How suburbs voted in 2025: degrees split One Nation from the Greens, while age and home ownership mark out the Coalition
We matched polling-day votes at the 2025 federal election to 2,148 suburbs and towns and compared them with each suburb's Census profile. One Nation polled 11.2% in the suburbs with the fewest graduates and 2.0% in those with the most; the Greens went the other way. The Coalition's vote barely changed with education but rose with age and home ownership. Labor did best in the middle.
The Australian Electoral Commission publishes the votes cast at every polling place. We matched the 2025 federal election's polling-day votes to the suburb or town each polling place is in, kept the 2,148 places with at least 1,000 votes, and set them against each place's 2021 Census profile. The figures are first preferences for the House of Representatives.
Education divides One Nation and the Greens
We split the suburbs into ten equal groups by the share of adults with a university degree:
| Party | Fewest graduates (under 11%) | Most graduates (over 47%) |
|---|---|---|
| One Nation | 11.2% | 2.0% |
| Greens | 10.7% | 20.5% |
| Independents | 5.0% | 16.3% |
| Coalition | 27.0% | 26.0% |
| Labor | 33.5% | 32.0% |
One Nation's vote fell in every step from the least to the most educated group. It was highest in towns west of Brisbane, such as Hatton Vale (25.9%) and Laidley (24.6%), and in the Hunter, at Singleton and Greta (22.5% each). In each of them fewer than one adult in eight has a degree.
The Coalition's vote hardly moved with education: between 25.7% and 28.4% in every group. Dover Heights in Sydney's east, where more than half of adults have a degree, gave the Coalition 63.3%, its highest share anywhere; Maffra in Gippsland, where about one in seven does, gave it 61.4%.
Age and home ownership mark out the Coalition
| Party | Youngest suburbs (under 9.5% aged 65+) | Oldest suburbs (26.7% or more aged 65+) |
|---|---|---|
| Coalition | 23.5% | 32.9% |
| Labor | 41.7% | 29.4% |
| Greens | 17.4% | 11.2% |
| Party | Fewest renters (under 14% of homes) | Most renters (49% or more) |
|---|---|---|
| Coalition | 33.9% | 19.4% |
| Greens | 12.2% | 22.7% |
| Labor | 32.6% | 40.1% |
The Greens' best results were in inner Melbourne, where most homes are rented and more than half of adults have a degree: Collingwood (64.2%), Carlton (56.2%) and Fitzroy (55.1%). Outside the cities, Mullumbimby gave them 52.0%.
Labor does best in the middle
Labor's vote was highest in middle-income suburbs, at around 37% to 40%, and lower at both ends: 32.0% in the tenth with the lowest household incomes and 31.3% in the tenth with the highest. Its strongest places were a mix: Mansfield Park in Adelaide (63.2%), Inala in Brisbane (61.9%) and Balmain in Sydney (62.0%).
The highest-income tenth was also where independents did best (15.0%). The independent vote depends on where independents stood: its highest shares were in Hobart suburbs such as South Hobart (57.1%), in Beechworth (61.2%) and in Avalon Beach (51.9%).
What changed since 2022
Comparing the same suburbs at the 2022 and 2025 elections, the Coalition's first-preference vote fell by 4 to 6 points in every education group. Labor gained about 4 points in the most-educated suburbs and almost nothing in the least-educated, where One Nation gained most, by about 2 points.
How we counted
- From the Australian Electoral Commission (CC BY 4.0): first preferences cast on polling day at ordinary polling places, matched to the suburb or town named in each polling place's address. Pre-poll, postal and absent votes cannot be placed in a suburb and are not included. Polling-day votes were fewer than half of all votes in 2025.
- A polling place also takes votes from neighbouring suburbs, and from anyone who chooses to vote there.
- The Census figures are from 2021 (ABS, CC BY 4.0), four years before the election. "Degree" means a bachelor's degree or higher, among people aged 15 and over.
- These figures describe places, not people. That a suburb with many renters votes Greens does not tell you how its renters voted.
- Results depend on who stood in each seat. "Coalition" is the Liberal, National, Liberal National and Country Liberal parties combined.
- We did not compare votes with religion, birthplace or ancestry.
Every suburb page shows its federal electorate and who holds it.