Highest rental yield suburbs in Melbourne, 2026

Median gross rental yield across the 147 Melbourne suburbs with reliable data sits at 2.5% —
but that single number hides more than an eight-fold spread, from 4.2% in Cranbourne down to
0.5% in Toorak. The pattern is exactly what you'd expect once you see it laid out:
yield tracks the ratio of rent to price, and outer growth-corridor suburbs with lower entry prices
comfortably out-yield the expensive inner-east on income terms, even where the inner-east wins on
almost everything else. What's less obvious, and worth knowing before assuming "high yield" means
"stagnant suburb": a handful of the highest-yielding suburbs here also posted some of the
strongest price growth of the past year.

The headline numbers

• 147 Melbourne suburbs ranked, every one with both a reliable house-sale market and a current
  DFFH rent reading
• 2.5% median gross rental yield across the full set
• 4.2% the highest yield in the dataset — Cranbourne, followed closely by Heidelberg West and
  Melton at 4.1%
• 0.5% the lowest — Toorak, where a $6.9 million median house price sits against $688/week rent
• Only 6 suburbs clear a 4.0% gross yield; 15 sit below 1.5%
• Casey and Hume are the two council areas with the highest average yield across their
  suburbs (3.64% and 3.60%), Boroondara and Stonnington the lowest (1.35% and 1.44%)

Every suburb, ranked by gross yield

Gross yield = annual rent ÷ house median, the same methodology and figures shown on each
suburb's own Delora page. Data as of September 2025 (DFFH rents) and 2026 Q2 (VGV house medians).
Full ranking of all 147 suburbs with a reliable house-sale market and a current DFFH rent
reading, highest yield first.

What the data shows

The headline pattern is unsurprising once you see it: yield is driven overwhelmingly by price,
not rent. Weekly rents across this dataset cluster fairly tightly — mostly $450 to $700 a
week — while house prices range from under $600,000 to nearly $7 million. A suburb doesn't earn a
high yield by commanding unusually high rent; it earns one by keeping its purchase price down
relative to what tenants will pay. That's why the top of the table is dominated by Melbourne's
outer growth corridors — Casey, Hume, Cardinia, Whittlesea, Wyndham — where median house prices
sit well under $800,000, and the bottom is dominated by the inner-east — Boroondara, Stonnington,
Bayside, Glen Eira — where multi-million-dollar medians dwarf what even a premium weekly rent can
offset.

What's genuinely worth flagging is that "high yield" and "stagnant suburb" aren't the same thing
here. Melton, Hastings and Broadmeadows all combine a gross yield of 4.0% or higher with 12-month price
growth above 9% — meaning an investor buying in these suburbs over the past year has plausibly
captured both the income and the capital-growth side of the return at once, not traded one off
against the other. That's not true of every high-yield suburb on this list (Cranbourne and
Heidelberg West, the two highest-yielding suburbs, both show much more modest recent price
movement), which is exactly why yield alone is a starting filter, not a complete investment case —
see the best suburbs for capital growth for the other
half of that picture.

At the other end, the 15 suburbs yielding below 1.5% — Toorak, Portsea, Hawthorn, Malvern,
Canterbury, Middle Park, Brighton, Armadale, Glen Iris, Camberwell, Kew, Elsternwick, Ivanhoe
East, Alphington and Balwyn — are almost all premium inner or bayside addresses where buyers are
paying overwhelmingly for capital value and lifestyle, not rental income. A sub-1% yield doesn't
mean these are bad investments; it means the return an owner expects here is priced to come from
appreciation, not rent, and the numbers should be read that way rather than as a income-focused
comparison against Cranbourne or Melton.

Reading gross yield correctly

Every figure on this page is gross yield — annual rent divided by purchase price, before
land tax, agent/property-management fees, maintenance, insurance, vacancy periods, body corporate
fees (for a unit) or loan interest. Net yield, after those costs, typically runs one to two
percentage points below the gross figure shown here, and varies by owner depending on financing
and management choices — this page doesn't attempt to model that, because those costs are
genuinely investor-specific, not suburb-specific. It's also a point-in-time snapshot (current
median house price against the latest available DFFH rent reading), not a forecast: a suburb's
yield moves as prices and rents move independently of each other, and a high yield today says
nothing on its own about where either is headed. For the tax side of the equation — what's
actually deductible, and how negative gearing and capital gains tax are changing from 1 July
2027 — see Delora's investing hub.

Frequently asked questions

What is a good rental yield in Melbourne?
Across the 147 suburbs in this ranking, the median gross yield is 2.5%, with a realistic range
from around 2% to 4% for most established suburbs. Anything above 3.5% gross is comparatively
high for Melbourne — only 17 of the 147 suburbs measured clear that mark — and is concentrated in
outer growth-corridor and lower-price suburbs rather than the inner or bayside market.

Which Melbourne suburb has the highest rental yield?
Cranbourne, at 4.2% gross, followed by Heidelberg West and Melton at 4.1%, then Hastings at 4.1%
and Hampton Park at 4.0%. All five combine a comparatively low house median (under $750,000) with
weekly rent in the $450-$580 range.

Do high-yield suburbs also have good capital growth?
Not automatically, but it's not mutually exclusive either. Melton, Hastings and Broadmeadows all
combined a gross yield of 4.0% or higher with 12-month price growth above 9% in this dataset — genuinely
strong on both counts. Others among the highest-yielding suburbs, including Cranbourne itself,
showed much more modest recent price movement, which is why yield and growth are worth checking
separately rather than assuming one implies the other.

Why do expensive suburbs like Toorak have such low rental yields?
Because yield is rent divided by price, and in suburbs like Toorak, Portsea and Hawthorn the
purchase price is driven by land value, scarcity and prestige far more than by what a tenant will
pay in rent. Toorak's $6.9 million house median against $688 a week in rent produces a 0.5%
yield — not a sign of a bad suburb, but a sign that the expected return there is priced to come
overwhelmingly from capital growth rather than rental income.

Is gross yield the same as my actual return as a landlord?
No. Gross yield doesn't subtract land tax, property management fees, maintenance, insurance,
vacancy periods or loan interest — net yield after those costs typically runs one to two
percentage points lower and depends on your own financing and management choices, not just the
suburb. Use gross yield to compare suburbs against each other, not as a forecast of your own
net return.

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See also: where Melbourne's most undervalued suburbs are
· did your suburb's apartments beat inflation? · Delora's
investing hub · browse all Melbourne suburbs

Delora provides general information, not legal, financial or investment advice, and is not a
substitute for a licensed conveyancer, solicitor, financial adviser or accountant. Public-record
figures are suburb-level indicators — always confirm the specific property. Always obtain
professional advice before signing a contract of sale or making an investment decision.