IRSAD
Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage
Score 1,036
Measures relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.
Within AustraliaDecile 8 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 8 of 10
For state-level context, explore the Victoria economy.
Housing
Forest Hill
Victoria · Census 2021
$1.22M+1.7% yrmedian house · Dec 2025
Forest Hill (Vic.) is a dense inner suburb of Whitehorse.
Median house price
$1.22M78th pctile
of 766 priced VIC suburbs
Household income
$1,658/wk56th pctile
of 2,844 VIC suburbs
Amenity score
66/10082nd 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 price78th percentile
<$210k766 priced suburbs$2.9M+
Household income / wk56th percentile
<$599ABS Census 2021$3,249+
Median house price+44% vs Greater Melbourne · +96% vs Rest of Vic.
MelbourneRest of state
Greater Melbourne $850k · Rest of Vic. $625kForest Hill (Vic.) $1.22M
Household income / wk
VIC · AU
VIC median suburb $1,583 · AU median suburb $1,562Forest Hill (Vic.) $1,658
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
10,780
Median age
42 yrs
Income / person / wk
$706
Household income / wk
$1,658
▲ 5% vs VIC
Median rent / wk
$396
Mortgage / month
$2,123
Who lives here
- Couples with children
- 34%
- +2 pts vs VIC
- Living alone
- 28%
- +2 pts vs VIC
- Unemployment
- 5%
- level with VIC
- In the labour force
- 58%
- −5 pts vs VIC
- Bachelor degree or higher
- 37%
- +8 pts vs VIC
- Earning $1–$499 a week
- 26%
- +3 pts vs VIC
- Earning $2,000+ a week
- 12%
- level with 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
4,083 occupied private dwellings
- Separate house 72%
- Flat or apartment 3%
- Semi, terrace & other 25%
VIC: 73% separate houses · 12% flats & apartments
- Owned outright 38%
- Mortgaged 33%
- Rented 26%
- Other & not stated 4%
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 1,021
Measures relative socio-economic disadvantage only; a higher score means less disadvantage.
Within AustraliaDecile 6 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 5 of 10
IER
Economic Resources
Score 999
Measures access to economic resources, including income, housing costs and assets.
Within AustraliaDecile 4 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 3 of 10
IEO
Education and Occupation
Score 1,059
Measures relative education and occupation characteristics.
Within AustraliaDecile 9 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 9 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
124 m
range 100–141 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 →- General / medium / high-density residential56%
- Low-density residential23%
- Open space & recreation8.0%
- Infrastructure & special purpose7.0%
- Centres & mixed use6.1%
In a heritage area
0.8%
conservation area / Heritage Overlay
Show on map →Planning instrument: Whitehorse 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
1
Supermarkets
4
Pubs & bars
0
Parks
20
Libraries
0
GP clinics
4
Pharmacies
4
Hospitals
0
Nearest supermarket
0.6 km
Nearest train
2.2 km
Nearest hospital
1.8 km
Distance to coast
17.3 km
Grocery mix: 1 Coles · 1 Woolworths · 1 Aldi. 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 · 39%
- Top language at home
- Mandarin · 7%
- No religion
- 39%
- Born overseas
- 44%
- English only at home
- 56%
Schools by sector
- Government / Catholic / Indep.
- 1 / 0 / 0
- Primary / Secondary
- 1 / 0
- Nearest secondary
- 1.0 km
School sector & type: ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority), School Location dataset.
Local council
- Council (LGA)
- Whitehorse
- Population
- 185,256 (2025) · +1.3% in a year
- Area / density
- 64 km² · 2,881/km²
- Council medians (2021)
- age 39 · $1,841/wk household income · $411/wk rent
- Council-wide house median (2023-24)
- $1.4M
- Federal grants
- $6.28M in 2025-26 · $34/resident
- Avg rates / property
- $1,516
- Operating result
- +4.4%
- Asset renewal
- 94%
- Website
- whitehorse.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
- Deakin
- Federal MP
- Matt Gregg (ALP)
- Two-party-preferred
- Labor 53% 2PP
- State electorate
- Glen Waverley
- State MP
- John Mullahy (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.