Median price trend for houses
Based on 82 sales in the preceding 12 months
$1,330,000
Down 0.6% over 12 months
- 2 bed
- $1.1m
- 3 bed
- $1.82m
- 4 bed
- $1.7m
- 5+ bed
- $2m
Historic terrace houses with detailed ironwork balconies
rexness · CC BY-SA 2.0
The quick read on
Carlton
VIC 3053 · Melbourne
What homes cost, how rents have moved, and a feel for the people who call it home.
- Median house
- $1,330,000
- Median unit
- $360,000
- Population
- 16,055
- Postcode
- 3053
latest suburb median
latest suburb median
ABS 2021
Carlton, Victoria
Property market insights for Carlton (Vic.)
Median sale price and rental income of properties in Carlton (Vic.) VIC
Median rent trend for houses
Based on 101 rental listings in the preceding 12 months
$800 per week
Up 10.3% over 12 months
Market data updated October 2026.
The median house price in Carlton (Vic.), VIC is currently $1,330,000, based on the latest 12 months of sales. Carlton (Vic.) has a 12-month growth rate of -0.6% for houses and 1.1% for units.
Two-bedroom houses have a median sale price of $1,100,000, Three-bedroom houses have a median sale price of $1,820,000, Four-bedroom houses have a median sale price of $1,700,000, Larger houses have a median sale price of $2,000,000 in Carlton (Vic.).
If you're looking to lease, the median rent for houses in Carlton (Vic.) is $800 per week. The median house rent has increased 10.3% over the last 12 months.
The median price of apartments and units for sale in Carlton (Vic.) is $360,000, which has increased 1.1% since the same time last year. One-bedroom apartments and units have a median sale price of $216,000, Two-bedroom apartments and units have a median sale price of $532,000, Three-bedroom apartments and units have a median sale price of $1,000,000, Four-bedroom apartments and units have a median sale price of $1,150,000 in Carlton (Vic.). The median rent for units and apartments in Carlton (Vic.) is $600 per week and has remained unchanged over the last 12 months.
Crime and safety
Is Carlton safe?
The overall rate for Carlton is 15,007 offences per 100,000 residents — 275% above the Greater Melbourne benchmark.
That is the clearest suburb-wide answer. Open the detailed profile to see how the pattern changes across offence types and different parts of Carlton.
Overall crime rate
15,007
offences per 100,000 residents
275% aboveGreater Melbourne
CarltonGreater Melbourne: 4,001
Suburb-wide estimate from Microburbs' public crime model; it is not an address-level measure.
The people behind the postcode
Who lives in Carlton?
Carlton VIC 3053 is in Victoria, within Greater Melbourne.
16,055 people call Carlton home, with an average of 1.8 people per household and a median household income of $1,292 a week.
Public ABS 2021 Census figures. The bars compare the local share with the capital-region benchmark.
- Population
- 16,055
- Median age
- 27 years
- Median mortgage
- $1,898 / month
- 2021 household rent
- $365 / week
Above the benchmarkBelow the benchmarkIn lineGreater Melbourne benchmark
Age profile
Share of residents in each age band.
Under 155.4%Below
15–3464.3%Above
35–5416.8%Below
55–749.3%Below
75 and over4.1%Below
Homes
Share of occupied private dwellings.
Separate houses1.3%Below
Townhouses17.1%Above
Apartments80.7%Above
Ownership
Share of homes with a stated ownership or rental status.
Owned outright13.9%Below
Paying a mortgage10.5%Below
Renting75.6%Above
Cars at home
Vehicles available to occupied households.
No car48.6%Above
One car40.0%Above
Two cars9.1%Below
Three or more2.2%Below
Getting to work
Selected ways residents worked or travelled on Census day.
Worked from home35.8%Above
Drove to work14.4%Below
Train, tram or bus11.3%Above
Walked or cycled16.6%Above
What stands out in Carlton
35.8% of workers in Carlton worked from home on Census day — noticeably more common than across Greater Melbourne.
14.0% of Carlton residents were born in China, about twice the rate across Greater Melbourne.
51.6% of people in Carlton described themselves as having no religion in the 2021 Census.
A closer look at the Census
Questions people ask about Carlton
Open any question for a plain-English reading of the public 2021 Census for Carlton VIC 3053.
Is Carlton family-friendly?Age, family structure and household size describe the community families would be joining.
5.4% of Carlton's residents were children under 15 in the 2021 Census. That is about half the Greater Melbourne rate.
2,533 family households lived in Carlton; 18.9% were couple families and 13.8% were one-parent families.
20.3% of local families included children under 15. That is about half the Greater Melbourne rate.
These are suburb-wide household figures, not school or childcare ratings.
What is the age profile of Carlton?The balance between younger adults, families and older residents changes how a suburb feels day to day.
Carlton had 16,055 residents at the 2021 Census.
44.6% of residents were aged 25 to 44.
13.4% were 55 or older. That is about half the Greater Melbourne rate.
Age shares use the suburb’s total Census population.
What kind of homes are in Carlton?The dwelling mix shows whether the suburb is mostly detached homes, townhouses or apartments.
Separate houses made up 1.3% of occupied private dwellings in Carlton.
Townhouses and other attached homes represented 17.1% of occupied private dwellings.
Flats and apartments accounted for 80.7% of occupied private dwellings.
All three shares use occupied private dwellings as the denominator.
Do people own or rent in Carlton?Tenure shows how many households own outright, have a mortgage or rent.
13.9% of households with a stated tenure owned their home outright. That is about half the Greater Melbourne rate.
10.5% were buying their home with a mortgage.
75.6% rented their home. That is about twice the Greater Melbourne rate.
Tenure shares include households that stated one of these three arrangements.
How large are households in Carlton?Household-size data shows the mix behind the suburb-wide average.
The average household in Carlton had 1.8 people.
One-person households made up 45.3% of occupied homes. That is about twice the Greater Melbourne rate.
Two-person households represented 37.1%, while 7.4% had four or more usual residents.
Household size counts usual residents in occupied homes.
How do people get to work in Carlton?Census-day travel shows the balance between home, road, public transport and active travel.
35.8% of workers worked from home on Census day. That is well above the Greater Melbourne average.
14.4% drove a car as their only travel method. That is about half the Greater Melbourne rate.
11.3% used only a train, tram or bus, while 16.6% walked or cycled.
Travel figures are a 2021 Census-day snapshot.
How many cars do households have in Carlton?Vehicle availability helps describe the routines local households can support.
48.6% of occupied households had no motor vehicle available. That is about twice the Greater Melbourne rate.
One-car households formed 40.0% of the total.
11.3% of households had two or more vehicles.
Vehicle counts refer to occupied households, not individual residents.
Who's moving to Carlton, and who stays?Address history shows how settled or recently mobile residents were at the Census date.
24.6% were at the same address five years earlier, while 75.4% reported a different address.
54.9% of residents were born outside Australia. That is well above the Greater Melbourne average.
Mobility figures cover residents who answered the relevant Census question.
What languages are spoken in Carlton?Language at home gives a direct view of the community’s everyday linguistic mix.
46.2% of residents used only English at home.
47.7% used a language other than English at home.
16.6% spoke Mandarin at home, 3.3% spoke Cantonese and 1.6% spoke Hindi.
Home language is separate from English proficiency.
Where were Carlton residents born?Birthplace adds another layer to the local story, separate from ancestry and language.
54.9% of Carlton's population was born outside Australia, while roughly 45.1% was born in Australia.
14.0% of residents were born in China.
5.0% were born in India, while Australian citizenship across the whole suburb stood at 54.9%.
Birthplace, citizenship and ancestry describe different parts of identity.
What ancestries shape Carlton?Ancestry responses show how residents describe family and cultural background.
English ancestry accounted for 19.4% of ancestry responses in Carlton.
Australian ancestry made up 13.3% of responses.
Chinese ancestry represented 24.7% of responses.
People may nominate more than one ancestry, so these are shares of responses.
What work do people do in Carlton?Occupation describes a person’s role; industry describes the sector employing them.
41.3% of employed residents worked in professional occupations. That is well above the Greater Melbourne average.
Managers accounted for 9.8% of employed residents, while clerical and administrative workers made up 10.0%.
Health care and social assistance employed 11.9% of workers, and education and training employed 11.4%.
Occupation and industry figures describe employed residents of the suburb.
How active is the workforce in Carlton?Participation, employment pattern and unemployment describe the resident labour force.
The labour-force participation rate was 63.2%, compared with 64.1% across Greater Melbourne.
28.3% of residents aged 15 and over worked full time, while 23.2% worked part time.
Unemployment was 11.4%, compared with 5.3% across Greater Melbourne.
Labour-force figures come from the 2021 Census.
What does the health profile of Carlton show?Selected long-term health conditions help describe community service needs.
67.8% reported no selected long-term health condition.
10.3% reported a long-term mental health condition, including depression or anxiety.
7.3% reported asthma, 3.4% arthritis and 2.0% diabetes excluding gestational diabetes.
These are self-reported suburb-wide Census figures, not address-level health risks.
How educated is Carlton?Qualifications describe the study pathways represented among local residents.
42.8% of people in the qualifications table held a bachelor degree. That is well above the Greater Melbourne average.
Postgraduate degrees accounted for 25.8% of qualification responses.
Diploma-level qualifications represented 9.0%, while certificate-level qualifications represented 7.6%.
Qualification categories are reported separately and are not school ratings.
What do incomes and housing costs look like in Carlton?Census income and household payments give historical context for local living costs.
Median household income was $1,292 per week in the 2021 Census.
The median monthly mortgage repayment reported by local households was $1,898.
Occupied renting households reported a median rent of $365 per week.
These household figures are from 2021; current sale and asking-rent medians appear in the market section.
How does Carlton compare with Greater Melbourne?A few clear differences place the suburb in its wider metropolitan context.
Working from home was 35.8% in Carlton, compared with 28.8% across Greater Melbourne.
Outright ownership was 13.9% locally and 30.7% across Greater Melbourne. That is about half the Greater Melbourne rate.
Renting accounted for 75.6% in Carlton, against 31.1% across Greater Melbourne.
Capital-region comparisons use the same Census definitions and year.
Three useful questions
A buyer’s quick guide to Carlton (Vic.)
Is Carlton (Vic.) expensive?
The median house price is $1,330,000, while units and apartments sit at $360,000. Bedroom count, land and condition still create a wide range around those suburb medians.
Is Carlton (Vic.) good for families?
The Census counted 2,533 local families, and 5.4% of residents were under 15. That describes the community; school quality, travel times and the right fit for a particular family need separate research.
What can I get for $1.5m in Carlton (Vic.)?
4-bedroom houses have a median around $1,700,000, the closest bedroom benchmark we hold to a $1.5m budget. Individual homes can differ substantially with block size, renovation and location.
Medians describe recorded market activity across the suburb; they are historical context, not a valuation or forecast for an individual home.
Explore the area
Streets and suburbs around Carlton (Vic.)
114 streets in Carlton (Vic.)
Street-by-street reports are not published yet. The streets below are the ones this suburb covers.
- Argyle Pl East
- Argyle Pl North
- Argyle Pl South
- Astor Pl
- Barkly Pl
- Barkly St
- Barrup St
- Barry St
- Belle Vue Pl
- Berkeley St
- Bouverie St
- Canning St
- Cardigan St
- Carlow Place
- Carlton St
- Casamento Pl
- Cemetery Rd East
- Challis Ln
Show all 114 streetsShow fewer streets
- Charles St
- Chummie Pl
- Church St
- Cochrane Pl
- Coleman Pl
- Cornell Pl
- Court House Pl
- Cowan Lane
- David St
- Dorrit St
- Druce Ln
- Drummond Pl
- Drummond St
- Earl St
- Elgin Pl
- Elgin St
- Elizabeth St
- Elm Tree Pl
- Faraday Ln
- Faraday St
- Finlay Pl
- Gibbons Pl
- Goldspink Pl
- Grattan Pl
- Grattan St
- Holmwood Pl
- Hyam Pl
- Ievers Tce
- Kay St
- Kelvin Pl
- Keppel St
- Kingsland Pl
- Kulin Pl
- Lansdowne Pl
- Leicester Pl
- Leicester St
- Lincoln Pl
- Lincoln Sq North
- Lincoln Sq South
- Little Barkly St
- Little Cardigan St
- Little Elgin St
- Little Palmerston St
- Little Queensberry St
- Lygon Ln
- Lygon St
- Lytton St
- Macarthur Pl North
- Macarthur Pl South
- Magenta Pl
- Malvina Pl
- Mcdonald Ln
- Moton Pl
- Murchison St
- Naughton Pl
- Neill St
- Nicholls Ln
- Nicholson St
- Oconnell Ln
- Orr St
- Owen St
- Pagan Ln
- Painsdale Pl
- Palmerston Pl
- Palmerston St
- Park Drive
- Pelham St
- Pitt St
- Powell Ln
- Princes St
- Queensberry Pl
- Queensberry St
- Raffa Pl
- Rathdowne Pl
- Rathdowne St
- Reeves St
- Rodney Pl
- Shiels Ln
- Silver Top Tce
- Snowball Ln
- Stable Ln
- Station St
- Sutton Pl
- Swanston St
- Trades Hall Pl
- Tyne St
- Union Pl
- University St
- Victoria Pde
- Victoria Pl
- Victoria St
- Warrior Woman Ln
- Waterloo St
- Willow Ln
- York Pl
- Youngs Pl
12 suburbs surrounding Carlton (Vic.)
Compare nearby suburb prices, rents and five-year market trends.
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Is Carlton (Vic.) right for your search?
Use the finders to compare places and properties, or open the full report when you need the street, risk, schools and growth research.
Read the thinking
Figures update as new market and census data arrives. This suburb overview is general information, not a valuation or financial advice.