California Gully VIC 3556
California Gully is a suburb in Victoria, 155 km from Melbourne CBD, around 1 hour 55 minutes by car. Population is 4,476; the median age is 39 and the median household income is $54,808 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the bottom 20% nationally. Population grew 2.6% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $251 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,200. The area shows high crime risk. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is California Gully a good suburb?
California Gully scores a D (22/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on safety and community.
Mixed results
1 school
Very walkable
Walkability 61/100 · 154.7 km · 115 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $549K · Cheaper than 84% of VIC
High crime risk
Fire 56/100 · Crime 80/100 · Flood 36/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 1/10 · median age 39 · 4,476 residents
Liveability Rating
22 / 100 · Ranked #807 in VICEach bar is California Gully'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.
How do you rate the liveability in California Gully?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
22 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataCalifornia Gully's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $549,000, roughly 25% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$549,000
4% below its 5 neighbours (median $571,000)
Based on 111 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 22 days — median across 32 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 17 sales $382K
- 3 bed 74 sales $550K
- 4 bed 17 sales $606K
Land
$305,000
Based on only 7 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in California Gully are currently listed at around $550,000 on average. Based on 17 houses listed in the past six months.
$550K
17 houses listed in the last 6 months.
17 of the suburb's 1,771 dwellings (1.0%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in California Gully rent for around $540 a week on average, based on 20 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$540/wk
7% above its 4 neighbours (median $505/wk)
20 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
21 rentals advertised against an estimated 620 rented homes (3.4%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025102 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 29% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3556.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$540/week ($28,000 a year) on a $550,000 median
Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.
Is California Gully safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in California Gully sits in the high band, with 393 incidents recorded in 2026 — up roughly 26% on the prior year.
393 offences
25.6% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202510 crashes
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
One school serve California Gully, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 181 students in one school (avg 181)
Primary
Universities nearby
0.5% of residents here are full-time university students aged 15–24.
Distance is measured to the suburb centre. A campus nearby does not by itself mean a student rental market — most suburbs within a few kilometres of one have a student share close to the national norm, and the figure above is what tells them apart.
Walkability
California Gully is somewhat walkable on foot — at 61/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside California Gully.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 44.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 39.8 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 19.5 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 15.4 hours
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in California Gully.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 45%
- Premises covered
- 2,273
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
Greater Bendigo: council population
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
The ABS scores 10 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 2 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
California Gully is home to about 4,500 residents, with a median age of 39, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $55,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.2%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
4,476
Median Age
39
Median Household Income
$54,808/yr
Census Median Rent
$251/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,200/mo
Avg Household Size
2.3
Median Personal Income
$30,576/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.2%
Unoccupied Dwellings
5.3%
Total Dwellings
1,771
Owner-Occupier Rate
65.0%
Houses
95.4%
Rental Stress
23.8%
Mortgage Stress
26.3%
Work From Home
9.0%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
151 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 38 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 601 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 82.5%
- English Spoken at Home
- 84.7%
- Employment Rate
- 48.1%
- Completed Year 12
- 28.1%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
91 residents (2.0%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
4.2% of residents (180) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (140).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 4,243 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 676 people work here; 1,753 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.4 jobs per working resident. At least 61% of employed residents must work outside the suburb.
Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,949 a year through Greater Bendigo based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 71%
- Infrastructure and transport 11%
- Parks and recreation 11%
- Industrial 7%
- Zones under 1% 1%
Proposed rezonings
- General Residential Zone → Public Conservation and Resource Zone · C285gben, exhibited Oct 2025 11.1 ha
- Public Use Zone → Public Conservation and Resource Zone · C285gben, exhibited Oct 2025 4.4 ha
- General Residential Zone → Public Park and Recreation Zone · C285gben, exhibited Oct 2025 0.9 ha
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: Greater Bendigo
In the year to August 2026, 885 new dwellings were approved across Greater Bendigo. That mix is 797 houses and 88 units. Approvals are up 28.0% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Registered Aboriginal Party for this area is Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (appointed 2008).
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 Castlemaine Prison, 39.2 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, cold winters with occasional frost.
- Elevation
- 242 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Annual rainfall
- 598 mm
- 83 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 27.9°C
- 11 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 3.7°C
- 19 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.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
10 facilities within 5 km- 1.5 kmOther Electricity GenerationTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- 1.8 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen
- 2.4 kmMilk and Cream ProcessingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 2.9 kmHospitals (Except Psychiatric Hospitals)Top reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- 3.5 kmOther Polymer Product ManufacturingTop reported: Zinc and compounds · Antimony & compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 3556, 29 of 12,063 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 1.4% (171 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 1.7%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3556, 2,614 rooftop-solar systems totalling 14.2 MW have been installed since 2001, against 5,948 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 170 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.
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.
43 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3556 in 2025-26, rank 32 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 109, in 2008-09.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
3 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 3556.
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.
At $549,000 this is under the $750,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $10,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with State Revenue Office Victoria.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
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
Currently held by Lisa Chesters Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Lisa Chesters | 51.4% | 48.6% | +51.4 |
| 2022 | Lisa Chesters | 62.1% | 37.9% | -3.3 |
| 2019 | Lisa Chesters | 59.0% | 41.0% | -5.2 |
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
Currently held by Maree Edwards Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Maree Edwards ALP | 50.7% | 64.3% | 35.6% |
| 2018 | Maree Edwards ALP | 53.5% | 68.5% | 31.4% |
| 2014 | Maree Edwards ALP | 50.4% | 62.2% | 37.8% |
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 California Gully?
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.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 4,476 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Featured in
- #1 in Highest-yielding Bendigo suburbs (houses)
- #4 in Bendigo suburbs with the most parkland nearby
- #5 in Best Bendigo suburbs for first-home buyers (houses)
- #6 in Sportiest Bendigo suburbs
- #6 in Bendigo suburbs with the best public transport
- #7 in Bendigo suburbs with the best NBN connectivity
- #8 in Bendigo's most owner-occupied suburbs
- #8 in Bendigo suburbs where young families live
- #10 in Bendigo suburbs with the biggest house blocks
- #12 in Best Bendigo suburbs to rent in
- #12 in Bendigo suburbs with the largest non-religious population
- #12 in Bendigo suburbs where seniors live
- #13 in Bendigo suburbs with the deepest rental markets
- #14 in Most walkable suburbs in Bendigo
- #14 in Bendigo suburbs where the most homes are owned outright
- #15 in Bendigo suburbs that added the most residents, 2016-2021
Nearby suburbs
Compare California Gully to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other VIC suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about California Gully
Is California Gully a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in California Gully is high (80/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect California Gully?
California Gully has a moderate recorded bushfire history (56/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a low share of it (36/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is California Gully a good place to live?
California Gully has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (22/100), 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 California Gully?
California Gully, VIC had a population of 4,476 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for California Gully, VIC?
The postcode for California Gully, VIC is 3556.
How far is California Gully from Melbourne?
California Gully is 155 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 115 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in California Gully?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in California Gully was $54,808 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 California Gully?
The median advertised rent in California Gully is $540 a week for houses (20 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in California Gully?
The median age of residents in California Gully was 39 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is California Gully at risk of bushfire?
California Gully has a moderate recorded bushfire history (56/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the suburb relative to its size, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history. It records where fire has burned, not a bushfire-prone land designation, which your council's planning scheme sets.
How are the schools in California Gully?
There is 1 school inside the California Gully boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is California Gully walkable?
California Gully scores 61/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it somewhat walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the weather like in California Gully?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to California Gully, Castlemaine Prison (39.2 km away), summer days average 27.9°C, winter nights 3.7°C, 598 mm of rain a year over 83 rainy days, and 11 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in California Gully?
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 California Gully belong to?
California Gully sits within the Greater Bendigo local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in California Gully?
The average residential rates bill through Greater Bendigo is $1,949 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near California Gully?
Across Greater Bendigo, 885 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 28.0% 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 California Gully in?
California Gully sits within the federal Division of Bendigo, currently held by Lisa Chesters (Australian Labor Party).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2024–25
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2026
- Road crashes · 2021–2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- State electorate · 2022
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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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.