Clifton Springs VIC 3222
Clifton Springs sits 96 km from Melbourne CBD in Victoria, around 1 hour 30 minutes by car. Census data records 7,646 residents with a median age of 48 and a median household income of $70,096 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the lower-middle tier nationally. Population grew 1.7% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,517. The area shows high coastal erosion risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is low.
Is Clifton Springs a good suburb?
Clifton Springs scores a B (58/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on safety.
Mixed results
1 school
Some car dependence
Walkability 34/100 · 96.3 km · 89 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $702K
Low all-round risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 31/100 · Flood 0/100
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 4/10 · median age 48 · 7,646 residents
Liveability Rating
58 / 100 · Ranked #294 in VICEach bar is Clifton Springs'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 Clifton Springs?
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
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataClifton Springs's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $702,000, about 8% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$702,500
Based on 250 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 31 days — median across 125 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 11 sales $615K
- 3 bed 154 sales $675K
- 4 bed 68 sales $758K
- 5 bed 13 sales $810K
Land
$385,000
Based on 24 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 54 days — median across 11 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Clifton Springs are currently listed at around $735,000 on average. Based on 121 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$735K
121 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$550K
3 units listed in the last 6 months.
124 of the suburb's 3,177 dwellings (3.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Clifton Springs rent for around $535 a week on average, based on 44 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$535/wk
44 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
45 rentals advertised against an estimated 581 rented homes (7.7%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202596 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 31% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3222.
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$535/week ($28,000 a year) on a $735,000 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.
Short-Stay Rentals
31 active Airbnb listings: 31 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.9% 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 Clifton Springs safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Clifton Springs sits in the low band, with 160 incidents recorded in 2026 — up roughly 12% on the prior year.
160 offences
11.9% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20256 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 1 of them fatal
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.
Coastal Erosion
Shoreline Change Summary
1988–2025Nearest Eroding Coastline
- Distance
- 640 m
- Rate
- -0.03 m/yr
- Net Movement
- 1.5 m
- Certainty
- good
Data Quality
Schools
One school serve Clifton Springs, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 472 students in one school (avg 472)
Primary
Walkability
Clifton Springs is car-dependent on foot — at 34/100, most errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Clifton Springs.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 36.8 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 40.9 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 23.1 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 16.1 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 Clifton Springs.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 49%
- Premises covered
- 3,791
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 Geelong: 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 21 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 6 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Clifton Springs is home to about 7,600 residents, with a median age of 48, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $70,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.4%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
7,646
Median Age
48
Median Household Income
$70,096/yr
Census Median Rent
$350/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,517/mo
Avg Household Size
2.3
Median Personal Income
$35,516/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.4%
Unoccupied Dwellings
9.8%
Total Dwellings
3,177
Owner-Occupier Rate
81.7%
Houses
98.2%
Rental Stress
26.0%
Mortgage Stress
26.0%
Work From Home
18.3%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
6 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 8 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 570 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 80.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 92.6%
- Employment Rate
- 53.8%
- Completed Year 12
- 39.0%
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.
80 residents (1.0%) 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.
11.1% of residents (808) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (716).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 7,284 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
4% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (134 of 3,476).
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.
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 580 people work here; 3,476 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.2 jobs per working resident. At least 82% 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 $1,802 a year through Greater Geelong based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 70%
- Parks and recreation 19%
- Rural and farming 10%
- Zones under 1% 1%
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 Geelong
In the year to August 2026, 3,468 new dwellings were approved across Greater Geelong. That mix is 2,749 houses and 719 units. Approvals are up 55.5% on the same period a year earlier.
New Homes Planned
New homes planned in this suburb: 211 homes
- Lots in approved subdivisions, not yet titled 53 homes
- Land zoned for housing, not yet subdivided 158 homes
From the Victorian Government's Urban Development Program: growth-area land and approved lots (metropolitan 2025, regional June 2024) and projects of 10 or more homes in Melbourne (2025), by stage. Lots and homes are counted as published; a lot usually becomes one home.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Registered Aboriginal Party for this area is Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (appointed 2009).
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.
Air Quality
CLEANPM2.5 averaged 5 µg/m³ in 2025 — below the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³).
PM10 averaged 20.5 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 3 · ozone 0.
From the Geelong South monitoring station, 17.8 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Point Wilson, 7.1 kmwarm summers — mild winters.
- Elevation
- 44 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 624 m
- Annual rainfall
- —
- Summer max (Jan)
- 22.8°C
- 3 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 7.8°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.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
2 facilities within 5 km- 4.8 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen
- 4.8 kmOther Electricity GenerationTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
EV adoption
In postcode 3222, 98 of 15,547 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 1.7% (271 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.4%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3222, 3,404 rooftop-solar systems totalling 21.6 MW have been installed since 2001, against 7,799 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 189 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.
5 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3222 in 2025-26, rank 129 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 115, in 2001-02.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
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 $702,500 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 Libby Coker Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Libby Coker | 58.0% | 42.0% | +0.2 |
| 2022 | Libby Coker | 57.6% | 42.4% | -6.5 |
| 2019 | Libby Coker | 51.1% | 48.9% | -1.0 |
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 Alison Marchant Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Alison Marchant ALP | 58.5% | 58.5% | 41.5% |
| 2018 | Lisa Neville ALP | 50.2% | 61.5% | 38.5% |
| 2014 | Lisa Neville ALP | 54.8% | 54.8% | 45.2% |
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 Clifton Springs?
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 7,646 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
- #3 in The best beachside suburbs in Geelong
- #3 in The safest suburbs in Geelong
- #4 in Geelong suburbs where seniors live
- #5 in Geelong suburbs where the most homes are owned outright
- #5 in Geelong's most owner-occupied suburbs
- #6 in Geelong suburbs with the most rooftop solar
- #8 in Geelong suburbs with the largest non-religious population
- #12 in Geelong suburbs with the fastest EV adoption growth
- #13 in Geelong suburbs with the highest EV adoption today
- #15 in The most liveable suburbs in Geelong
- #15 in Geelong suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city
Nearby suburbs
Compare Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs
Is Clifton Springs a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Clifton Springs is low (31/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Clifton Springs?
Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs a good place to live?
Clifton Springs 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 Clifton Springs?
Clifton Springs, VIC had a population of 7,646 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Clifton Springs, VIC?
The postcode for Clifton Springs, VIC is 3222.
How far is Clifton Springs from Melbourne?
Clifton Springs is 96 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 89 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Clifton Springs?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Clifton Springs was $70,096 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 Clifton Springs?
The median advertised rent in Clifton Springs is $535 a week for houses (44 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Clifton Springs?
The median age of residents in Clifton Springs was 48 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Clifton Springs?
There is 1 school inside the Clifton Springs boundary: 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Clifton Springs walkable?
Clifton Springs scores 34/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it car-dependent. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the air quality in Clifton Springs?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Clifton Springs (Geelong South) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 5.0 µg/m³ and PM10 of 20.5 µg/m³. That puts Clifton Springs below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Clifton Springs?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Clifton Springs, Point Wilson (7.1 km away), summer days average 22.8°C, winter nights 7.8°C, and 3 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Clifton Springs?
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 Clifton Springs belong to?
Clifton Springs sits within the Greater Geelong local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Clifton Springs?
The average residential rates bill through Greater Geelong is $1,802 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Clifton Springs?
Across Greater Geelong, 3,468 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 55.5% 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 Clifton Springs in?
Clifton Springs sits within the federal Division of Corangamite, currently held by Libby Coker (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
- Air quality · 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- 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.