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How we rate suburbs

Suburb ratings are live on our suburb pages. The band edges below are still a draft, and any change to them is logged at the end of this page.

Each factor is measured against a fixed, published standard, not against other suburbs. A suburb’s rating changes only when its own data changes, never because another suburb got better or worse.

Each factor gets a score from 0 to 5, and each suburb an overall rating, the average of the factors we can score there (below). It too looks only at the suburb’s own data: we do not rank suburbs or list them by their overall rating. Every factor is still shown on its own, so you can weigh them for your own family.

How to read a rating

Access factors

Schools, transport, parks and so on: more is better.

  • Strong
  • Moderate
  • Limited

Exposure factors

Flood, bushfire, heat: less is better.

  • Low exposure
  • Some exposure
  • High exposure

Not rated means we do not have adequate official data for that suburb. It does not mean a poor result or a low risk, and it looks clearly different from the lowest band.

Each rating also carries an evidence confidence. High: official data that matches the suburb exactly and is current. Medium: indicative or modelled data, or data nearing its refresh date. Below Medium we do not rate at all.

How the overall rating works

Each factor is scored 0–5 on a sliding scale: reaching the best band's edge scores 5, the middle band's edge scores 3, and a stated low point scores 0, in straight lines between, to one decimal place. So the score always agrees with the band: the best band is 5, the middle band 3 to under 5, the lowest band under 3. Each factor's scale is listed below.

The overall rating is the average of the scored factors, to one decimal place, every factor counted equally. Factors that are Not rated are left out. Home internet is shown but not scored: almost every city suburb has it, so it does not tell suburbs apart. We show an overall rating only when at least 3 factors are scored, and always say how many it is based on.

OverallScore
Excellent 4.5 to 5
Very good 3.75 to under 4.5
Good 3 to under 3.75
Fair 2 to under 3
Poor 0 to under 2

These cut-offs are ours. The overall rating becomes more complete as more factors can be rated; it is no substitute for reading the factors themselves.

City summaries

Each city's Things to Do page sums up the ratings of every suburb in it. A city is an official ABS area: the Greater Capital City for a capital (Greater Melbourne), the Significant Urban Area for a regional city (Geelong). A suburb counts where most of its homes are, and every figure is weighted by homes. The typical home is the home-weighted middle of the suburbs' overall ratings: half the city's homes are in suburbs rated that or higher. For each factor, a share of homes is worked out across all the city's homes, and any other figure is the typical home's; it is then scored on the same scale. A city shows a summary only once at least 70% of its homes are rated, and the same goes for each factor. We never rank cities or list them by rating.

Our rules

  1. Official or peer-reviewed sources only, named beside every factor.
  2. The standard is published before any data is applied. Any change to it is announced in the change log below.
  3. Where an Australian planning standard exists, we use it. Where none exists, we say the cut-off is ours.
  4. The overall rating is a plain average of the factor bands, every factor counted equally. We never compare or rank suburbs.
  5. Missing data is Not rated, never counted as zero or the lowest band.
  6. Paid listings and commercial relationships never affect a rating.
  7. We do not rate house prices, recorded crime, school results or who lives in a suburb.

The factors

Kids' activities

What we measure: How many different kinds of kids’ activity (swimming, football, dance, music, coding and so on) have at least one provider within 3 km of the suburb.

Rating When
Strong 12 or more kinds
Moderate 5 to 11 kinds
Limited 4 or fewer kinds
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 12 kinds or more scores 5 · 5 kinds scores 3 · none scores 0

Why these cut-offs
No public standard exists for this. The cut-offs are ours, set so that Strong means a family can find most common activities nearby. Our own cut-offs
Where we can rate it
Every state. Our directory is more complete in some areas than others, so a suburb we know little about is Not rated rather than rated Limited.
What it does not tell you
Whether a class has places, what it costs, or whether it suits your child’s age.
Data

School access

What we measure: The share of homes within an 800 m walk of a government primary school, measured along footpaths and streets.

Rating When
Strong At least 70% of homes
Moderate 40% to under 70%
Limited Under 40%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 70% of homes or more scores 5 · 40% of homes scores 3 · none scores 0

Why these cut-offs
Victoria’s Precinct Structure Planning Guidelines target 70% of homes within 800 m of a government primary school; 800 m is the 10-minute walk of the 20-minute neighbourhood. The lower edge (40%) is ours. Source
Where we can rate it
NSW, VIC, QLD, WA and the ACT. Not rated in SA (its open school list is from 2017), Tasmania (no licence stated) or the NT (no open list).
What it does not tell you
Whether your home is in a school’s zone, whether a school has places, or anything about its results. Check zones with our catchment checker.
Data

Public transport

What we measure: The share of homes within 400 m of a bus, tram or light-rail stop, or 800 m of a train station or ferry wharf, that has a service at least every 30 minutes from 7am to 7pm on weekdays.

Rating When
Strong At least 95% of homes
Moderate 60% to under 95%
Limited Under 60%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 95% of homes or more scores 5 · 60% of homes scores 3 · none scores 0

Why these cut-offs
Victoria’s planning standard (Clause 56, Standard C7) asks for 95% of homes within 400 m of a bus stop and 800 m of a station. The 30-minute service rule follows the Australian Urban Observatory’s definition of a regular service. The lower edge (60%) is ours. Source
Where we can rate it
NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, ACT and NT. Not rated in WA and Tasmania until their timetable licences allow this use.
What it does not tell you
Whether services run on time, how crowded they are, or how good evening and weekend services are.
Data

Commute to the city

What we measure: The typical public transport trip from homes in the suburb to the capital city centre, leaving between 7am and 9am on a weekday, including walking and waiting.

Rating When
Strong 30 minutes or less
Moderate More than 30 minutes, up to 45 minutes
Limited More than 45 minutes
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 30 minutes or less scores 5 · 45 minutes scores 3 · 90 minutes or more scores 0

Why these cut-offs
Transport for NSW’s 30-minute city measure, and the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics, which counts a commute longer than 45 minutes one way as lengthy. Source
Where we can rate it
Capital cities in NSW, VIC, QLD, SA, ACT and NT. Driving times are not rated: no open source gives peak-hour traffic.
What it does not tell you
How long your own commute will take if you work outside the city centre, or how long the drive takes in traffic.
Data

Everyday shopping

What we measure: The share of homes within a 1 km walk of a supermarket.

Rating When
Strong At least 80% of homes
Moderate 40% to under 80%
Limited Under 40%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 80% of homes or more scores 5 · 40% of homes scores 3 · none scores 0

Why these cut-offs
Victoria’s Precinct Structure Planning Guidelines (2009) expect 80–90% of households within 1 km of a centre large enough for a supermarket. The lower edge (40%) is ours.
Where we can rate it
No government publishes supermarket locations. Not rated anywhere until we have checked an open source against known store counts.
What it does not tell you
Opening hours, prices, or whether a store is a full supermarket or a small grocer.
Data
  • Supermarket locations · To be chosen after a completeness check · —

Parks & play

What we measure: The share of homes within a 400 m walk of a public park.

Rating When
Strong At least 95% of homes
Moderate 70% to under 95%
Limited Under 70%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 95% of homes or more scores 5 · 70% of homes scores 3 · none scores 0

Why these cut-offs
Victoria’s planning standard (Clause 56, Standard C13) asks for local parks within 400 m of 95% of homes; Western Australia’s Liveable Neighbourhoods uses the same 400 m. The lower edge (70%) is ours.
Where we can rate it
Every state. Playground counts are shown alongside as a fact. Tree canopy is not rated: consistent data exists only for some capital cities.
What it does not tell you
How big or well kept a park is, or whether it has toilets, shade or fencing.
Data

GP access

What we measure: The share of homes within 1 km of a general practice.

Rating When
Strong At least 75% of homes
Moderate 40% to under 75%
Limited Under 40%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 75% of homes or more scores 5 · 40% of homes scores 3 · none scores 0

Why these cut-offs
There is no Australian distance standard for GPs. The 1 km distance comes from RMIT’s national liveability research; the band edges are ours. Our own cut-offs
Where we can rate it
Every state. The list is refreshed yearly, so a clinic that recently opened or closed may be missing.
What it does not tell you
Whether a practice bulk-bills, is taking new patients, or opens after hours. Distance to an emergency department is shown as a fact, not rated.
Data

Flood

What we measure: The share of homes inside the official 1% annual-chance (“1-in-100-year”) flood planning area.

Rating When
Low exposure Under 5% of homes
Some exposure 5% to 20%
High exposure More than 20%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: Under 5% of homes scores 5 · 20% of homes scores 3 · every home scores 0

Why these cut-offs
The 1% annual-chance flood is the design event Australian floodplain planning is built on. The band edges are ours. Our own cut-offs
Where we can rate it
Not rated anywhere yet. The state flood layers we can read are incomplete — many NSW councils now map flooding in their own plans, and our first check put a suburb on the Hawkesbury floodplain at 0% — and a home missing from an incomplete map must never read as Low exposure. We will rate flood only where a council’s flood mapping can be confirmed complete.
What it does not tell you
Whether a particular property floods. Ask the council for a flood certificate before you buy.
Data

Bushfire

What we measure: The share of homes inside a designated bushfire-prone area.

Rating When
Low exposure Under 5% of homes
Some exposure 5% to 20%
High exposure More than 20%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: Under 5% of homes scores 5 · 20% of homes scores 3 · every home scores 0

Why these cut-offs
Bushfire-prone designation is what triggers the building rules in the National Construction Code and AS 3959. The band edges are ours. Our own cut-offs
Where we can rate it
NSW, VIC, QLD and SA. Not rated in WA (the current map is not openly licensed), the NT (no map) and, until their licences are confirmed, Tasmania and the ACT.
What it does not tell you
A property’s Bushfire Attack Level (BAL). That needs a site assessment.
Data

Hot days

What we measure: The average number of days a year at or above 35°C, over 1991–2020.

Rating When
Low exposure 5 days or fewer
Some exposure More than 5 days, up to 15 days
High exposure More than 15 days
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: 5 days or less scores 5 · 15 days scores 3 · 40 days or more scores 0

Why these cut-offs
Days at or above 35°C is the count the Bureau of Meteorology reports in its climate statistics. It is a convention, not a health standard. The band edges are ours. Our own cut-offs
Where we can rate it
Every state. The grid is about 5 km wide, so it cannot show differences between streets, such as shade from trees.
What it does not tell you
How hot your street gets compared with the next one, or whether homes have shade or cooling.
Data

Home internet

What we measure: The share of homes inside the NBN fixed-line footprint.

Rating When
Strong At least 95% of homes
Moderate 50% to under 95%
Limited Under 50%
Not rated Not enough official data

How it is scored: Shown, not scored, and not part of the overall rating.

Why these cut-offs
There is no standard. Fixed-line NBN generally supports faster plans than fixed wireless or satellite. The band edges are ours. Our own cut-offs
Where we can rate it
Every state. Mobile coverage by carrier is shown alongside as a fact; it is modelled outdoor coverage, not measured.
What it does not tell you
Which NBN technology your home has or what speed you will get. Check your address on the NBN website.
Data

A worked example

Say a suburb has 4,000 homes, and 3,120 of them are within an 800 m walk of a primary school along footpaths and streets. 3,120 ÷ 4,000 = 78%. That is at least 70%, so School access is Strong.

A different suburb with 1,000 homes, 800 of them in reach, is also 80% and Strong. Neither result affects the other. These figures are an example, not a real suburb.

How we count homes and distances

  • Homes: residential address points from the national address file (G-NAF), checked against ABS Mesh Block dwelling counts.
  • Suburb boundaries: ABS Suburbs and Localities 2021, matching the Census.
  • Walking distance: along footpaths and streets in OpenStreetMap, not in a straight line. Walking speed is 4 km/h.
  • Places outside the suburb count: families near a boundary often use the school or park in the next suburb.
  • A route we cannot calculate is treated as unknown, not as out of reach.

Shown as facts, not rated

House prices

A suburb with more going for it usually costs more, so price is not a sign of a better or worse suburb. We show medians as facts.

Recorded crime

Each state counts offences differently and there is no fair fixed threshold. We show recorded offences with their source and period.

School zones

Almost every home in NSW and Victoria is inside some school’s zone, so a rating would say nothing. We show which zones cover the suburb.

School results

We do not rate or rank schools or suburbs on academic results.

Road safety

There is no published safe level for crashes. We show pedestrian and cyclist crashes near schools as facts.

Emergency departments

There is no Australian standard for distance to an emergency department. We show the nearest one and how far it is.

Aircraft noise

Noise contours exist only for some airports, under uneven licences. Where we can, we show whether homes fall inside the official noise contours.

Air quality

Air quality is measured at a few monitoring stations, not suburb by suburb. We show the nearest station and whether it met the national standard.

Waiting on permission

Childcare & kindergarten

The only national list of approved services is ACECQA’s register, and its terms do not allow it to be used for ratings on a commercial site. We will not rate this without ACECQA’s written permission.

Before- and after-school care

Same register, same terms.

Spotted a mistake?

Email support@aroundschools.com.au with the suburb, the factor and what you think is wrong. We reply within 5 business days. If we made the mistake in processing, we fix it and log it below; if the publisher's data is wrong, we pass it on to them. Every dataset and licence is listed on our data sources page.

Change log

  • 28 October 2026 — Ratings now show on every suburb page with enough data.
  • 28 October 2026 — Each factor is now scored 0–5 on a sliding scale; home internet is no longer scored; the overall rating shows once at least 3 factors are scored (method 0.4-draft).
  • 28 October 2026 — Added an overall rating out of 5: the average of the rated factors, shown once at least 4 factors are rated.
  • 27 October 2026 — Flood is not rated anywhere for now: the state flood layers we can read are incomplete, and a gap in a map cannot be shown as Low exposure.
  • 27 October 2026 — School access now measures government primary schools, matching the Victorian standard it is based on, and is rated in NSW, VIC, QLD, WA and the ACT.
  • 27 October 2026 — Draft method published for review.

These ratings are not insurance, planning, building, health or financial advice. Before a decision that matters, check the official source listed for each factor.

Method version 0.4-draft · Updated 28 October 2026