Suburbs to avoid in Geelong
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 Geelong suburbs on those, highest first: recorded crime, bushfire history, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are ranked.
Little River carries the most measured hazard in the ranking, leading on recorded crime, bushfire history, and aircraft noise. Moolap and South Geelong follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 45 eligible Geelong 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.
Geelong 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.
Little River
VIC 3211 · 1,353 residents79/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 82% of Geelong · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Moolap
VIC 3224 · 1,825 residents76/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 74% of Geelong · bushfire history · flood overlay
South Geelong
VIC 3220 · 1,014 residents74/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 98% of Geelong · flood overlay
Lara
VIC 3212 · 19,014 residents70/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 48% of Geelong · bushfire history · flood overlay · aircraft noise
Newcomb
VIC 3219 · 4,704 residents70/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 85% of Geelong · flood overlay
Armstrong Creek
VIC 3217 · 11,247 residents70/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 61% of Geelong · bushfire history · flood overlay
Breakwater
VIC 3219 · 1,060 residents69/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 89% of Geelong · flood overlay
Charlemont
VIC 3217 · 2,612 residents66/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 74% of Geelong · flood overlay
Geelong
VIC 3220 · 5,811 residents64/100 hazard score · Geelong's highest recorded crime · flood overlay
Wallington
VIC 3222 · 1,515 residents64/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 51% of Geelong · bushfire history · flood overlay
Corio
VIC 3214 · 15,497 residents63/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 91% of Geelong · flood overlay
Belmont
VIC 3216 · 15,066 residents63/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 70% of Geelong · flood overlay
Whittington
VIC 3219 · 3,990 residents62/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 78% of Geelong · flood overlay
Newtown
VIC 3220 · 10,445 residents62/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 41% of Geelong · bushfire history · flood overlay
North Geelong
VIC 3215 · 3,225 residents60/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 93% of Geelong · flood overlay
Ranked from 45 qualifying suburbs.
40% recorded crime · 20% recorded bushfire history · 20% flood overlays · 20% aircraft noise. Each hazard is a percentile within Geelong'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 Geelong 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 Geelong 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 Geelong, 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
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Related
Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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