Preston flood map & planning overlays
Preston has 40 tram stops, joint 8th in Victoria, for 33,790 people.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Preston
(Darebin, VIC) - 11.46 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is moderately constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
11.46 km² - this suburb is moderately constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Preston'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 Preston
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.
Preston at a glance
How Preston is zoned
Selling in Preston? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 11.46 km², Preston is moderately constrained by planning overlays. About 7% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 145 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is General Residential Zone (GRZ2). The median lot measures about 482 m² across 21,627 parcels.
Who lives in Preston
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Preston 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 1040, and decile 8 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Preston's 33,790 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Preston - East, the wider ABS statistical area containing Preston. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Preston itself.
16,709 in 2001 to 23,403 in 2025, up 40%.
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.
Preston 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 Preston 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 98% of Preston. 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 Preston lot.
Preston planning - frequently asked
Is Preston flood-prone?
About 7% of Preston falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 10%.
Is Preston bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Preston and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Darebin average is 1%).
Is Preston under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 98% of Preston, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 2,000 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 21 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 Preston?
The dominant planning zone in Preston is General Residential Zone (GRZ2), though the suburb also includes Housing Choice and Transport Zone (HCTZ2) and Housing Choice and Transport Zone (HCTZ1).
Does Preston have heritage-listed places?
Preston has 145 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Preston?
Across 21,627 surveyed parcels in Preston, the median lot size is about 482 m². There are also 3,296 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Preston have a train station?
Yes - Preston has 2 train stations: Bell Station, Preston Station. It is also served by 165 bus stops and 40 tram stops.
What is the population of Preston?
At the 2021 Census Preston had 33,790 usual residents, with a median age of 37 and an average household size of 2.4 people. The wider Preston - East statistical area, which contains Preston, went from 16,709 people in 2001 to 23,403 in 2025, up 40%.
Is Preston an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Preston scores 1040 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 8 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Preston?
Median household income in Preston was $1,844 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,844 for the typical suburb in Darebin. Median rent was $392 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,000 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thornbury | 1.9 km | 6% | 0% |
| Heidelberg West Banyule |
3.0 km | 14% | 0% |
| Bellfield (Greater Melbourne) Banyule |
3.1 km | 8% | 0% |
| Reservoir | 3.3 km | 6% | 0% |
| Northcote | 3.4 km | 10% | 0% |
| Kingsbury | 3.7 km | 11% | 0% |
| Coburg North Merri-Bek |
3.8 km | 13% | 0% |
| Coburg Merri-Bek |
3.8 km | 15% | 0% |
| Brunswick East Merri-Bek |
3.9 km | 21% | 0% |
| Heidelberg Heights Banyule |
4.1 km | 2% | 0% |