Bushfield VIC 3281

Located in Victoria, Bushfield sits 252 km from Melbourne CBD, around 3 hours 10 minutes by car. The suburb has 596 residents, a median age of 43, and a median household income of $110,500 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 40% nationally. Population grew 4.4% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,625. The area shows no recorded bushfire exposure and no recorded flood exposure. Walkability is low.

Is Bushfield a good suburb?

Bushfield scores a B (58/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on safety and community, weaker on transit.

Transit

Car-dependent

Walkability 0/100 · 252.1 km · 188 min drive to Melbourne

Prices

Median available

Median $842K

Safety

Low all-round risk

Fire 0/100 · Crime 14/100 · Flood 0/100

Community

Advantaged

SEIFA decile 8/10 · median age 43 · 596 residents

B

Liveability Rating

58 / 100 · Ranked #297 in VIC

Each bar is Bushfield's rank among VIC suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.

Schools quality no data
no schools mapped
Safety
100
Bushfire None · Crime Low · Flood None
Socio-economic
64
Advantaged
Walkability
9
Very car-dependent
CBD access
12
252.1 km · 188 min drive to Melbourne
How it's calculated: Safety rank 100 × 25% + Socio-economic rank 64 × 25% + Walkability rank 9 × 15% + CBD access rank 12 × 10% = 58 / 100. Missing components rebalance the remaining weights.

How do you rate the liveability in Bushfield?

Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.

Our score

58 / 100

From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.

Residents say

…

AwfulPoorAverageGoodGreat
What applies here? (optional)

One rating per person. You can change yours at any time.

Median House Price

Public listings data

The median house sale price in Bushfield sits at $842,000, broadly flat year-on-year. That said, only four sales settled in the quarter, so the median is a noisy signal — treat it as a direction rather than a level.

$842,500

Based on only 4 sales — small sample, take as indicative.

Short-Stay Rentals

2 active Airbnb listings: 2 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 1.0% of the suburb's homes.

Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months. The share is against private dwellings at the 2021 Census.

Is Bushfield safe? Crime statistics

2026

Crime in Bushfield sits in the low band, with 8 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 33% on the prior year.

8 offences

33.3% since 2025
Drug Offences 5 (62.5%)
Assault 2 (25.0%)
Weapons Offences 1 (12.5%)

Crime Trend

Serious Road Crashes

2021–2025

1 crash

where someone was killed or admitted to hospital

Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the suburb carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. Roads are listed with 3 or more serious crashes.

Schools

No schools in this suburb boundary.

Walkability

Bushfield is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car.

0
out of 100
Very Car-Dependent
Public Transport within 1 km not measured
Schools within 1.5 km 0
Parks within 800 m 0
Supermarkets within 1 km 0
GPs within 1 km 0
Pharmacies within 1 km 0
Childcare within 1 km 0
Hospitals within 5 km 0

We hold no public transport timetable data for this area, so public transport is not rated here and the score is spread across the remaining components. It is not counted as zero.

NBN connectivity

The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Bushfield.

30
connectivity score / 100
Most common
Fixed wireless
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
0%
Premises covered
217
Technology mix
Fixed wireless (WIRELESS) 100%

NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.

Amenities

Supermarkets
None
Shopping Centres
None
Cafes & Restaurants
None
Parks & Reserves
1 in suburb
Sport & Recreation
None
Beaches
None
Waterways
None
Childcare
None
GPs
None
Pharmacies
None
Hospitals
None
Police Stations
None
Banks & Bank@Post
None
Fuel Stations
None
EV Chargers
None
Pubs & Bars
None
Arts & Culture
None
Places of Worship
None

Warrnambool: council population

The whole council area, not just Bushfield · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
36,255
+1.0% in a year
Change
+357
people since 2024
Density
300
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
+78
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
+68
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+211
arrivals minus departures

The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.

Socio-economic profile

ABS SEIFA · ranked against every suburb in Australia, and within the state
2021 census
Advantage and disadvantage
8/10
8/10 within VIC
income, education, jobs and housing together
Economic resources
10/10
10/10 within VIC
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
6/10
5/10 within VIC
qualifications and job type, income excluded

Bushfield is home to 596 residents, with a median age of 43, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $110,000 a year, with unemployment at 1.7%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

596

4.4% since 2016

Median Age

43

4.9% since 2016

Median Household Income

$110,500/yr

14.6% since 2016
Top 17% in VIC

Census Median Rent

$350/wk

14.8% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

$1,625/mo

6.2% since 2016

Avg Household Size

3.0

3.2% since 2016

Median Personal Income

$43,108/yr

5.3% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

1.7%

29.2% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

4.7%

53.5% since 2016

Total Dwellings

192

14.3% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

96.3%

3.7% since 2016

Houses

101.0%

1.6% since 2016

Rental Stress

16.5%

no change since 2016

Mortgage Stress

17.6%

18.5% since 2016

Work From Home

13.5%

132.8% since 2016

Dwelling Types

Houses 194 (101.0%)

Property Ownership

Mortgage 108 (56.8%)
Owned Outright 75 (39.5%)
Renting 7 (3.7%)

Demographics

Born in Australia
93.1%
English Spoken at Home
94.3%
Employment Rate
69.4%
1.2% since 2016
Completed Year 12
37.6%

Occupations

Professionals 65 (19.5%)
Technicians & Trades 59 (17.7%)
Clerical & Administrative 52 (15.6%)
Labourers 33 (9.9%)
Managers 32 (9.6%)
Sales 30 (9.0%)
Community & Personal Service 26 (7.8%)
Machinery Operators & Drivers 26 (7.8%)

Religion

No Religion 286 (48.0%)
Christianity 276 (46.3%)

Country of Birth (overseas)

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.

England 7 (1.2%)
New Zealand 5 (0.8%)

Age Distribution

0-4 29 (4.9%)
5-14 87 (14.6%)
15-19 57 (9.6%)
20-24 20 (3.4%)
25-34 45 (7.6%)
35-44 67 (11.2%)
45-54 111 (18.6%)
55-64 81 (13.6%)
65-74 66 (11.1%)
75-84 18 (3.0%)
85+ 3 (0.5%)

Family & Household Composition

Couple Families 89 (66.9%)
One Parent Families 20 (15.0%)
Lone Person 20 (15.0%)
Group Household 4 (3.0%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 231 (77.8%)
Worked from Home 40 (13.5%)
Car (passenger) 18 (6.1%)
Walked Only 8 (2.7%)

1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (3 of 333).

City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.

Education

Certificate III & IV 119 (20.0%)
Bachelor Degree 72 (12.1%)
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 44 (7.4%)
Postgraduate Degree 17 (2.9%)
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 14 (2.3%)

Cars per Dwelling

1 car 12 (6.2%)
2 cars 76 (39.4%)
3 cars 52 (26.9%)
4+ cars 44 (22.8%)

Council Rates

Warrnambool
FY 2024-25

Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,162 a year through Warrnambool based on 2024 figures.

Avg residential rate
$2,162/yr
12% above the VIC average of $1,937 · median of 79 councils
Rate in the dollar
0.424¢ / $
of property valuation
Valuation basis
Capital Improved Value
land + buildings

How this land is zoned

Share of Bushfield's area by planning zone
2026-09
  • Rural and farming 92%
  • Residential 6%
  • Infrastructure and transport 2%
  • Zones under 1% 1%

Rezoned since Oct 2025

  • Farming Zone → Rural Living Zone · C216warr, Dec 2025 0.7 ha

and 4 smaller changes

Land in this suburb moved from one zone to another by a planning scheme amendment (Vicmap Planning, CC BY 4.0). Exhibited amendments are proposals and can change or lapse.

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 — the property page shows the zone for one address.

Building Approvals: Warrnambool

The whole council area, not just Bushfield · new residential dwellings
to 2026-08

In the year to August 2026, 388 new dwellings were approved across Warrnambool. That mix is 330 houses and 58 units. Approvals are down 22.2% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
388dwellings
-22.2% YoY
Houses
330
detached dwellings
Units
58
townhouses + apartments

Aboriginal Cultural Heritage

The Registered Aboriginal Party for this area is Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (appointed 2013).

Registered Aboriginal Parties are appointed by the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council under the Aboriginal Heritage Act 2006 as the primary guardians, keepers and knowledge holders of Aboriginal cultural heritage for their area. They are the body to contact about cultural heritage here.

Climate & Setting

from Port Fairy AWS, 25.7 km

Moderate rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.

Elevation
52 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
Distance to the ocean
8.0 km
Annual rainfall
699 mm
111 rainy days
Summer max (Jan)
22.5°C
5 days ≥ 35°C
Winter min (Jul)
7.2°C
0 frost days ≤ 0°C

Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.

EV adoption

0.3%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.00% in 2021
+0.1 points this year

In postcode 3281, 6 of 1,825 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 1.6% (29 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 1.9%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.00%
2022
0.00%
2023
0.00%
2024
0.22%
2025
0.33%

Rooftop solar

53
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 8.2 kW each

In postcode 3281, 349 rooftop-solar systems totalling 2.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 657 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 27 went up in the last year.

Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.

Systems installed, year by year
2019
31
2020
21
2021
26
2022
23
2023
20
2024
31
2025
20
2026
15

2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.

First Home Owner Grant

FY2026-27

$10,000 for new homes priced up to $750,000.

The separate First Home Buyer Duty Reduction (stamp-duty concession) runs alongside this grant.

0 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3281 in 2025-26. The most was 10, in 2001-02.

2000-01 to 2025-26

Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.

Verify eligibility with State Revenue Office Victoria

Mortgage repayments

I'm looking for
Deposit
$
%
Monthly repayment
$4,394
Loan amount
$674,000
Total interest over 30 years
$907,831
Deposit
$168,500
Stamp duty
$45,620
Cash needed at settlement
$214,120

Land transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with State Revenue Office Victoria

The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $750,000 may qualify for $10,000 — see what qualifies with State Revenue Office Victoria.

Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.

Federal Electorate

Division of Wannon

Currently held by Dan Tehan Liberal

Year Winner 2PP ALP 2PP LNP Swing
2025 Dan Tehan 39.1% 60.9% -2.3
2022 Dan Tehan 40.9% 59.1% -1.1
2019 Dan Tehan 39.6% 60.4% +1.2

Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.

State Electorate

South-West Coast District

Currently held by Roma Britnell Liberal

Next state election: 28 November 2026.

Year Winner Won with 2PP ALP 2PP LNP
2022 Roma Britnell LP 58.0% 42.0% 58.0%
2018 Roma Britnell LP 52.3% 47.7% 52.3%
2014 Denis Napthine LP 57.0% 39.0% 61.0%

Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Victorian Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0.

Looking at a specific address in Bushfield?

Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.

Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.

Nearby suburbs

Compare Bushfield to another suburb

Side-by-side stats for any other VIC suburb — type a name and pick one.

Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:

Common questions about Bushfield

Is Bushfield a safe place to live?

Recorded crime in Bushfield is low (14/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).

What natural hazards affect Bushfield?

Bushfield has no recorded bushfire history. No mapped flood overlay applies. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.

Is Bushfield a good place to live?

Bushfield has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (58/100), ranked against other VIC suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.

What is the population of Bushfield?

Bushfield, VIC had a population of 596 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for Bushfield, VIC?

The postcode for Bushfield, VIC is 3281.

How far is Bushfield from Melbourne?

Bushfield is 252 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 188 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in Bushfield?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Bushfield was $110,500 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.

What is the median weekly rent in Bushfield?

There are too few current rental listings in Bushfield for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $350, across all dwelling types.

What is the median age in Bushfield?

The median age of residents in Bushfield was 43 at the 2021 ABS Census.

What is the weather like in Bushfield?

At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Bushfield, Port Fairy AWS (25.7 km away), summer days average 22.5°C, winter nights 7.2°C, 699 mm of rain a year over 111 rainy days, and 5 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Bushfield?

First-home buyers in VIC may be eligible for $10,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $750,000. The grant is administered by State Revenue Office Victoria; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.

What council does Bushfield belong to?

Bushfield sits within the Warrnambool local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in Bushfield?

The average residential rates bill through Warrnambool is $2,162 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near Bushfield?

Across Warrnambool, 388 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 22.2% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.

Which federal electorate is Bushfield in?

Bushfield sits within the federal Division of Wannon, currently held by Dan Tehan (Liberal).

Search another suburb or address

Data freshness

Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.

Was the information on this page useful to you?

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.

Save this page for later

We'll email you a link to this page so you can finish reading it on any device. We use your address once to send it and don't keep it.

or