• Home
• Victoria
• Darebin

Darebin

Victoria · Melbourne - North East · 144,864 people · 23 suburbs · 9 postcodes

Darebin at a glance

Map shows the Darebin LGA boundary in blue with a marker per suburb. Hover for suburb name, click for details.

Marker colour reflects SEIFA IRSAD decile: ● 1-2 (most disadvantaged), ● 3-4, ● 5-6, ● 7-8, ● 9-10 (most advantaged).

Boundary source: ABS ASGS 2021. Map tiles: OpenStreetMap contributors.

Darebin is a metropolitan Local Government Area in Victoria, in the Melbourne region. It covers 23 suburbs across 9 postcodes and an area of 49 km². Darebin has a population of 144,864 , ranking #18 most populous in VIC. The most populous suburb is Reservoir (51,096 residents), and the highest median household income is in Alphington at $2,429/week. The LGA-wide median household income is $1,849/week and median age is 37.4. About 30.9% of residents were born overseas and 31.6% speak a language other than English at home.

Who lives here

How they live

Work and learning

Schools in Darebin

46 schools across Darebin: 63.0% Government, 26.1% Catholic, 10.9% Independent. The VIC average is 68.6% / 21.4% / 10.0%. Schools here have a median ICSEA of 1079 (range 930 to 1204). VIC median is 1027; national mean is 1000.

All 46 schools in Darebin, sorted by enrolment:

School	Sector	Type	Suburb	Students	ICSEA
Virtual School Victoria	Government	Combined	Thornbury	6,248	1073
Northcote High School	Government	Secondary	Northcote	1,668	1153
Preston High School	Government	Secondary	Preston	1,275	1104
Thornbury High School	Government	Secondary	Thornbury	1,123	1067
Santa Maria College	Catholic	Secondary	Northcote	779	1110
Charles La Trobe P-12 College	Government	Combined	Macleod West	741	930
East Preston Islamic College	Independent	Combined	Preston	733	976
Alphington Grammar School	Independent	Combined	Alphington	679	1150
Preston West Primary School	Government	Primary	Preston	670	1135
Preston Primary School	Government	Primary	Preston	646	1113
Reservoir High School	Government	Secondary	Reservoir	629	989
Wales Street Primary School	Government	Primary	Thornbury	616	1140
Reservoir West Primary School	Government	Primary	Reservoir	600	1068
Fairfield Primary School	Government	Primary	Fairfield	556	1170
Westgarth Primary School	Government	Primary	Northcote	550	1204
Northern School For Autism	Government	Special	Reservoir	525	1030
William Ruthven Secondary College	Government	Secondary	Reservoir	478	977
Bell Primary School	Government	Primary	Preston	440	1165
Newlands Primary School	Government	Primary	Preston	437	1146
Preston South Primary School	Government	Primary	Preston	397	1127
Northern College of the Arts and Technology	Government	Secondary	Preston	367	1060
Alphington Primary School	Government	Primary	Alphington	365	1173
St John's College Preston	Independent	Combined	Preston	345	1066
Reservoir Primary School	Government	Primary	Reservoir	312	1070
Thornbury Primary School	Government	Primary	Thornbury	308	1093
Northcote Primary School	Government	Primary	Northcote	303	1166
Reservoir Views Primary School	Government	Primary	Reservoir	288	1034
St Raphael's School	Catholic	Primary	Preston West	287	1096
Reservoir East Primary School	Government	Primary	Reservoir	276	935
St Fidelis' School	Catholic	Primary	Moreland	251	1119
St Joseph the Worker School	Catholic	Primary	Reservoir	245	1049
Holy Name School	Catholic	Primary	Reservoir	205	1078
St Joseph's School	Catholic	Primary	Northcote	190	1110
Our Lady of the Way School	Catholic	Primary	Kingsbury	167	1079
Penders Grove Primary School	Government	Primary	Thornbury	160	1021
St Gabriel's School	Catholic	Primary	Reservoir	149	1060
William Ruthven Primary School	Government	Primary	Reservoir	140	1002
Kingsbury Primary School	Government	Primary	Kingsbury	137	1027
Croxton School	Government	Special	Northcote	130	1008
Holy Spirit School	Catholic	Primary	Thornbury	129	1107
Sacred Heart School	Catholic	Primary	Preston	117	1090
St Mary's School	Catholic	Primary	Thornbury	113	1089
St Anthony's School	Catholic	Primary	Alphington	92	1141
Preston Reservoir Adult Community Education - Prace College campus	Independent	Special	Reservoir	75	946
Maharishi School of the Age of Enlightenment	Independent	Primary	Reservoir	53	1032
Yarra Me School	Government	Special	Preston

Source: ACARA School Profiles 2025. ICSEA shown where reported; some schools (notably small primaries) do not publish ICSEA.

SEIFA socio-economic indexes

SEIFA 2021 ranks Australian areas across four dimensions. Scores are population-weighted averages of suburb-level SEIFA scores within Darebin. Higher scores indicate more advantage; the national mean is 1000.

Suburbs in Darebin

Darebin contains 23 suburbs and 9 postcodes. Sorted by population.

Suburb	Postcode	Population	Median income	Median age
Reservoir	3073	51,096	$1,541/wk	38
Preston	3072	33,790	$1,844/wk	37
Northcote	3070	25,276	$2,287/wk	37
Thornbury	3071	19,005	$1,971/wk	37
Fairfield	3078	6,535	$1,967/wk	37
Alphington	3078	5,702	$2,429/wk	39
Kingsbury	3083	3,460	$1,399/wk	34
Batman	3058
Gilberton	3072
Keon Park	3073
La Trobe University	3083
Macleod West	3085
Merlynston	3058
Moreland	3058
Northland Centre	3072
Preston Lower	3072
Preston South	3072
Preston West	3072
Regent West	3072
Reservoir East	3073
Reservoir North	3073
Reservoir South	3073
Sylvester	3072

Postcodes covered

3058, 3070, 3071, 3072, 3073, 3078, 3083, 3085, 3086

Compare Darebin with neighbouring LGAs

Side-by-side demographic and socio-economic snapshot of Darebin and its closest neighbouring LGAs.

LGA	Population	Median age	Median HH income	SEIFA IRSAD	% renting	% overseas-born
Darebin (VIC)	144,864	37.4	$1,849/wk	1045	39.6%	30.9%
Moreland	170,547	35.4	$1,928/wk	1049	39.2%	33.0%
Banyule	121,704	40.4	$2,092/wk	1069	26.1%	24.1%
Yarra	87,806	34.4	$2,298/wk	1107	55.1%	28.9%
Whittlesea	243,768	35.8	$1,775/wk	983	25.8%	37.5%
Hume	243,266	34.1	$1,724/wk	949	26.0%	39.9%

Services and amenities

Frequently asked questions about Darebin

What is the population of Darebin?

The 2021 Census recorded 144,864 people living in Darebin, across 23 suburbs.

What suburbs are in Darebin?

Darebin contains 23 suburbs. The most populous are Reservoir, Preston, Northcote, Thornbury, Fairfield.See the full list in the Suburbs section above.

What postcodes are in Darebin?

Darebin covers 9 postcodes: 3058, 3070, 3071, 3072, 3073, 3078, 3083, 3085, 3086.

What is the median household income in Darebin?

The population-weighted median household income across Darebin is $1,849 per week (2021 Census), ranking #27 of 79 VIC LGAs.

How many schools are in Darebin?

Darebin has 46 schools, including 29 government, 12 Catholic, and 5 independent schools (ACARA 2025).

What is the SEIFA score for Darebin?

Darebin has a population-weighted SEIFA IRSAD score of 1045, where the national average is 1000. Higher scores indicate more relative advantage.

Page last reviewed June 2026. Data sources: Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census (CC BY 4.0), SEIFA 2021 (IRSD, IRSAD, IER, IEO), ACARA School Profiles 2025, ABS ASGS 2021 LGA boundaries. How this data is sourced.