Waurn Ponds sits 88 km from Melbourne CBD in Victoria, around 1 hour 10 minutes by car. Census data records 4,956 residents with a median age of 27 and a median household income of $118,872 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 20% nationally. The suburb fell 1.8% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $430 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,755. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is low.
Is Waurn Ponds a good suburb?
Waurn Ponds scores a B (55/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on prices and community, weaker on transit.
Mixed results
1 school
Car-dependent
Walkability 18/100 · 87.9 km · 68 min drive to Melbourne
More affordable than most
Median $790K · More affordable than 89% of VIC
Moderate crime risk
Fire 31/100 · Crime 58/100 · Flood 33/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 9/10 · median age 27 · 4,956 residents
Liveability Rating
55 / 100 · Ranked #362 in VICEach bar is Waurn Ponds'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 Waurn Ponds?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
55 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataWaurn Ponds's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $790,000, roughly 12% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$790,000
8% above its 4 neighbours (median $730,000)
Based on 117 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 28 days — median across 58 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 1 bed 7 sales $430K
- 3 bed 45 sales $740K
- 4 bed 53 sales $820K
Land
$638,000
Based on only 8 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Typically sold in 70 days — median across 4 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Waurn Ponds are currently listed at around $855,000 on average. Based on 40 houses listed in the past six months.
$855K
40 houses listed in the last 6 months.
41 of the suburb's 1,292 dwellings (3.2%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Waurn Ponds rent for around $610 a week on average, based on 28 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$610/wk
3% above its 3 neighbours (median $590/wk)
28 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
30 rentals advertised against an estimated 275 rented homes (10.9%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202598 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 31% of its income on the median rent in postcode 3216.
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$610/week ($32,000 a year) on a $855,000 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
6 active Airbnb listings: 3 whole homes and 3 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.2% 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 Waurn Ponds safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Waurn Ponds sits in the moderate band, with 236 incidents recorded in 2026 — up about 1% on the prior year.
236 offences
1.3% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202525 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Where they happened
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 serves Waurn Ponds, but none have published comparable ratings yet.
Combined
Universities nearby
- 9.6 kmDeakin University, Geelong Waterfront CampusDeakin University · 55 courses
- 9.6 kmDeakin University, Geelong Waurn Ponds CampusDeakin University · 93 courses
16.8% 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
Waurn Ponds is very car-dependent on foot — at 18/100, nearly all errands require a car.
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 Waurn Ponds.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 91.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 67.0 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 32.3 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 16.4 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 Waurn Ponds.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 46%
- Premises covered
- 1,552
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 11 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Waurn Ponds is home to about 5,000 residents, and skews young, with a median age of 27 against the national 38. Median household income runs at $119,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.1%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
4,956
Median Age
27
Median Household Income
$118,872/yr
Census Median Rent
$430/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,755/mo
Avg Household Size
3.0
Median Personal Income
$33,384/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.1%
Unoccupied Dwellings
5.5%
Total Dwellings
1,292
Owner-Occupier Rate
78.7%
Houses
97.6%
Rental Stress
18.8%
Mortgage Stress
17.7%
Work From Home
19.7%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
7 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 5 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 272 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 78.2%
- English Spoken at Home
- 82.6%
- Employment Rate
- 64.7%
- Completed Year 12
- 56.6%
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.
297 residents (6.0%) 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.
8.4% of residents (402) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (308).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 4,761 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
3% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (81 of 2,686).
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
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
- Rural and farming 75%
- Infrastructure and transport 14%
- Residential 8%
- Other and special use 2%
- Zones under 1% 2%
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.
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, 9.0 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Point Wilson, 25.8 kmwarm summers — mild winters.
- Elevation
- 104 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 10.1 km
- 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.
EV adoption
In postcode 3216, 469 of 44,850 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.5% (1,131 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.6%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 3216, 7,908 rooftop-solar systems totalling 44.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 23,881 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 444 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.
11 first-home grants were paid in postcode 3216 in 2025-26, rank 82 of 298 Victorian postcodes. The most was 513, in 2009-10.
Grants on new and established homes; established homes stopped qualifying in mid-2013.
Mortgage repayments
24 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 3216.
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 $790,000 this is $40,000 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 2026-10-26 — 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 Darren Cheeseman Australian Labor Party - Victorian Branch
Next state election: 28 November 2026.
| Year | Winner | Won with | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Darren Cheeseman ALP | 59.8% | 59.8% | 40.2% |
| 2018 | Darren Cheeseman ALP | 54.6% | 54.6% | 45.4% |
| 2014 | Andrew Katos LP | 52.9% | 47.1% | 52.9% |
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 Waurn Ponds?
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 4,956 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 Geelong suburbs where the most Hindi is spoken at home
- #1 in Where the Sri Lankan community lives in Geelong
- #2 in Geelong suburbs with the largest Hindu community
- #3 in Where the Indian community lives in Geelong
- #4 in Geelong suburbs with the biggest house blocks
- #4 in Geelong's highest-income suburbs
- #7 in Geelong's most owner-occupied suburbs
- #14 in Geelong's most educated suburbs
- #15 in Geelong suburbs with the largest Sikh community
Nearby suburbs
Highton VIC 3216
Grovedale VIC 3216
Mount Duneed VIC 3217
Wandana Heights VIC 3216
Freshwater Creek VIC 3217
Ceres VIC 3221
Compare Waurn Ponds 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 Waurn Ponds
Is Waurn Ponds a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Waurn Ponds is moderate (58/100, ranked against other VIC suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Waurn Ponds?
Waurn Ponds has a low recorded bushfire history (31/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a low share of it (33/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Waurn Ponds a good place to live?
Waurn Ponds has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (55/100), 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 Waurn Ponds?
Waurn Ponds, VIC had a population of 4,956 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Waurn Ponds, VIC?
The postcode for Waurn Ponds, VIC is 3216.
How far is Waurn Ponds from Melbourne?
Waurn Ponds is 88 km from Melbourne CBD by road, about 68 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Waurn Ponds?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Waurn Ponds was $118,872 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 Waurn Ponds?
The median advertised rent in Waurn Ponds is $610 a week for houses (28 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Waurn Ponds?
The median age of residents in Waurn Ponds was 27 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Waurn Ponds at risk of bushfire?
Waurn Ponds has a low recorded bushfire history (31/100). 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 Waurn Ponds?
There is 1 school inside the Waurn Ponds boundary, none of which has enough NAPLAN and ICSEA data for a quality band.
Is Waurn Ponds walkable?
Waurn Ponds scores 18/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very 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 Waurn Ponds?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Waurn Ponds (Geelong South) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 5.0 µg/m³ and PM10 of 20.5 µg/m³. That puts Waurn Ponds below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Waurn Ponds?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Waurn Ponds, Point Wilson (25.8 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 Waurn Ponds?
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 Waurn Ponds belong to?
Waurn Ponds 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 Waurn Ponds?
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 Waurn Ponds?
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 Waurn Ponds in?
Waurn Ponds sits within the federal Division of Corangamite, currently held by Libby Coker (Australian Labor Party).
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
- 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.
Was the information on this page useful to you?
Thanks! Anything we could improve?
We hate spam as much as you do — we'll never use your email for marketing, and we might not be able to reply to everyone.
Thanks for your feedback! 🙏
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.