Carlton flood map & planning overlays
The VIC Carlton's median age of 27 is 9th-lowest in Victoria.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Carlton
(Melbourne, VIC) - 1.75 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is relatively unconstrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
1.75 km² - this suburb is relatively unconstrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Carlton's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Carlton
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 24 Oct 2026
typical observed square 2 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 500 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Carlton at a glance
How Carlton is zoned
Selling in Carlton? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 1.75 km², Carlton is relatively unconstrained by planning overlays. About 5% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 145 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Mixed Use Zone (MUZ). The median lot measures about 1,725 m² across 14,947 parcels.
Who lives in Carlton
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Carlton suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 1052, and decile 9 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Carlton's 16,055 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Carlton, the wider ABS statistical area containing Carlton. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Carlton itself.
9,529 in 2001 to 25,267 in 2025, up 165%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Carlton data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Zoning | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 24 October 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Carlton address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Carlton. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Carlton lot.
Carlton planning - frequently asked
Is Carlton flood-prone?
About 5% of Carlton falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 22%.
Is Carlton bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Carlton and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone.
Is Carlton under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Carlton, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 1,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 11 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Carlton?
The dominant planning zone in Carlton is Mixed Use Zone (MUZ), though the suburb also includes General Residential Zone (GRZ1) and Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ).
Does Carlton have heritage-listed places?
Carlton has 145 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Carlton?
Across 14,947 surveyed parcels in Carlton, the median lot size is about 1,725 m². There are also 687 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Carlton have a train station?
There is no train station inside Carlton itself. The suburb is served by 37 bus stops and 15 tram stops.
What is the population of Carlton?
At the 2021 Census Carlton had 16,055 usual residents, with a median age of 27 and an average household size of 1.8 people. The wider Carlton statistical area, which contains Carlton, went from 9,529 people in 2001 to 25,267 in 2025, up 165%.
Is Carlton an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Carlton scores 1052 and sits in decile 9 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Carlton?
Median household income in Carlton was $1,292 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,926 for the typical suburb in Melbourne. Median rent was $365 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,898 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fitzroy Yarra |
0.9 km | 10% | 0% |
| Carlton North | 1.4 km | 10% | 0% |
| Collingwood Yarra |
1.7 km | 15% | 0% |
| Princes Hill Yarra |
2.0 km | 10% | 0% |
| East Melbourne | 2.1 km | <1% | 0% |
| Parkville | 2.2 km | 3% | 0% |
| North Melbourne | 2.3 km | 29% | 0% |
| Fitzroy North Yarra |
2.3 km | 6% | 0% |
| Abbotsford Yarra |
2.7 km | 18% | 0% |
| Clifton Hill Yarra |
2.8 km | 4% | 0% |