West Melbourne crime rate and Crime Score · Victoria
West Melbourne is a suburb in the Melbourne council area of Victoria (about 194,481 residents in the council). The council has a Crime Score 88 out of 100 (very high), 7th of 362 councils nationally.
Modelled estimate, not police figures: West Melbourne (8,025 residents at the 2021 Census) is estimated to account for about 1,310 of the offences recorded each year in the Melbourne council area (likely 650 to 2,150), roughly 16,000 per 100,000 residents, including about 130 violent offences (likely 81 to 190). 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 assault (83rd percentile), sexual offences (93rd percentile), break-ins (89th percentile). Five years earlier the same basis gave 90.
In 2024-25: violent 2,900 per 100,000 (+18% vs five years earlier); property 15,384 per 100,000 (+30% vs five years earlier); break-ins 1,495 per 100,000 (+27% vs five years earlier); theft 9,729 per 100,000 (+51% vs five years earlier). For violent crime that is 1st of 79 Victoria councils with data, highest first.
Unemployment in the Melbourne council area is 7.6% (Victoria 5%), Census, 10 August 2021. Social housing makes up 3.5% of occupied homes (1,978 public and 533 community-housing dwellings at the 2021 Census; Victoria 2.5%). An estimated 1,164 people were homeless on Census night 2021, 73.1 per 10,000 residents (Victoria 47.1), apportioned from ABS Statistical Area Level 2 counts. 59% of residents were born overseas (Victoria 31.6%), most often in China, India, Malaysia. Modelled estimates for 2026-27, not measurements: unemployment about 8.6% (confidence 85 of 100); social housing about 3.3% of homes; about 71.8 homeless people per 10,000 residents; about 60% 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 West Melbourne are those of the Melbourne 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 | 2,900 | 5,639 | +18% |
| Property | 15,384 | 29,918 | +30% |
| Break-ins | 1,495 | 2,907 | +27% |
| Theft | 9,729 | 18,921 | +51% |
How suburb estimates are made, and how accurate they are.
Melbourne council area: full statistics · Interactive map of every council.
Crime in postcode 3003: every suburb and council it covers.
Questions
Is West Melbourne safe?
Victoria publishes crime figures by council area, not by suburb. West Melbourne is in the Melbourne council area, which recorded 2,900 violent offences per 100,000 residents in 2024-25, 2.7 times the Victoria rate (1,060) and 2.4 times the national rate (1,220). A modelled estimate for West Melbourne itself is roughly 16,000 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.
Police news near West Melbourne
- Police investigate Reservoir death · Reservoir, 28 Oct 2026 · 13 km away
Nearby suburbs
Carlton · Carlton South · Docklands · East Melbourne · Flemington · Kensington · Melbourne · North Melbourne · Parkville · South Wharf · Southbank
australiancrimerate.com.au/suburb/vic/west-melbourne/ · Australian Crime Map