Generally speaking, Melbourne is one of the safest cities in the world. With a population of 4.5 million, it is Australia's second-biggest city and has a safety index rating of 81%. But as with almost everything with the good is also the bad. Here's a rank list of the most dangerous suburbs in Melbourne according to the RACV.

When it comes to determining how safe or unsafe a suburb is there are a few determining factors. For the sake of this list we stuck with the number of burglaries.

It might surprise you to know that three homes in Victoria are burgled every hour and a Budget Direct report found that Victoria has the largest number of break-ins. Here we discover the most burgled and the Melbourne suburbs to avoid.

Western Suburbs

The West has a particularly bad reputation but the stats back it up as it is the likeliest place of being robbed with one in 39 homes broken into yearly.

Suburbs include: Braybrook, Braybrook North and Robinson.

Cardinia Shire

South-east of the Melbourne CBD lies the second most dangerous suburbs in Melbourne, these three neighbouring suburbs have a burglary rate of one in 46 homes.

Suburbs include: Cardinia, Clyde, Clyde North

Hume City Council

Some of the regulars on this list are the North-Western suburbs of Broadmeadows, Dallas and Jacana in the Hume City Council. Although their rates are improving they still make the list with one in 52 homes burgled.

Suburbs include: Broadmeadows, Dallas, Jacana

Mitchell Shire

The Beveridge area is improving dramatically year on year but just scrapes into our list of the most burgled suburbs, it has gone from one in 36 homes last year to one in 55 homes this year.

Suburbs include: Beveridge – 1 in 55 homes

Here are a couple of things you can do to protect your home.
1. Don't store your valuables in your undies drawer

  1. Upgrade your sliding doors
  2. Remove any valuables from your car overnight
  3. Clean your car! The cleaner it is the less likely you'll be targeted
  4. Consider installing an alarm system

Use the RACV's interactive Victorian Burglary Statistics map to determine the rate of your suburb .

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Lottie Dalziel

Lottie Dalziel, is a 4AM riser and coffee-addict who loves reading up on the latest trends in sustainability or discovering ways to upcycle almost anything! You can find her by the beach, cooking up a storm or adding to her abundant (some would say out of control) plant collection.