Northcote flood map & planning overlays
Northcote holds 162 heritage places and 29 tram stops.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Northcote
(Darebin, VIC) - 6.04 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is moderately constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
6.04 km² - this suburb is moderately constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Northcote'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 Northcote
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 1 a day
Night movements: observed, lowest 1,000 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.
Northcote at a glance
How Northcote is zoned
Selling in Northcote? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 6.04 km², Northcote is moderately constrained by planning overlays. About 10% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 162 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is General Residential Zone (GRZ2). The median lot measures about 438 m² across 15,306 parcels.
Who lives in Northcote
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Northcote 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 1117, and decile 10 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Northcote's 25,276 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Northcote - East, the wider ABS statistical area containing Northcote. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Northcote itself.
12,844 in 2001 to 15,969 in 2025, up 24%.
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.
Northcote 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 Northcote 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 Northcote. 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 Northcote lot.
Northcote planning - frequently asked
Is Northcote flood-prone?
About 10% of Northcote falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 10%.
Is Northcote bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Northcote and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Darebin average is 1%).
Is Northcote under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 100% of Northcote, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 2,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 3 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 Northcote?
The dominant planning zone in Northcote is General Residential Zone (GRZ2), though the suburb also includes Neighbourhood Residential Zone (NRZ1) and Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ).
Does Northcote have heritage-listed places?
Northcote has 162 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Northcote?
Across 15,306 surveyed parcels in Northcote, the median lot size is about 438 m². There are also 1,368 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Northcote have a train station?
Yes - Northcote has 5 train stations: Croxton Station, Dennis Station, Merri Station, Northcote Station, Westgarth Station. It is also served by 75 bus stops and 29 tram stops.
What is the population of Northcote?
At the 2021 Census Northcote had 25,276 usual residents, with a median age of 37 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Northcote - East statistical area, which contains Northcote, went from 12,844 people in 2001 to 15,969 in 2025, up 24%.
Is Northcote an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Northcote scores 1117 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 Northcote?
Median household income in Northcote was $2,287 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,844 for the typical suburb in Darebin. Median rent was $475 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,400 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornbury | 1.6 km | 6% | 0% |
| Fairfield Yarra |
1.7 km | 19% | 0% |
| Fitzroy North Yarra |
1.8 km | 6% | 0% |
| Clifton Hill Yarra |
1.9 km | 4% | 0% |
| Brunswick East Merri-Bek |
2.0 km | 21% | 0% |
| Alphington | 2.6 km | 28% | 0% |
| Princes Hill Yarra |
3.2 km | 10% | 0% |
| Carlton North Melbourne |
3.3 km | 10% | 0% |
| Collingwood Yarra |
3.4 km | 15% | 0% |
| Preston | 3.4 km | 7% | 0% |