Pakenham crime rate and Crime Score · Victoria
Pakenham is a suburb in the Cardinia council area of Victoria (about 133,472 residents in the council). The council has a Crime Score 47 out of 100 (moderate), 197th of 362 councils nationally.
Modelled estimate, not police figures: Pakenham (54,118 residents at the 2021 Census) is estimated to account for about 3,970 of the offences recorded each year in the Cardinia council area (likely 1,970 to 6,530), roughly 7,300 per 100,000 residents, including about 640 violent offences (likely 390 to 890). Ranges are 80% intervals; confidence 44 of 100. The estimate shares the council's published total (2025-26, three-year average) between its suburbs using a model trained on South Australia's suburb-level police data and ABS measures of each suburb's population and socio-economic profile.
The score blends national percentile ranks for each published offence category with fixed severity weights; here it is driven most by robbery (71st percentile), sexual offences (55th percentile), homicide (49th percentile). Five years earlier the same basis gave 46.
In 2024-25: violent 901 per 100,000 (+15% vs five years earlier); property 4,307 per 100,000 (+40% vs five years earlier); break-ins 523 per 100,000 (+4% vs five years earlier); theft 2,310 per 100,000 (+51% vs five years earlier). For violent crime that is 44th of 79 Victoria councils with data, highest first.
Unemployment in the Cardinia council area is 4.3% (Victoria 5%), Census, 10 August 2021. Social housing makes up 0.8% of occupied homes (256 public and 63 community-housing dwellings at the 2021 Census; Victoria 2.5%). An estimated 336 people were homeless on Census night 2021, 27.3 per 10,000 residents (Victoria 47.1), apportioned from ABS Statistical Area Level 2 counts. 24.7% of residents were born overseas (Victoria 31.6%), most often in India, England, Sri Lanka. Modelled estimates for 2026-27, not measurements: unemployment about 4.8% (confidence 84 of 100); social housing about 0.7% of homes; about 26.8 homeless people per 10,000 residents; about 25.1% born overseas. Confidence falls with distance from the last published figure, and the map's Estimates toggle shows every year back to 1994-95.
Victoria publishes crime statistics by council area, not by suburb, so the figures shown for Pakenham are those of the Cardinia council area.
Figures are for 2024-25, the latest year Victoria has published; some other states have released 2025-26.
| Offences | Per 100,000 | Count | 5-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent | 901 | 1,203 | +15% |
| Property | 4,307 | 5,748 | +40% |
| Break-ins | 523 | 698 | +4% |
| Theft | 2,310 | 3,083 | +51% |
How suburb estimates are made, and how accurate they are.
Cardinia council area: full statistics · Interactive map of every council.
Crime in postcode 3810: every suburb and council it covers.
Questions
Is Pakenham safe?
Victoria publishes crime figures by council area, not by suburb. Pakenham is in the Cardinia council area, which recorded 901 violent offences per 100,000 residents in 2024-25, about 15% lower than the Victoria rate (1,060) and about 26% lower than the national rate (1,220). A modelled estimate for Pakenham itself is roughly 7,300 offences of all kinds per 100,000 residents a year (an estimate, not police figures). These are offences recorded by police per resident: they describe the area as a whole, not the risk on any particular street, and places with a busy centre record more because offences are counted where they happen.
Nearby suburbs
Avonsleigh · Bayles · Beaconsfield · Beaconsfield Upper · Catani · Clematis · Cockatoo · Cora Lynn · Dalmore · Dewhurst · Emerald · Gembrook · Guys Hill · Heath Hill · Koo Wee Rup · Koo Wee Rup North · Macclesfield · Maryknoll · Mount Burnett · Nangana · Nar Nar Goon · Nar Nar Goon North · Officer · Officer South · Pakenham South · Pakenham Upper · Rythdale · Tynong · Tynong North · Yannathan
australiancrimerate.com.au/suburb/vic/pakenham/ · Australian Crime Map