Top 10 suburbs to rent on an average salary

Median weekly rents ranged between $285 to $330
Average weekly household income for those suburbs were between $1,135 to $1,816
No houses made the top 10, with all properties being units

Rental vacancy rates for residential property have hit a 16-year low due to constrained stock fuelled by the lack of property investors over the past five years, according to research by Property Investment Professionals of Australia (PIPA).

SQM data shows a similarly stark picture, with the national vacancy rate currently 1%. It was 1.9% this time last year.

National

Research commissioned by HOOD.ai whittled down the suburbs for renters on average salaries.

The research excluded suburbs with an SA3 region more than 100 kilometres from a capital city CBD and suburbs with a low socio-economic status as measured by having a SEIFA socio-economic score of less than 5.

SA3 and SEIFA are definitions from the Australian Bureau of Statistics determining a cluster of suburbs, and relative socio-economic advantage or disadvantage, respectively.

For the top 10 rental markets, median weekly rents ranged from $285 to $330, while
household incomes ranged from $1,135 to $1,816.

Top 10 suburbs to rent in on an average salary

Rank	State	Suburb	Postcode	Type	Median weekly rent	Distance to CBD*
1	VIC	Caulfield East	3145	Unit	$285	14km
2	VIC	Gardenvale	3185	Unit	$290	14km
3	VIC	Kingsville	3012	Unit	$300	8km
4	SA	Plympton	5038	Unit	$320	6km
5	SA	Camden Park	5038	Unit	$320	6km
6	VIC	Manifold Heights	3218	Unit	$320	68km
7	SA	Glenelg North	5045	Unit	$325	11km
8	VIC	Heatherton	3202	Unit	$325	24km
9	WA	Wembley	6014	Unit	$330	0km
10	WA	Osborne Park	6017	Unit	$330	4km

* ‘Distance to CBD’ is not the average distance of the suburb to the CBD but the average distance of the suburb’s ‘SA3 region’ (a technical term the Australian Bureau of Statistics uses to define a cluster of suburbs) to the CBD.

Top 10 affordable suburbs to rent in, details

Caufield East

Median weekly rent	$285
Vacancy rate	3.3%
Average weekly household income	$1,272
Distance to CBD*	14km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	9

Gardenvale

Median weekly rent	$290
Vacancy rate	3.5%
Average weekly household income	$1,509
Distance to CBD*	14km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	10

Kingsville

Median weekly rent	$300
Vacancy rate	3.7%
Average weekly household income	$1,665
Distance to CBD*	8km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	9

Plympton

Median weekly rent	$320
Vacancy rate	0.0%
Average weekly household income	$1,175
Distance to CBD*	6km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	5

Camden Park

Median weekly rent	$320
Vacancy rate	0.4%
Average weekly household income	$1,135
Distance to CBD*	6km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	5

Manifold Heights

Median weekly rent	$320
Vacancy rate	1.3%
Average weekly household income	$1,419
Distance to CBD*	68km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	8

Glenelg North

Median weekly rent	$325
Vacancy rate	0.7%
Average weekly household income	$1,408
Distance to CBD*	11km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	9

Heatherton

Median weekly rent	$325
Vacancy rate	0.5%
Average weekly household income	$1,816
Distance to CBD*	24km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	9

Wembley

Median weekly rent	$330
Vacancy rate	0.8%
Average weekly household income	$1,770
Distance to CBD*	0km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	10

Osborne Park

Median weekly rent	$330
Vacancy rate	1.0%
Average weekly household income	$1,207
Distance to CBD*	4km
SEIFA socio-economic score**	5

** ‘SEIFA socio-economic score’ is an Australian Bureau of Statistics measure that ranks
areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. If a suburb has a score of 5, it means it’s in the fifth decile (i.e. 41-50%) in terms of its
socio-economic position.

Top 10 suburbs to rent in on an average salary