Lake Gardens VIC 3355
Lake Gardens sits 122 km from Melbourne CBD in Victoria, around 1 hour 30 minutes by car. Census data records 1,801 residents with a median age of 51 and a median household income of $79,768 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 40% nationally. The suburb grew 6.3% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $360 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,733. Lake Gardens is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. 2 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is high.
Is Lake Gardens a good suburb?
Lake Gardens scores a A (69/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit and community, weaker on safety.
Mixed results
2 schools
Very walkable
Walkability 75/100 · 122.4 km · 89 min drive to Melbourne
Around the state median
Median $700K
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 85/100 · Flood 0/100
Advantaged
SEIFA decile 8/10 · median age 51 · 1,801 residents
Liveability Rating
69 / 100 · Ranked #167 in VICEach bar is Lake Gardens'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 Lake Gardens?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
69 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataLake Gardens's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $700,000, 0.7% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$700,000
7% above its 4 neighbours (median $652,500)
Based on 75 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 25 days — median across 20 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 36 sales $615K
- 4 bed 39 sales $780K
Land
$618,000
Based on only 5 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Lake Gardens are currently listed at around $800,000 on average. Based on 11 houses listed in the past six months.
$800K
11 houses listed in the last 6 months.
11 of the suburb's 748 dwellings (1.5%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Lake Gardens rent for around $460 a week on average, based on 4 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$460/wk
4 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
4 rentals advertised against an estimated 217 rented homes (1.8%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025129 Acceptable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 23% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3355.
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$460/week ($24,000 a year) on a $800,000 median
Based on a small sample (4 listings) — indicative only.
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 Lake Gardens safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Lake Gardens sits in the high band, with 192 incidents recorded in 2026 — up roughly 16% on the prior year.
192 offences
15.7% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20253 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
Two schools serve Lake Gardens, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 1,914 students across 2 schools (avg 957)
- • ICSEA 950-1016, median 983 (around the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Ballarat High School (1,461 students)
Secondary
Combined
Universities nearby
2.8% 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
Lake Gardens is very walkable on foot — at 75/100, most daily errands can be done on foot.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Lake Gardens.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 4.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 5.3 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 6.8 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 14.3 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 Lake Gardens.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 58%
- Premises covered
- 909
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
Ballarat: 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 4 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
Lake Gardens is home to about 1,800 residents, with a median age of 51 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $80,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.6%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,801
Median Age
51
Median Household Income
$79,768/yr
Census Median Rent
$360/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,733/mo
Avg Household Size
2.3
Median Personal Income
$39,676/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.6%
Unoccupied Dwellings
7.1%
Total Dwellings
748
Owner-Occupier Rate
71.0%
Houses
92.0%
Rental Stress
23.5%
Mortgage Stress
26.1%
Work From Home
24.4%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
0 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 27 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 214 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 77.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 84.1%
- Employment Rate
- 51.8%
- Completed Year 12
- 47.7%
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.
35 residents (1.9%) 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.
10.0% of residents (174) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (153).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,732 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
6% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (49 of 803).
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 643 people work here; 803 employed residents live here.
Roughly as many jobs as working residents (0.8 per resident). At least 20% 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 $2,086 a year through Ballarat based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 59%
- Infrastructure and transport 20%
- Parks and recreation 16%
- Industrial 4%
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: Ballarat
In the year to August 2026, 1,451 new dwellings were approved across Ballarat. That mix is 1,134 houses and 317 units. Approvals are up 41.8% on the same period a year earlier.
New Homes Planned
New homes planned in this suburb: 4 homes
- Lots in approved subdivisions, not yet titled 4 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.
Climate & Setting
from Ballarat Aerodrome, 4.4 kmModerate rainfall — warm summers, cold winters with occasional frost.
- Elevation
- 464 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Annual rainfall
- 605 mm
- 97 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 25.7°C
- 6 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 3.5°C
- 17 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
20 facilities within 5 km- 0.9 km
- 1.3 kmClay Brick ManufacturingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen
- 1.3 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Ammonia (total) · Total Phosphorus
- 1.5 km
- 1.6 kmReconstituted Wood Product ManufacturingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 3355, 62 of 13,527 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.7% (367 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.2%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3355, 1,600 rooftop-solar systems totalling 13.3 MW have been installed since 2001, against 5,999 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 78 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.
2 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3355 in 2025-26, rank 176 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 129, in 2008-09.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
1 mortgage broker is registered in this suburb, 4 across postcode 3355.
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 $700,000 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 Catherine King Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Catherine King | 60.7% | 39.3% | -2.3 |
| 2022 | Catherine King | 63.0% | 37.0% | -2.7 |
| 2019 | Catherine King | 61.0% | 39.0% | -3.6 |
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 Juliana Addison Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Juliana Addison ALP | 50.8% | 63.5% | 36.5% |
| 2018 | Juliana Addison ALP | 51.2% | 60.3% | 39.7% |
| 2014 | Sharon Knight ALP | 55.8% | 55.8% | 44.2% |
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 Lake Gardens?
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 1,801 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 Best Ballarat suburbs for good public high schools
- #3 in The most liveable suburbs in Ballarat
- #5 in Most walkable suburbs in Ballarat
- #6 in Ballarat suburbs with the most parkland nearby
- #7 in Ballarat suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city
- #11 in Ballarat suburbs that grew fastest, 2016-2021
- #13 in Ballarat's most owner-occupied suburbs
- #14 in Ballarat suburbs that added the most residents, 2016-2021
- #14 in Ballarat suburbs with the deepest rental markets
Nearby suburbs
Compare Lake Gardens 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 Lake Gardens
Is Lake Gardens a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Lake Gardens is high (85/100, 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 Lake Gardens?
Lake Gardens 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 Lake Gardens a good place to live?
Lake Gardens has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of A (69/100), 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 Lake Gardens?
Lake Gardens, VIC had a population of 1,801 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Lake Gardens, VIC?
The postcode for Lake Gardens, VIC is 3355.
How far is Lake Gardens from Melbourne?
Lake Gardens is 122 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 Lake Gardens?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Lake Gardens was $79,768 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 Lake Gardens?
The median advertised rent in Lake Gardens is $460 a week for houses (4 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Lake Gardens?
The median age of residents in Lake Gardens was 51 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Lake Gardens?
There are 2 schools inside the Lake Gardens boundary: 1 at and 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Lake Gardens walkable?
Lake Gardens scores 75/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very 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 Lake Gardens?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Lake Gardens, Ballarat Aerodrome (4.4 km away), summer days average 25.7°C, winter nights 3.5°C, 605 mm of rain a year over 97 rainy days, and 6 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Lake Gardens?
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 Lake Gardens belong to?
Lake Gardens sits within the Ballarat local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Lake Gardens?
The average residential rates bill through Ballarat is $2,086 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Lake Gardens?
Across Ballarat, 1,451 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 41.8% 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 Lake Gardens in?
Lake Gardens sits within the federal Division of Ballarat, currently held by Catherine King (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.