Rowville, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Rowville is a large suburb in Melbourne's south-east, within the City of Knox, taking its name from the Row family whose property, Stamford Park, was established in 1882. The Stamford Park homestead still stands and has been restored by the council in recent years. A post office opened in 1905, but the area remained largely agricultural until the post-war decades: in 1955 a pair of entrepreneurs bought the historic Stamford Park estate with plans for housing, shops and display homes around the corner of Stud and Wellington Roads. Rapid growth followed through the 1980s and 1990s. Among the suburb's distinctive developments is Rowville Lakes, proposed by the developer Hooker-Rex in 1975 and noted as an early Victorian example of a lakefront housing estate. The Stud Park Shopping Centre, opened in 1989, remains the commercial hub, anchoring a suburb now well supplied with parks, schools and sporting clubs.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Rowville is more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1056, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Rowville at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 33,571
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $2,205
- SEIFA score
- 1056
- Coordinates
- -37.9259, 145.2364
Rowville demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Rowville using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is mid-life (45–64) at 30%, 15% of homes are rented, and 36% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 5,622 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 4,574 | 14% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 7,958 | 24% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 10,136 | 30% |
| Seniors (65+) | 5,288 | 16% |
Share of the 33,578 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 4,110 | 36% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 5,133 | 45% |
| Rented | 1,722 | 15% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 10,469 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 822 | 7% |
| Flats & apartments | 97 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 11,396 occupied private dwellings in Rowville.
- Median weekly rent
- $441
- Median monthly mortgage
- $2,055
- Average household size
- 2.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,410
- Median weekly personal income
- $839
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 11,763 (36%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 10,615 (32%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 145 (0%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 17,723 (67%)
- Labour-force participation
- 68%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.4%
- Employed full-time
- 11,249
- Employed part-time
- 5,920
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Rowville
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Rowville is January (average daytime high around 26.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.8°C). The area receives roughly 898 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26.6°C | 14.9°C | 64 mm |
| Feb | 25.3°C | 14.3°C | 44 mm |
| Mar | 23.5°C | 13.6°C | 58 mm |
| Apr | 19.7°C | 11.1°C | 72 mm |
| May | 15.9°C | 9.1°C | 81 mm |
| Jun | 13.4°C | 7.1°C | 81 mm |
| Jul | 12.8°C | 6.7°C | 71 mm |
| Aug | 13.6°C | 6.8°C | 85 mm |
| Sep | 16.2°C | 7.9°C | 83 mm |
| Oct | 19.3°C | 9.3°C | 95 mm |
| Nov | 21.2°C | 11°C | 96 mm |
| Dec | 24.2°C | 12.7°C | 68 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Rowville
Where is Rowville?
Rowville is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Rowville?
At the 2021 Census, Rowville had a population of about 33,571.
Is Rowville an advantaged area?
Rowville has an ABS SEIFA score of 1056, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 85 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Rowville?
Rowville has average daytime highs of about 19.3°C and overnight lows of about 10.4°C, with roughly 898 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Rowville?
Rowville is one of the most populous suburbs in Victoria — the 18th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 33,571 usual residents).
Where Rowville ranks
Rowville appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Victoria#18 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.