Altona North and Altona Meadows are often confused with Altona. They are 3 distinctively different suburbs, have their own postcodes and each has its own library.
- Altona North is the closest to Melbourne CBD, followed by Altona, then Altona Meadows.
- Altona is well served by 3 train stations. Altona North has no nearby train station while only the northern boundary of Altona Meadows is within walking distance to Laverton Train Station.
- Altona North and Altona Meadows has more throughput traffic than Altona. Millers Road in Altona North and Queen Street in Altona Meadows are quite busy roads. The main street in Altona, Civic Parade, has relatively lesser traffic.
- Altona Meadows is the most populated, followed by Altona North, then Altona.
- The average land lot size is larger in Altona and Altona North (600-700 square metres) than Altona Meadows (typically 400-500 square metres).
- Altona Gate Shopping Centre is located in Altona North while Altona Meadows has the smaller Central Square Shopping Centre. Altona does not have a shopping complex and its main shopping precinct is Pier Street.
- Only Altona is bayside. The Bayside Secondary College in Altona North is in fact not bayside.
- Altona has more parks, nature areas and sports club compared to Altona North and Altona Meadows. However, the large Bayfit Leisure Centre is located in Altona North and Altona Sports Centre is located in Altona Meadows.
Seahome is a small enclave enclosed within the larger suburb of Altona. It is bounded by Millers Road on the west and Altona Coastal Park to the north. Both Altona and Seaholme share the same postcode 3018. Culturally, there is not much distinction between the two suburbs.
Altona has a lower median house price than Seaholme, presumably because it is a much larger suburb and hence, much more heterogenous, with a wider range of house types and some localities more preferred than others.
