Cranbourne North, South, East, West

Nominated as a growth corridor, urban Cranbourne doubled its population between 1981 and 1991 to about 19,000 people. As early as 1962 a second State primary school, Cranbourne North, had been opened, but that school actually fell within 'Cranbourne' after suburban boundaries were defined.

Cranbourne North is north of Thompsons Road and extends to Glasscocks Road, Narre Warren South. From west to east it extends from the Merinda Park railway station to the Berwick-Cranbourne Road. The area near the Merinda Park station was formerly part of Lyndhurst, and includes Lyndhurst secondary college (originally Cranbourne Meadows technical school, opened in 1988).

One of Cranbourne North's earliest organisations is the Cranbourne golf club (1953), established when the area was open paddocks. Urban occupation can be traced from school openings: St Therese's Catholic primary (1988), Courtenay Gardens State primary (c2002) and Alkira secondary college (2009).

The Thompson Parkway shopping centre at the corner of the South Gippsland Highway and Thompson's Road (c1995) began with a supermarket and 12 shops and had an additional ten shops in 2010.

Cranbourne West is separated from Cranbourne by the railway line and Monahans Road and extends west to Western Port Highway (the road to Hastings). Thompsons Road is its north boundary and Cranbourne Road is its other boundary, south to the Ranfurlie golf club (2002).

The Cranbourne West State primary school, now outside Cranbourne West's boundary, opened in 1978. The area between Evans and Monahans Roads was substantially developed in the 1990s, and apart from the Catholic co-ed college (1987) schools were thin on the ground. Urban growth west of Evans Road provoked proposed school sites: Cranbourne North-West and South-West primary schools and Cranbourne West secondary college. In 2011 the area was better off for golf.

Cranbourne East's western boundary is the Narre Warren Road and the South Gippsland Highway, and it extends to Clyde North and Clyde. When there were only paddocks, a TAFE, a Christian Community college and a recreation complex were built on the western boundary. The complex was formerly an agricultural machinery factory (1980) next to the railway line, where the Cranbourne East station is proposed. At the end of the 1990s Cranbourne East was still paddocks, but by 2005 there was a housing estate north of the TAFE and the Casey Fields regional sports complex was under construction. Cranbourne East primary school was followed by an adjoining secondary college (2011). Near the TAFE, Marnebek school opened in 2002 and the Community college was taken over by Casey Grammar school.

Cranbourne South extends from the Royal Botanic Gardens to North Road, Pearcedale. In 2011 it was the least populated of the suburbs, with a general and State primary school (1956) at the corner of Pearcedale and Browns Roads. The botanic gardens gave rise to the name of a new suburb, Botanic Ridge, with the adjoining Settlers Run golf course (2007) being detached from Cranbourne South.

Census populations have been:

^{* Including Botanic Ridge}