander Planning Scheme. Zones are grouped into ten families so states compare; the council's own scheme is the authority for any one lot. Source: Vicmap Planning zones; Vicmap Heritage Overlay.
Local amenities
Schools
6
Supermarkets
3
Pubs & bars
6
Parks
16
Libraries
1
GP clinics
6
Pharmacies
3
Hospitals
1
Nearest supermarket
0.5 km
Nearest train
0.6 km
Nearest hospital
0.9 km
Distance to coast
105 km
NBN
FIXED LINE
Grocery mix: 1 Woolworths · 2 IGA. Amenity counts via © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) & Geoscience Australia HealthDirect (CC BY 4.0). Distance to coast derived from ABS state boundaries (CC BY 4.0).
Culture & community
- Dominant religion
- No religion · 56%
- Top language at home
- German · 0%
- No religion
- 56%
- Born overseas
- 16%
- English only at home
- 95%
Schools by sector
- Government / Catholic / Indep.
- 5 / 1 / 0
- Primary / Secondary
- 4 / 2
- Nearest secondary
- 1.2 km
School sector & type: ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority), School Location dataset.
Local council
- Council (LGA)
- Mount Alexander
- Population
- 20,939 (2025) · +1.1% in a year
- Area / density
- 1,530 km² · 14/km²
- Council medians (2021)
- age 51 · $1,252/wk household income · $300/wk rent
- Council-wide house median (2023-24)
- $732k
- Federal grants
- $6.96M in 2025-26 · $332/resident
- Avg rates / property
- $1,885
- Operating result
- -3.3%
- Asset renewal
- 75%
- Website
- mountalexander.vic.gov.au
Council boundaries and the suburb split: ABS ASGS LGA 2024, allocated by 2021 mesh block and weighted by Census 2021 residents. Population: ABS Estimated Resident Population 2025. Medians: ABS Census 2021. House median: ABS Data by Region, established-house transfers across the whole council, financial year 2023-24. Federal grants: Financial Assistance Grants, Dept of Infrastructure. Financials: VIC Local Government Performance Reporting 2024-25, Local Government Victoria. ABS, Dept of Infrastructure and Local Government Victoria data CC BY 4.0; council website from Wikidata (CC0).
Representation
- Federal division
- Bendigo
- Federal MP
- Lisa Chesters (ALP)
- Two-party-preferred
- Labor 51% 2PP
- State electorate
- Bendigo West
- State MP
- Maree Edwards (ALP)
Comparable suburbs
Closest by median house price across VIC.
Similar suburbs
Closest demographic & amenity profile, nationally.
Sources: ABS ASGS boundaries (CC BY 4.0); ABS Census 2021 (CC BY 4.0); Victoria Valuer-General settled transfers (CC BY 4.0); ACARA School Locations (CC BY 4.0); © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); Australian Electoral Commission (CC BY 4.0); Geoscience Australia 1 Second DEM-S (CC BY 4.0); DEA Water Observations Statistics, Geoscience Australia (CC BY 4.0); Vicmap Planning overlays, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Designated Bushfire Prone Area, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Vicmap Planning — Planning Scheme Zones, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Vicmap Planning — Heritage Overlay, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Wikipedia state-member tables (CC BY-SA 4.0). Not financial advice.