Ballarat suburbs people moved to from the city

Ballarat Central tops the ranking: 14.9% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne. Soldiers Hill and Lucas follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 24 eligible Ballarat suburbs.

This page ranks Ballarat suburbs by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify.

These are the places people from the capitals moved to between 2016 and 2021, and each row names the capital most of them came from. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it, so a suburb near the top is not necessarily growing. Not every move is a sea change or a tree change: mining towns and Defence bases rank high because jobs bring people there. The Central Coast is part of Greater Sydney in the ABS geography; we count it as a place of its own, so moves from the Central Coast are not moves from Sydney. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder.

Ballarat suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Ranked by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census, among suburbs outside the capitals with at least 1,000 residents. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it.

1

Ballarat Central

VIC 3350 · 5,378 residents

14.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 764 residents

B 100.0
2

Soldiers Hill

VIC 3350 · 2,813 residents

13.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 352 residents

B 95.7
3

Lucas

VIC 3350 · 2,994 residents

12.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 333 residents

B 91.3
4

Mount Pleasant

VIC 3350 · 2,225 residents

10.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 230 residents

B 87.0
5

Golden Point

VIC 3350 · 2,217 residents

10.2% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 218 residents

C 82.6
6

Newington

VIC 3350 · 1,844 residents

10.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 178 residents

A 78.3
7

Lake Gardens

VIC 3355 · 1,801 residents

10.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 174 residents

A 73.9
8

Ballarat East

VIC 3350 · 5,937 residents

10.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 567 residents

D 69.6
9

Winter Valley

VIC 3358 · 3,440 residents

9.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 289 residents

B 65.2
10

Mount Clear

VIC 3350 · 3,671 residents

9.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 315 residents

B 60.9
11

Alfredton

VIC 3350 · 11,822 residents

9.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 1,006 residents

B 56.5
12

Mount Helen

VIC 3350 · 3,011 residents

8.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 249 residents

B 52.2
13

Lake Wendouree

VIC 3350 · 2,878 residents

8.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 245 residents

A 47.8
14

Black Hill

VIC 3350 · 2,124 residents

8.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 161 residents

B 43.5
15

Ballarat North

VIC 3350 · 4,041 residents

7.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 300 residents

B 39.1

Ranked from 24 qualifying suburbs.

How we ranked these

100% share of residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census, percentile-ranked within Ballarat's candidate pool. Suburbs that touch a capital's statistical area are not ranked, because the count for their own area includes people who never moved. The Central Coast counts as a place of its own, not as Sydney. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify, and the larger number of arrivals breaks ties. It counts arrivals, not net migration. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder; the ABS adjusts small counts slightly to protect privacy. See how we calculate for the full methodology.

Common questions about this ranking

What are the ballarat suburbs people moved to from the city?

Ballarat Central tops the ranking: 14.9% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne. Soldiers Hill and Lucas follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 24 eligible Ballarat suburbs.

How is this ranking put together?

Each Ballarat suburb is ranked by the share of its residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are included.

Does this show where people are leaving?

No. It counts people who arrived from a capital, not people who left the suburb. A place near the top can have lost as many residents as it gained, so it is not a measure of growth.

Why are some suburbs near a capital missing?

A suburb that touches a capital's statistical area is left out: the Census count for its own area includes people who never moved, so a share would overstate the arrivals.

How current is it?

It covers moves between August 2016 and August 2021, from the 2021 Census, the most recent available until results from the August 2026 Census are released in 2027.

Same list in other cities

Related

Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.

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