Suburbs to avoid in Ballarat
No suburb is bad for everybody, and a list that says otherwise is an opinion with a number attached. What does exist is a short set of hazards the states measure and publish, suburb by suburb. This page ranks Ballarat suburbs on those, highest first: recorded crime, bushfire history, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are ranked.
Golden Point carries the most measured hazard in the ranking, leading on recorded crime and flood overlays. Wendouree and Ballarat East follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 25 eligible Ballarat suburbs.
Read each number for what it is. Recorded crime is offences per resident, so a suburb with a shopping centre, a nightlife strip or a railway interchange carries crimes committed against businesses and visitors — the busiest retail suburb is usually near the top and is not a dangerous place to live. Bushfire history records where fire has burned, and is highest in the leafy suburbs at the bush edge that people move to on purpose. A flood overlay is a planning control, not a prediction. Aircraft noise comes from airport contours and changes street by street. All of it is a suburb average, and nobody lives in a suburb average: check the address before ruling anywhere in or out.
Ballarat suburbs with the highest measured hazards
Ranked on recorded crime (weighted heaviest), bushfire history, flood overlays and aircraft noise, each measured against other suburbs in the same pool. A suburb with no crime record is excluded, and a hazard the state does not publish is left out of the score rather than counted as zero.
Golden Point
VIC 3350 · 2,217 residents72/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 90% of Ballarat · flood overlay
Wendouree
VIC 3355 · 10,376 residents71/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 96% of Ballarat · bushfire history
Ballarat East
VIC 3350 · 5,937 residents67/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 73% of Ballarat · bushfire history
Cardigan
VIC 3352 · 1,064 residents65/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 54% of Ballarat · bushfire history · flood overlay
Ballarat Central
VIC 3350 · 5,378 residents65/100 hazard score · Ballarat's highest recorded crime
Winter Valley
VIC 3358 · 3,440 residents61/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 90% of Ballarat
Soldiers Hill
VIC 3350 · 2,813 residents58/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 83% of Ballarat
Redan
VIC 3350 · 3,000 residents57/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 79% of Ballarat
Sebastopol
VIC 3356 · 10,194 residents54/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 73% of Ballarat
Lucas
VIC 3350 · 2,994 residents51/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 42% of Ballarat · flood overlay
Mount Pleasant
VIC 3350 · 2,225 residents51/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 65% of Ballarat
Lake Gardens
VIC 3355 · 1,801 residents51/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 65% of Ballarat
Delacombe
VIC 3356 · 5,408 residents48/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 58% of Ballarat
Canadian
VIC 3350 · 4,098 residents48/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 29% of Ballarat · bushfire history
Alfredton
VIC 3350 · 11,822 residents47/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 35% of Ballarat · bushfire history
Ranked from 25 qualifying suburbs.
40% recorded crime · 20% recorded bushfire history · 20% flood overlays · 20% aircraft noise. Each hazard is a percentile within Ballarat's candidate pool — the highest reading scores highest on that leg — then blended, crime-led. A hazard the state does not publish at suburb level is left out and the other weights scaled up, rather than counted as zero. Crime is recorded offences per resident from state police data, never compared across state lines; bushfire and flood come from mapped overlays and noise from airport ANEF contours. Suburbs with no crime record, or no measured hazard at all, are excluded. Socio-economic measures are deliberately not part of the score. See how we calculate for the full methodology.
Common questions about this ranking
Which Ballarat suburbs should I avoid?
None of them for everybody. A suburb near the top of this list carries more of one or more measured hazards than its neighbours, which matters more to some buyers than others — a family by a bushland reserve accepts bushfire risk that a retiree may not. Use the list to decide which addresses to look at more closely, never to rule a whole suburb out.
How is this ranking scored?
Each Ballarat suburb is scored on 40% recorded crime, 20% recorded bushfire history, 20% flood overlays, and 20% aircraft noise. Every hazard is turned into a percentile within Ballarat, so a score reads as how the suburb compares with the rest of the city, then blended with crime weighted heaviest.
Why is a busy shopping or nightlife suburb near the top?
Recorded crime is offences per resident. Offences committed against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the few people who live nearby, so commercial centres score high without being dangerous places to live. It measures reported offences, not your personal risk, and is only ever compared within the same state.
Why is SEIFA or income not part of the score?
Because they describe the people who live somewhere, not a hazard you would face there. Adding them would turn this into a ranking of lower-income suburbs under the word "avoid". Income and socio-economic data are on every suburb page.
Why are some suburbs missing from the list?
A suburb only appears if it has a crime record, at least 1,000 residents and at least one measured hazard. A suburb without a crime record is excluded rather than scored, and in states where suburb-level crime data is not published the ranking is not produced.
Same list in other cities
- Suburbs to avoid in Sydney
- Suburbs to avoid in Melbourne
- Suburbs to avoid in Brisbane
- Suburbs to avoid in Perth
- Suburbs to avoid in Adelaide
- Suburbs to avoid in Hobart
- Suburbs to avoid in Darwin
- Suburbs to avoid in Canberra
- Suburbs to avoid in Newcastle
- Suburbs to avoid in Central Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Sunshine Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Gold Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Wollongong
- Suburbs to avoid in Geelong
- Suburbs to avoid in Townsville
- Suburbs to avoid in Toowoomba
- Suburbs to avoid in Busselton
- Suburbs to avoid in Cairns
- Suburbs to avoid in Albany
- Suburbs to avoid in Ballina
- Suburbs to avoid in Geraldton
- Suburbs to avoid in Warragul
- Suburbs to avoid in Bundaberg
- Suburbs to avoid in Launceston
- Suburbs to avoid in Bendigo
- Suburbs to avoid in Rockhampton
- Suburbs to avoid in Mackay
- Suburbs to avoid in Albury – Wodonga
- Suburbs to avoid in Camden Haven
- Suburbs to avoid in Burnie
- Suburbs to avoid in Wagga Wagga
- Suburbs to avoid in Coffs Harbour
- Suburbs to avoid in Alice Springs
- Suburbs to avoid in Mount Isa
Related
Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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