Where Tenants Stay Longest: The Family Score
Which suburbs deliver the highest rent per dollar of dwelling investment? One of nine dimensions in the Microburbs livability score, validated against actual market outcomes for 4,127 Australian suburbs.
Luke Metcalfe · Microburbs Research · May 2026★ The headline finding
Family-oriented suburbs deliver a 28% rent premium over bottom-quartile suburbs ($550 per week vs $430). They also have some of the most stable tenant bases in Australia — families with school-age children typically sign multi-year leases.
What this means for you as an investor
For investors who hate tenant turnover, family suburbs are the antidote. School-aged children mean parents do not move mid-year. Once a family moves in, they are likely to stay until their youngest child finishes school. The rent premium of 28% over the bottom quartile, combined with low turnover, makes family suburbs among the most predictable income properties available. Top family suburbs also tend to be safer (high crime score) and have low pub/nightclub density (high tranquility).
Who this dimension is for
Set-and-forget landlords, retirees building passive income, anyone who wants to minimise turnover costs (re-letting fees, vacancy weeks, marketing). Suited to 3-bed and 4-bed houses near good schools.
A real example
Eltham North (Vic.) — top 0.6% on family
How to read the score: The Microburbs score uses national percentile ranks: a 5.0 is the median Australian street-block, a 9.0 is the top 10%, and a 9.9 is the top 1%. All nine dimensions use the same 0-10 scale, so family can be compared directly with safety, lifestyle, or any other dimension.
Median House Rent: $27,560/yr gross. Vacancy Rate: Tight market. Median House Price: Mid tier. 5-Year House Growth: To early 2026.
Within Eltham North (Vic.), every street is different
The family score is calculated for every individual microburb (street-block of 30 to 60 dwellings), not just the suburb average. The map below shows Eltham North (Vic.) broken down by microburb. Some streets within Eltham North (Vic.) score higher on family than others — the variation can be just as wide as the variation between suburbs.
Microburb-level family score across this suburb. Hover any street block for the score and address details. Open full map →
Within Eltham North (Vic.), the top-family microburbs are not necessarily on the same streets as the top-affluence or top-tranquility microburbs. The street you buy on still matters, even after you have chosen the right suburb. This is why the Microburbs score is calculated at street-block level, not just suburb level.
What this dimension measures
The family score combines: school proximity and quality (NAPLAN scores), playground density, family housing stock, share of couples with children, distance to parks, distance from major roads, and inverse pub/nightclub density.
The honest trade-off
The full numbers across 4,127 Australian suburbs
This is the underlying validation data: every suburb in Australia, ranked by family score, then sorted into four equal groups.
| Investor metric | Bottom 25% by family | Top 25% by family |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $620,000 | $1,000,000 |
| Median weekly rent | $430/wk | $550/wk |
| Gross rental yield | 5.01% | 3.93% |
| 5-year house growth (to early 2026) | +58% | +40% |
| Vacancy rate | 0.67% | 0.70% |
Read the full family research paper →
Want to See Your Suburb?
Every Australian suburb report includes the family score plus all eight other dimensions, the microburb-level breakdown, and the price/rent/yield comparison.
Open Eltham North (Vic.) Report All Suburbs Read the Research