Lorne sits 146 km from Melbourne CBD in Victoria, around 2 hours 10 minutes by car. Census data records 1,327 residents with a median age of 56 and a median household income of $79,300 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 40% nationally. Population grew 19.1% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $363 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,167. The area shows high bushfire risk and high crime risk. 1 school sits within the town boundary, and walkability is low.
Is Lorne a good town?
Lorne scores a C (36/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on transit, prices, and safety.
Mixed results
1 school
Car-dependent
Walkability 0/100 · 145.8 km · 129 min drive to Melbourne
Premium market
Median $1.68M · Pricier than 91% of VIC
High bushfire risk
Fire 88/100 · Crime 60/100 · Flood 15/100
Advantaged
SEIFA decile 8/10 · median age 56 · 1,327 residents
Liveability Rating
36 / 100 · Ranked #627 in VICEach bar is Lorne'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 Lorne?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
36 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataLorne's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $1.68 million, roughly 11% below where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,681,500
Based on 66 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 38 days — median across 30 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 8 sales $1.42M
- 3 bed 25 sales $1.53M
- 4 bed 17 sales $2.25M
- 5 bed 9 sales $1.94M
Units
$930,000
Based on 18 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 58 days — median across 6 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 8 sales $860K
- 3 bed 5 sales $1.1M
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Lorne are currently listed at around $1.75 million on average. Based on 34 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$1.75M
34 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$1.29M
7 units listed in the last 6 months — typical time on market 4 days.
41 of the suburb's 502 dwellings (8.2%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Lorne rent for around $850 a week on average, based on 3 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$850/wk
3 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
3 rentals advertised against an estimated 123 rented homes (2.4%) in the last 6 months.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$850/week ($44,000 a year) on a $1.75 million median
Based on a small sample (3 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.
Short-Stay Rentals
309 active Airbnb listings: 299 whole homes and 10 rooms. Whole homes are about 18.8% of the town'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 Lorne safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Lorne sits in the moderate band, with 62 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 10% on the prior year.
62 offences
10.1% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202521 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Where they happened
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the town 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
- 4.7 km
- Rate
- -0.04 m/yr
- Net Movement
- -5.5 m
- Certainty
- good
Data Quality
Schools
One school serve Lorne, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 167 students in one school (avg 167)
Combined
Walkability
Lorne is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car. Within the town there are 1 supermarket, 4 parks and 19 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
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.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Lorne.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 0.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 1.3 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.9 arrivals/hr
- Span of service
- 13.0 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 Lorne.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 39%
- Premises covered
- 2,235
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
Surf Coast: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this town alone — this town's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
Lorne is home to about 1,300 residents, with a median age of 56 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $79,000 a year, with unemployment at 1.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,327
Median Age
56
Median Household Income
$79,300/yr
Census Median Rent
$363/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,167/mo
Avg Household Size
2.1
Median Personal Income
$46,436/yr
Unemployment Rate
1.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
217.7%
Total Dwellings
502
Owner-Occupier Rate
75.5%
Houses
85.5%
Rental Stress
23.8%
Mortgage Stress
32.8%
Work From Home
26.0%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
0 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 10 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 114 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 73.9%
- English Spoken at Home
- 81.8%
- Employment Rate
- 50.3%
- Completed Year 12
- 56.1%
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.
59 residents (4.4%) 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.
19.5% of residents (251) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (251).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,287 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
7% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (42 of 602).
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 town against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 814 people work here; 602 employed residents live here.
Roughly as many jobs as working residents (1.4 per resident). At least 24% of the people who work here must live elsewhere.
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 $2,314 a year through Surf Coast based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Parks and recreation 90%
- Environmental 7%
- Residential 2%
- 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 town around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Surf Coast
In the year to August 2026, 300 new dwellings were approved across Surf Coast. That mix is 270 houses and 30 units. Approvals are up 56.8% on the same period a year earlier.
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 Aireys Inlet, 16.4 kmModerate rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 165 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 4.5 km
- 4.5 km to a named beach
- Annual rainfall
- 599 mm
- 93 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 23.2°C
- 6 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 7.6°C
- 0 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the town 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
1 facility within 5 km- 4.7 km
EV adoption
In postcode 3232, 17 of 1,526 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.1% (32 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.2%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3232, 245 rooftop-solar systems totalling 1.6 MW have been installed since 2001, against 1,594 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 20 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.
0 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3232 in 2025-26. The most was 4, in 2003-04.
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 $1,681,500 this is $931,500 above 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 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 town's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Richard Riordan Liberal
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Richard Riordan LP | 51.8% | 48.2% | 51.8% |
| 2018 | Richard Riordan LP | 51.1% | 44.6% | 55.4% |
| 2014 | Terry Mulder LP | 55.4% | 39.4% | 60.6% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this town's voters. Results: Victorian Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0.
Looking at a specific address in Lorne?
Every figure above is a town 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 1,327 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.
Nearby suburbs
Compare Lorne 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 Lorne
Is Lorne a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Lorne is moderate (60/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Lorne?
Lorne has a high recorded bushfire history (88/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a low share of it (15/100). These are town-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Lorne a good place to live?
Lorne has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (36/100), 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 Lorne?
Lorne, VIC had a population of 1,327 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Lorne, VIC?
The postcode for Lorne, VIC is 3232.
How far is Lorne from Melbourne?
Lorne is 146 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 129 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Lorne?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Lorne was $79,300 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 Lorne?
The median advertised rent in Lorne is $850 a week for houses (3 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Lorne?
The median age of residents in Lorne was 56 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Lorne at risk of bushfire?
Lorne has a high recorded bushfire history (88/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the town 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 Lorne?
There is 1 school inside the Lorne boundary: 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
What is the weather like in Lorne?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Lorne, Aireys Inlet (16.4 km away), summer days average 23.2°C, winter nights 7.6°C, 599 mm of rain a year over 93 rainy days, and 6 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Lorne?
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 Lorne belong to?
Lorne sits within the Surf Coast local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Lorne?
The average residential rates bill through Surf Coast is $2,314 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Lorne?
Across Surf Coast, 300 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 56.8% 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 Lorne in?
Lorne sits within the federal Division of Wannon, currently held by Dan Tehan (Liberal).
Search another suburb or address
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
- 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.