Where to plant
Every suburb in Australia ranked by how much the population is moving in — the last five years and the official forecast — with a small weight for whether there are enough people to sustain a plant. How near a ACC church is carries no weight; the church columns are context.
Showing growth suburbs only — suburbs that gained 2,500+ people between the 2018 and 2023 ACS windows, are forecast to, or grew 25%+ while adding 1,200+ people. Toggle off to search every suburb. Forecast to 2036 is the official projection (2026–2036) from Georgia’s Office of Planning and Budget (2026 series) and Tennessee’s Boyd Center at UT (2022 series). Both publish by SA3 corridor, so each SA3 corridor’s decade change is apportioned to its suburbs by population share. A ~ marks any suburb still on our modeled trend.
| Rank | suburb | SA3 corridor | State | Population | Growth 5 yr | % | Forecast to 2036 | % | Churches ≤20 km | Nearest | Score | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Wallan | Whittlesea - Wallan | Victoria | 28,343 | +8,253 | +41.1% | +50,750 | +136.7% | 2 | 14 km | 89 | — |
| 2 | Mickleham - Yuroke | Tullamarine - Broadmeadows | Victoria | 35,244 | +21,192 | +150.8% | +25,783 | +68.2% | 24 | 7.5 km | 86 | — |
| 5 | Rockbank - Mount Cottrell | Melton - Bacchus Marsh | Victoria | 31,254 | +20,910 | +202.2% | +44,519 | +107.4% | 44 | 0.8 km | 82 | — |
| 8 | Cranbourne South | Casey - South | Victoria | 24,522 | +11,652 | +90.5% | +30,485 | +94.4% | 36 | 4.0 km | 82 | — |
| 10 | Wollert | Whittlesea - Wallan | Victoria | 33,491 | +16,182 | +93.5% | +25,135 | +67.2% | 31 | 1.4 km | 81 | — |
| 11 | Clyde North - South | Casey - South | Victoria | 24,557 | +16,550 | +206.7% | +31,656 | +100.2% | 38 | 1.5 km | 81 | — |
| 15 | Werribee - West | Wyndham | Victoria | 30,413 | +12,901 | +73.7% | +22,650 | +61.5% | 25 | 0.9 km | 80 | — |
| 16 | Fraser Rise - Plumpton | Melton - Bacchus Marsh | Victoria | 20,675 | +12,674 | +158.4% | +26,100 | +99.6% | 46 | 3.1 km | 80 | — |
| 21 | Koo Wee Rup | Cardinia | Victoria | 11,981 | +3,224 | +36.8% | +6,870 | +50.6% | 5 | 17 km | 79 | — |
| 22 | Delacombe | Ballarat | Victoria | 14,218 | +5,328 | +59.9% | +9,050 | +56.9% | 2 | 4.0 km | 79 | — |
| 24 | Portarlington | Surf Coast - Bellarine Peninsula | Victoria | 10,599 | +2,182 | +25.9% | +1,465 | +13.3% | 0 | 23 km | 79 | — |
| 25 | Whittlesea | Whittlesea - Wallan | Victoria | 15,759 | +6,323 | +67.0% | +22,863 | +100.3% | 14 | 2.5 km | 79 | — |
| 26 | Wonthaggi - Inverloch | Gippsland - South West | Victoria | 28,729 | +3,952 | +15.9% | +4,834 | +16.5% | 2 | 14 km | 79 | — |
| 27 | Bacchus Marsh | Melton - Bacchus Marsh | Victoria | 26,531 | +3,171 | +13.6% | +11,913 | +40.9% | 5 | 14 km | 79 | — |
| 29 | Charlemont | Geelong | Victoria | 13,969 | +6,606 | +89.7% | +12,202 | +68.9% | 4 | 1.9 km | 78 | — |
| 35 | Tarneit (West) - Mount Cottrell | Wyndham | Victoria | 17,068 | +11,749 | +220.9% | +20,515 | +89.6% | 41 | 0.5 km | 78 | — |
| 37 | Alfredton | Ballarat | Victoria | 20,082 | +5,648 | +39.1% | +5,304 | +25.6% | 2 | 5.6 km | 77 | — |
| 40 | Tarneit - North | Wyndham | Victoria | 13,406 | +9,398 | +234.5% | +18,999 | +96.5% | 45 | 2.0 km | 77 | — |
| 45 | Wyndham Vale - North | Wyndham | Victoria | 13,052 | +6,565 | +101.2% | +16,239 | +96.4% | 28 | 3.3 km | 77 | — |
| 50 | Barwon Heads - Armstrong Creek | Surf Coast - Bellarine Peninsula | Victoria | 14,374 | +4,351 | +43.4% | +6,810 | +44.9% | 3 | 6.2 km | 76 | — |
| 54 | Torquay | Surf Coast - Bellarine Peninsula | Victoria | 26,368 | +4,219 | +19.1% | +4,128 | +14.7% | 3 | 11 km | 76 | — |
| 60 | Cobblebank - Strathtulloh | Melton - Bacchus Marsh | Victoria | 11,697 | +7,354 | +169.3% | +12,600 | +89.8% | 25 | 2.4 km | 76 | — |
| 63 | Beaconsfield - Officer | Cardinia | Victoria | 28,306 | +8,047 | +39.7% | +12,972 | +40.2% | 35 | 2.0 km | 75 | — |
| 73 | Melton South - Weir Views | Melton - Bacchus Marsh | Victoria | 21,641 | +7,399 | +52.0% | +5,101 | +21.7% | 18 | 3.1 km | 75 | — |
| 101 | Grovedale - Mount Duneed | Geelong | Victoria | 27,722 | +4,817 | +21.0% | +5,702 | +19.4% | 4 | 2.3 km | 73 | — |
| 103 | Lara | Geelong | Victoria | 22,923 | +2,640 | +13.0% | +4,599 | +19.7% | 2 | 6.8 km | 73 | — |
| 104 | Greenvale - Bulla | Tullamarine - Broadmeadows | Victoria | 25,668 | +5,341 | +26.3% | +8,976 | +32.3% | 46 | 5.4 km | 73 | — |
| 106 | Drouin | Baw Baw | Victoria | 21,760 | +3,313 | +18.0% | +6,898 | +29.8% | 2 | 2.2 km | 73 | — |
| 120 | Clyde North - North | Casey - South | Victoria | 13,108 | +5,607 | +74.8% | +6,017 | +39.9% | 39 | 1.6 km | 72 | — |
| 126 | Warragul | Baw Baw | Victoria | 24,850 | +3,567 | +16.8% | +6,316 | +24.1% | 2 | 0.1 km | 72 | — |
| 130 | Truganina - North | Wyndham | Victoria | 14,210 | +8,175 | +135.5% | +4,665 | +28.3% | 48 | 0.2 km | 72 | — |
| 132 | Manor Lakes - Quandong | Wyndham | Victoria | 12,519 | +3,327 | +36.2% | +12,364 | +86.4% | 25 | 3.3 km | 72 | — |
| 137 | Diggers Rest | Sunbury | Victoria | 6,946 | +3,186 | +84.7% | +6,079 | +65.5% | 24 | 4.5 km | 71 | — |
| 139 | Baranduda - Leneva | Wodonga - Alpine | Victoria | 14,055 | +2,683 | +23.6% | +6,026 | +37.9% | 3 | 3.0 km | 71 | — |
| 156 | Geelong West - Hamlyn Heights | Geelong | Victoria | 22,084 | +1,275 | +6.1% | +6,887 | +29.6% | 4 | 7.0 km | 70 | — |
| 176 | Cranbourne East - South | Casey - South | Victoria | 15,055 | +5,354 | +55.2% | +2,426 | +14.7% | 39 | 2.8 km | 70 | — |
| 193 | Pakenham - North West | Cardinia | Victoria | 9,629 | +3,042 | +46.2% | +7,450 | +60.5% | 24 | 1.3 km | 69 | — |
| 225 | Craigieburn - South | Tullamarine - Broadmeadows | Victoria | 23,994 | +3,329 | +16.1% | +7,521 | +30.3% | 35 | 1.7 km | 68 | — |
| 237 | Melbourne CBD - North | Melbourne City | Victoria | 23,395 | +5,030 | +27.4% | +5,297 | +21.6% | 65 | 0.3 km | 68 | — |
| 241 | Box Hill | Whitehorse - West | Victoria | 26,577 | +3,145 | +13.4% | +7,031 | +25.8% | 62 | 3.3 km | 68 | — |
| 252 | Footscray | Maribyrnong | Victoria | 20,607 | +2,553 | +14.1% | +12,756 | +49.4% | 62 | 1.5 km | 68 | — |
| 264 | Doncaster | Manningham - West | Victoria | 27,827 | +3,655 | +15.1% | +4,961 | +17.7% | 57 | 2.5 km | 67 | — |
| 284 | Port Melbourne Industrial | Port Phillip | Victoria | 2,567 | +1,284 | +100.1% | +23,695 | +194.4% | 62 | 1.3 km | 67 | — |
| 285 | Sunbury - South | Sunbury | Victoria | 16,773 | +2,054 | +13.9% | +8,046 | +44.3% | 18 | 1.2 km | 67 | — |
| 288 | Cranbourne West | Casey - South | Victoria | 24,843 | +5,055 | +25.6% | +2,744 | +10.1% | 46 | 0.3 km | 67 | — |
| 329 | Sunbury | Sunbury | Victoria | 14,758 | +1,121 | +8.2% | +8,626 | +51.9% | 16 | 3.4 km | 66 | — |
| 348 | Docklands | Melbourne City | Victoria | 18,407 | +2,038 | +12.4% | +8,697 | +45.8% | 67 | 1.6 km | 65 | — |
| 380 | Melbourne CBD - West | Melbourne City | Victoria | 21,340 | +2,590 | +13.8% | +4,875 | +20.7% | 66 | 1.0 km | 65 | — |
| 381 | Southbank - East | Melbourne City | Victoria | 19,274 | +2,569 | +15.4% | +5,085 | +24.1% | 64 | 0.9 km | 65 | — |
| 392 | Werribee - South | Wyndham | Victoria | 17,866 | +2,844 | +18.9% | +2,080 | +11.5% | 29 | 2.3 km | 64 | — |