Essendon flood map & planning overlays
Essendon leads Moonee Valley on people (21,240), trams (20) and buses (95).
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Essendon
(Moonee Valley, VIC) - 6.16 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is relatively unconstrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
6.16 km² - this suburb is relatively unconstrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Essendon'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 Essendon
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 6 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.
Essendon at a glance
How Essendon is zoned
Selling in Essendon? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 6.16 km², Essendon is relatively unconstrained by planning overlays. About 4% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 159 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Housing Choice and Transport Zone (HCTZ2). The median lot measures about 617 m² across 14,089 parcels.
Who lives in Essendon
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Essendon 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 1092, and decile 10 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Essendon's 21,240 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Essendon - East, the wider ABS statistical area containing Essendon. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Essendon itself.
10,309 in 2001 to 13,196 in 2025, up 28%.
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.
Essendon 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 Essendon 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 Essendon. 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 Essendon lot.
Essendon planning - frequently asked
Is Essendon flood-prone?
About 4% of Essendon falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 10%.
Is Essendon bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Essendon and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Moonee Valley average is 2%).
Is Essendon under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Essendon, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 1,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 55 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 Essendon?
The dominant planning zone in Essendon is Housing Choice and Transport Zone (HCTZ2), though the suburb also includes Residential 1 Zone (R1Z) and Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ).
Does Essendon have heritage-listed places?
Essendon has 159 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Essendon?
Across 14,089 surveyed parcels in Essendon, the median lot size is about 617 m². There are also 1,838 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Essendon have a train station?
Yes - Essendon has 3 train stations: Essendon Station, Glenbervie Station, Strathmore Station. It is also served by 95 bus stops and 20 tram stops.
What is the population of Essendon?
At the 2021 Census Essendon had 21,240 usual residents, with a median age of 39 and an average household size of 2.4 people. The wider Essendon - East statistical area, which contains Essendon, went from 10,309 people in 2001 to 13,196 in 2025, up 28%.
Is Essendon an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Essendon scores 1092 and sits in decile 10 of 10 nationally and decile 10 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Essendon?
Median household income in Essendon was $2,132 a week at the 2021 Census, against $2,043 for the typical suburb in Moonee Valley. Median rent was $380 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,275 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essendon North | 1.3 km | <1% | 0% |
| Aberfeldie | 1.6 km | 15% | 0% |
| Moonee Ponds | 2.0 km | 3% | 0% |
| Niddrie | 2.3 km | 4% | 0% |
| Essendon West | 2.4 km | 17% | 0% |
| Strathmore | 2.4 km | 6% | 0% |
| Pascoe Vale South Merri-Bek |
2.8 km | 8% | 0% |
| Essendon Fields | 2.9 km | 0% | 0% |
| Maribyrnong Maribyrnong |
3.4 km | 24% | 0% |
| Brunswick West Merri-Bek |
3.5 km | 9% | 0% |