Mount Rowan vs Sulky
Sulky is the younger of the two, with a median age of 45 against 50 in Mount Rowan. In both, the large majority of households own their home and the large majority of homes are detached houses. In Mount Rowan, about half of households are couple families. In Sulky, most households are couple families. On these figures, Mount Rowan tends to suit people living alone and older residents, while Sulky suits couples.
Which one suits you?
There is no overall winner — the suburb that suits a family with school-age kids is routinely the wrong one for someone commuting into the city. So each of these answers its own question, against a checklist you can see, using the same figures in the tables below.
Families with school-age kids
Sulky
ahead on 2 of the 6 things we measure here
- carries lower crime risk (20/100 vs 64/100)
- is already more of a family suburb (76% vs 66%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Sulky
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- leaves households under less mortgage stress (17% vs 30%)
Weighs mortgage stress.
Renters
Sulky
ahead on 2 of the 2 things we measure here
- leaves renters under less rental stress (9% vs 26%)
- has cheaper rent ($203/wk vs $400/wk)
Weighs rent and rental stress.
Commuting to the city
Mount Rowan
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- sits closer to the CBD (119.7 km vs 123.5 km)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
They split
one each way, out of the 4 things we measure here
- Mount Rowan has more residents already 65 and over (29% vs 14%)
- Sulky carries lower crime risk (20/100 vs 64/100)
Weighs who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Too close to call
Nothing among the 1 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Mount Rowan and Sulky drawn to the same scale. Both outlines are shown together, so the map answers whether they share a border and how their areas compare.
Bars start at zero. Scores, risks and rankings are drawn against their full 0–100 range; other rows are drawn in proportion to the larger of the two.
Side by side, out of 100
Risks are inverted — shown as safety and low exposure — so a longer bar always means better.
Demographics
Mount Rowan rents higher ($400/wk vs $203/wk); Sulky has higher household incomes ($117,000 vs $79,456).
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 295 +21% vs other | 234 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +0.3% | +0.9% |
| Median age | 50 | 45 |
| Median household income | $79,456/yr | $117,000/yr +47% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $400/wk +49% vs other | $203/wk |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (19.7%).
Who lives together
Household composition, 2021 Census.
Who owns and who rents
Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.
Where residents were born
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents, 2021 Census. A dash means that country is not among the suburb's own eight largest.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (4.3%).
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (19.7%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $987,500 | — |
| Median unit price | — same for both | |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
Zoning mix
Sulky has more rural and farming land (83% vs 55%).
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Rural and farming | 55% | 83% |
| Residential | 34% | 0% |
| Parks and recreation | 0% | 13% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 7% | 4% |
| Industrial | 4% | 0% |
| Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the suburb around it. Zones as at 2026-09. | ||
Development activity
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 1,451 across Ballarat | 104 across Hepburn |
| Approvals change year on year | +42% | -6% |
Ranking within VIC
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | — same for both | |
| Income | Higher than 46% of VIC | — |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 81% of VIC | Higher than 78% of VIC |
| Affordability | — same for both | |
| EV adoption | Higher than 37% of VIC | Higher than 38% of VIC |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 53% of VIC | Higher than 64% of VIC |
Liveability
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | — same for both | |
| Score | — same for both | |
| Socio-economic band | mid-range socio-economic decile 6/10 | advantaged area decile 8/10 |
Risk profile
Mount Rowan carries more crime risk (64 vs 20); Mount Rowan carries more flood risk (73 vs 59).
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | Low 31/100 | Low 33/100 |
| Crime | Moderate 64/100 | Low 20/100 |
| Flood | High 73/100 | Moderate 59/100 |
| Coastal erosion | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 10 within 5 km | 0 within 5 km |
Schools
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 1 | 0 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
| Universities within 10 km | 1 Federation University Ballarat, 6.9 km | None |
Schools in Mount Rowan
- Ballarat Grammar - Mount Rowan Campus Independent · Combined
Schools in Sulky
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Amenities in the suburb
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Waterways | 7 | 1 |
Mobility
Sulky sits further from the CBD (123.5 km vs 119.7 km).
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 23/100 | 16/100 |
| Distance to Melbourne | 119.7 km | 123.5 km +3% vs other |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 85 min | 87 min |
| Public transport score | 59/100 | 46/100 |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 14.2 7-9am + 5-7pm | 8.0 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 1 min scheduled, not actual same for both | |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.4% postcode 3352 same for both | |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 51 postcode 3352 same for both | |
How people get to work
Method of travel on census day 2021 — which fell during COVID restrictions, so working from home is inflated and every travel mode understated.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (81.0%).
Setting
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 511 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 471 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
NBN connectivity
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 30/100 same for both | |
| Most common technology | Fixed wireless same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 0% 128 premises | 0% 85 premises |
Climate
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 605 mm | 714 mm |
| Summer max (Jan) | 25.7°C | — |
| Winter min (Jul) | 3.5°C | — |
Council rates
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $2,086/yr | $1,748/yr |
| Council | Ballarat | Hepburn |
Federal electorate
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Ballarat same for both | |
| Member | Catherine King same for both | |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Mount Rowan | Sulky | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $750,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Mount Rowan
Other comparisons with Sulky
Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.