IRSAD
Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage
Score 958
Measures relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.
Within AustraliaDecile 4 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 3 of 10
For state-level context, explore the Victoria economy.
Housing
Smythesdale
Victoria · Census 2021
$635k+22.1% yrmedian house · Dec 2025
Smythesdale is a bushland suburb of Golden Plains.
Median house price
$635k31st pctile
of 766 priced VIC suburbs
Household income
$1,656/wk56th pctile
of 2,844 VIC suburbs
Amenity score
22/10061st 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 price31st percentile
<$210k766 priced suburbs$2.9M+
Household income / wk56th percentile
<$599ABS Census 2021$3,249+
Median house price-25% vs Greater Melbourne · +2% vs Rest of Vic.
MelbourneRest of state
Greater Melbourne $850k · Rest of Vic. $625kSmythesdale $635k
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
1,189
Median age
39 yrs
Income / person / wk
$717
Household income / wk
$1,656
▲ 5% vs VIC
Median rent / wk
$300
Mortgage / month
$1,430
Who lives here
- Couples with children
- 36%
- +4 pts vs VIC
- Living alone
- 19%
- −7 pts vs VIC
- Unemployment
- 2%
- −3 pts vs VIC
- In the labour force
- 60%
- −2 pts vs VIC
- Bachelor degree or higher
- 11%
- −18 pts vs VIC
- Earning $1–$499 a week
- 28%
- +5 pts vs VIC
- Earning $2,000+ a week
- 7%
- −6 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
409 occupied private dwellings
- Separate house 98%
- Flat or apartment 0%
- Semi, terrace & other 2%
VIC: 73% separate houses · 12% flats & apartments
- Owned outright 40%
- Mortgaged 51%
- Rented 4%
- 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 1,016
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 1,058
Measures access to economic resources, including income, housing costs and assets.
Within AustraliaDecile 8 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 7 of 10
IEO
Education and Occupation
Score 928
Measures relative education and occupation characteristics.
Within AustraliaDecile 3 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 2 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
399 m
range 345–495 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 →- Rural49%
- Conservation41%
- Infrastructure & special purpose4.5%
- Low-density residential4.4%
- Industrial & employment0.5%
- Centres & mixed use0.4%
- Open space & recreation0.4%
In a heritage area
5.0%
conservation area / Heritage Overlay
Show on map →Planning instruments: Golden Plains Planning Scheme; Pyrenees 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
1
Pubs & bars
1
Parks
4
Libraries
0
GP clinics
1
Pharmacies
1
Hospitals
0
Nearest supermarket
0.8 km
Nearest train
16.4 km
Nearest hospital
16.5 km
Distance to coast
79 km
NBN
FIXED WIRELESS
Grocery mix: 1 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 · 54%
- Top language at home
- Vietnamese · 0%
- No religion
- 54%
- Born overseas
- 7%
- English only at home
- 98%
Schools by sector
- Government / Catholic / Indep.
- 1 / 0 / 0
- Primary / Secondary
- 1 / 0
- Nearest secondary
- 14.6 km
School sector & type: ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority), School Location dataset.
Local council
- Council (LGA)
- Golden Plains
- Population
- 26,620 (2025) · +1.5% in a year
- Area / density
- 2,703 km² · 10/km²
- Council medians (2021)
- age 39 · $1,899/wk household income · $338/wk rent
- Council-wide house median (2023-24)
- $700k
- Federal grants
- $8.19M in 2025-26 · $307/resident
- Avg rates / property
- $2,052
- Operating result
- +0.5%
- Asset renewal
- 173%
- Website
- goldenplains.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
- Ballarat
- Federal MP
- Catherine King (ALP)
- Two-party-preferred
- Labor 61% 2PP
- State electorate
- Ripon
- State MP
- Martha Haylett (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.