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This analysis uses Suburbs and Localities (SAL) boundaries, which can materially differ from Statistical Areas (SA2) even when sharing the same name.
SAL boundaries are defined by Australia Post and the Australian Bureau of Statistics to represent commonly-known suburb names used in postal addresses.
Statistical Areas (SA2) are designed for census data collection and may combine multiple suburbs or use different geographic boundaries. For comprehensive analysis, consider reviewing both boundary types if available.
est. as @ -- *
2021 Census | -- people
Sales Activity
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Sales Detail
Population
An assessment of population growth drivers in Meadow Heights reveals an overall ranking slightly below national averages considering recent, and medium term trends
As of May 2026, the estimated population of the suburb of Meadow Heights is around 14,847. This figure represents a decrease of 43 people since the 2021 Census, which reported a population of 14,890. The latest estimate by AreaSearch, based on examination of ERP data released by the ABS in June 2025 and additional validated new addresses, is 14,841 residents. This results in a population density ratio of 3,206 persons per square kilometer, placing Meadow Heights in the upper quartile relative to national locations assessed by AreaSearch. Overseas migration contributed approximately 71.0% of overall population gains during recent periods.
AreaSearch's projections for Meadow Heights are based on ABS/Geoscience Australia data released in 2024 with a base year of 2022, and VIC State Government Regional/LGA projections from 2023 adjusted using weighted aggregation methods. Future demographic trends anticipate significant population growth in the top quartile of national statistical areas, with Meadow Heights expected to increase by 5,222 persons to 2041, reflecting a gain of 35.1% over the 16-year period.
Frequently Asked Questions - Population
Development
AreaSearch assessment of residential development drivers sees a low level of activity in Meadow Heights, placing the area among the bottom 25% of areas assessed nationally
AreaSearch analysis of ABS building approval numbers allocated from statistical area data indicates Meadow Heights averaged approximately 31 new dwelling approvals annually. From financial years FY21 to FY25, around 158 homes were approved, with an additional 25 approved in FY26 so far. The average construction cost value for new homes is $301,000, aligning with regional trends.
This year has seen $336,000 in commercial approvals, suggesting a predominantly residential focus. Compared to Greater Melbourne, Meadow Heights records significantly lower building activity, 83.0% below the regional average per person. This constrained new construction typically reinforces demand and pricing for existing homes. Nationally, building activity is also lower, indicating market maturity and possible development constraints. New building activity comprises 55.0% standalone homes and 45.0% townhouses or apartments, offering a mix of medium-density options across various price brackets. This shift from the area's current housing composition (82.0% houses) suggests decreasing availability of developable sites and reflects changing lifestyles and demand for affordable housing alternatives.
The area has approximately 635 people per dwelling approval, indicating an established market. Future projections estimate Meadow Heights will add around 5,216 residents by 2041, based on the latest AreaSearch quarterly estimate. If current development rates persist, housing supply may not keep pace with population growth, potentially increasing buyer competition and supporting stronger price growth.
Frequently Asked Questions - Development
Development applications around Meadow Heights
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| Lodged | Address | Description | Type | Distance | Status |
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SOURCE: Planning portals and council registers, compiled by AreaSearch. Distance & bearing measured from the suburb midpoint.
Infrastructure
Meadow Heights has very high levels of nearby infrastructure activity, ranking in the top 20% nationally
Changes to local infrastructure significantly influence an area's performance. AreaSearch has identified seven projects that may impact this region. Notable projects include Meadow Heights Shopping Centre Redevelopment, Canadian Court Reserve Playspace Improvements, Redwood Close Reserve Playspace Upgrade, and 1500 Pascoe Vale Road Business Park. The following list details those most likely to be relevant.
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Frequently Asked Questions - Infrastructure
Suburban Rail Loop North - Broadmeadows Station
A new underground transport super hub at Broadmeadows, part of the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) North segment. The station will serve as a major northern interchange, connecting the Craigieburn line and regional V-Line services with the 90km orbital rail loop. As a transport super hub, it is designed to catalyze urban renewal, supporting a 20-minute neighborhood strategy with increased housing and employment density in the activity centre to accommodate Melbourne's growth toward 2050.
Upfield Line Duplication and Extension to Roxburgh Park
A staged proposal to duplicate, extend and electrify the Upfield rail line in Melbourne's northern suburbs. Stage one duplicates the single-track section between Gowrie and Upfield stations to lift service frequency and reliability. Stage two reopens, duplicates and electrifies the existing freight corridor from Upfield through to Roxburgh Park, including a grade-separated junction beneath the standard gauge interstate line and the Craigieburn line near Somerton Road. Future stages would extend electrified suburban services through to Craigieburn and Wallan, with new stations proposed at Beveridge and Cloverton to serve the rapidly growing Northern Growth Corridor. In February 2025 the Federal Government committed 7.05 million dollars towards a business case for upgrades on the Craigieburn, Upfield and Northern Growth Corridor lines, with the Federal Coalition separately pledging 2 million dollars for a scoping study. The 2025-26 Victorian State Budget did not allocate funding to the project. Advocacy is led by the Northern Councils Alliance, comprising Mitchell Shire, Banyule, Darebin, Hume, Merri-bek, Nillumbik and Whittlesea councils.
Hume Central - Broadmeadows Central Activities Area
Hume Central is a transformative urban renewal initiative aimed at creating a vibrant, mixed-use heart for Broadmeadows. The vision involves developing underutilised land around the Broadmeadows Town Hall and Global Learning Centre into a high-density precinct. Key objectives include establishing a commercial core, integrated civic spaces, and significant residential growth with heights up to 12 storeys. Recent updates focus on the Broadmeadows Activity Centre Plan which aligns with the Victorian Government Housing Statement to increase dwelling density and improve pedestrian links to the railway station.
Roxy Central
A 5,000 sqm neighborhood shopping center completed in 2021 featuring FoodWorks supermarket, gym, pharmacy, medical center, banking, Australia Post, cafes, takeaway outlets, discount stores, hair and beauty services, optometrist, and fresh food operators, plus a two-story office building providing local business opportunities.
1500 Pascoe Vale Road Business Park
A fully operational mixed-use business park featuring two completed stages. Stage One includes BP service station, Oporto, and Bridgestone Select. Stage Two encompasses medical facilities including Pascoe Vale Road Medical Centre and Heartwest Cardiology, childcare (Kool Kids), VicRoads testing centre, commercial offices, automotive services (Ozzy Tyres), and retail precincts. The development serves as a major community hub providing essential services to the rapidly growing northern Melbourne corridor.
John Ilhan Memorial Reserve Synthetic Surface Upgrade
FIFA 1-star certified synthetic soccer pitch installation at John Ilhan Memorial Reserve. Features 60mm pile height synthetic surface with specialized drainage system, designed to meet FIFA AAA performance criteria. Total surfaced area of 9,360m2 including 105m x 68m pitch with 6m run-off zones. Provides all-weather community access to professional-grade sporting facilities.
Somerton Intermodal Terminal (Melbourne Intermodal Terminal)
An open-access intermodal rail freight terminal being delivered by Intermodal Terminal Company (ITC) in Melbourne's north. The facility forms part of the Port Rail Shuttle Network and is designed to handle double-stacked 1,800 m trains, process over 1 million TEUs p.a. at opening with future expansion to 2 million, and remove up to 500,000 truck trips from Melbourne roads annually. Operations are scheduled to commence in October 2025.
Meadow Heights Shopping Centre Redevelopment
Redevelopment of the existing Meadow Heights Shopping Centre, an IGA-anchored neighbourhood centre on a large 32,000 square metre site in Melbourne's north. The proposal includes a new childcare centre (around 132 places), an indoor and a restricted recreation facility, an extension to the existing retail space and updated signage. Hume City Council advertised the planning application (reference P23242) in early 2021 and the project remains in approved stage with no construction start confirmed. The wider site retains significant value-add development capacity including additional pad sites and an adjacent separately titled Commercial 1 zoned land parcel.
Employment
AreaSearch assessment indicates Meadow Heights faces employment challenges relative to the majority of Australian markets
Meadow Heights has a skilled workforce with notable representation in the construction sector. The unemployment rate was 14.1% in the past year, with an estimated employment growth of 3.8%. As of December 2025, 5,016 residents are employed, while the unemployment rate is 9.3%, higher than Greater Melbourne's rate of 4.8%.
Workforce participation is lower at 49.4% compared to Greater Melbourne's 69.9%. A moderate 13.8% of residents work from home, considering Covid-19 lockdown impacts. Employment is concentrated in health care & social assistance, construction, and manufacturing. The area shows strong specialization in transport, postal & warehousing with an employment share twice the regional level.
However, professional & technical services have limited presence at 4.3% compared to 10.1% regionally. Over the year to December 2025, employment increased by 3.8%, while labour force decreased by 0.8%, leading to a 3.8 percentage point drop in unemployment. In contrast, Greater Melbourne recorded employment growth of 2.4%, labour force growth of 2.8%, and a 0.3 percentage point increase in unemployment. Jobs and Skills Australia's national employment forecasts from May-25 project overall employment growth of 6.6% over five years and 13.7% over ten years. Applying these projections to Meadow Heights' employment mix suggests local employment should increase by 5.9% over five years and 12.6% over ten years, based on a simple weighting extrapolation for illustrative purposes.
Frequently Asked Questions - Employment
Income
Income metrics place the area in the bottom 10% of locations nationally according to AreaSearch analysis
AreaSearch's aggregation of latest postcode level ATO data released for financial year 2023 shows Meadow Heights had a median income among taxpayers of $38,897 and an average level of $45,666. This is lower than national averages of $57,688 and $75,164 across Greater Melbourne respectively. Based on Wage Price Index growth of 9.62% since financial year 2023, current estimates would be approximately $42,639 (median) and $50,059 (average) as of March 2026. Census data reveals household income ranks at the 18th percentile ($1,274 weekly), while personal income sits at the 1st percentile. Income distribution shows 30.2% of residents (4,483 people) fall within the $1,500 - 2,999 bracket, mirroring regional levels where 32.8% occupy this bracket. Housing affordability pressures are severe, with only 80.7% of income remaining, ranking at the 16th percentile.
Frequently Asked Questions - Income
Housing
Meadow Heights is characterized by a predominantly suburban housing profile, with a higher proportion of rental properties than the broader region
The dwelling structure in Meadow Heights, as recorded at the latest Census, consisted of 82.3% houses and 17.7% other dwellings (semi-detached, apartments, 'other' dwellings). This compares to Melbourne metro's figures of 67.9% houses and 32.1% other dwellings. Home ownership in Meadow Heights stood at 27.9%, with mortgaged dwellings at 40.3% and rented dwellings at 31.9%. The median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,460, lower than Melbourne metro's average of $2,000. The median weekly rent in Meadow Heights was $346, compared to Melbourne metro's $390. Nationally, Meadow Heights' mortgage repayments were significantly lower than the Australian average of $1,863, and rents were less than the national figure of $375.
Frequently Asked Questions - Housing
Household Composition
Meadow Heights features high concentrations of family households, with a higher-than-average median household size
Family households constitute 82.4% of all households, including 44.3% couples with children, 16.8% couples without children, and 19.5% single parent families. Non-family households account for the remaining 17.6%, with lone person households at 14.8% and group households comprising 2.9%. The median household size is 3.3 people, larger than the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6.
Frequently Asked Questions - Households
Local Schools & Education
Meadow Heights faces educational challenges, with performance metrics placing it in the bottom quartile of areas assessed nationally
The area's university qualification rate is 17.9%, significantly lower than Greater Melbourne's average of 37.0%. Bachelor degrees are the most common at 12.3%, followed by postgraduate qualifications (3.8%) and graduate diplomas (1.8%). Vocational credentials are prevalent, with 26.0% of residents aged 15+ holding such qualifications - advanced diplomas at 9.4% and certificates at 16.6%. Educational participation is high, with 35.1% of residents currently enrolled in formal education.
This includes 11.8% in primary education, 9.5% in secondary education, and 5.6% pursuing tertiary education.
Frequently Asked Questions - Education
Schools Detail
Nearby Services & Amenities
Transport
Transport servicing is moderate compared to other areas nationally based on assessment of service frequency, route connectivity and accessibility
Public transport analysis shows 62 active transport stops operating within Meadow Heights, composed of a mix of buses. These stops are serviced by 7 individual routes, collectively providing 1863 weekly passenger trips. Transport accessibility is rated excellent, with residents typically located 177 meters from the nearest transport stop. As a primarily residential area, most residents commute outward; car remains the dominant mode at 91%. Vehicle ownership averages 1.5 per dwelling, above the regional average. According to the 2021 Census, some 13.8% of residents work from home.
Service frequency averages 266 trips per day across all routes, equating to approximately 30 weekly trips per individual stop.
Frequently Asked Questions - Transport
Transport Stops Detail
Health
Health performance in Meadow Heights is lower than average with common health conditions somewhat prevalent across the board, though to a slightly higher degree among older age cohorts
Meadow Heights faces significant health challenges based on AreaSearch's assessment. Mortality rates and chronic condition prevalence are notably high, with common health conditions prevalent across all age groups but more so among older cohorts. Private health cover is extremely low at approximately 45% of the total population (~6,682 people), compared to 56.7% in Greater Melbourne and a national average of 55.7%.
The most common medical conditions are asthma (7.2%) and diabetes (6.9%). A total of 71.6% of residents claim to be completely clear of medical ailments, compared to 72.6% across Greater Melbourne. Health outcomes among the working-age population are broadly typical. The area has 14.1% of residents aged 65 and over (2,093 people). Health outcomes among seniors present some challenges but rank lower nationally than the broader population.
Frequently Asked Questions - Health
Cultural Diversity
Meadow Heights is among the most culturally diverse areas in the country based on AreaSearch assessment of a range of language and cultural background related metrics
Meadow Heights has one of the highest overseas-born populations in the country, with exactly half (50.0%) of its residents born abroad. A majority of Meadow Heights' population speaks a language other than English at home, with this figure standing at 74.3%. Islam is the predominant religion in Meadow Heights, comprising 52.7% of people, significantly higher than Greater Melbourne's average of 5.6%.
The top three ancestry groups in Meadow Heights are Other (50.9%), Australian (11.5%), and English (8.9%). The Other group is substantially higher compared to the regional average of 14.6%. Meanwhile, both Australian and English ancestry percentages are notably lower than their respective regional averages of 18.4% and 20.1%. Notable disparities exist in the representation of certain ethnic groups: Lebanese residents make up 8.5% of Meadow Heights' population compared to 0.8% regionally, Vietnamese residents account for 3.6% versus the regional average of 1.9%, and Samoan residents comprise 1.2% against a regional average of 0.3%.
Frequently Asked Questions - Diversity
Age
Meadow Heights hosts a young demographic, positioning it in the bottom quartile nationwide
Meadow Heights' median age is 34 years, which is lower than Greater Melbourne's average of 37 and Australia's average of 38 years. Compared to Greater Melbourne, Meadow Heights has a higher proportion of residents aged 55-64 (12.5%) but fewer residents aged 35-44 (12.6%). Between the 2021 Census and the present day, the percentage of residents aged 65-74 has increased from 7.4% to 8.6%, while the percentage of residents aged 45-54 has decreased from 12.2% to 11.2%. By 2041, population forecasts indicate significant demographic changes in Meadow Heights, with the strongest projected growth occurring in the 45-54 age group, which is expected to grow by 48%, adding 790 residents to reach a total of 2,453.