IRSAD
Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage
Score 1,100
Measures relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage.
Within AustraliaDecile 10 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 10 of 10
For state-level context, explore the Victoria economy.
Housing
Barwon Heads
Victoria · Census 2021
$1.45M-3.3% yrmedian house · Dec 2025
Barwon Heads is a coastal suburb of Greater Geelong.
Median house price
$1.45M86th pctile
of 766 priced VIC suburbs
Household income
$2,226/wk87th pctile
of 2,844 VIC suburbs
Amenity score
36/10070th pctile
of 1,338 rated VIC suburbs
Median house price
Rolling median of settled transfers, state Valuer-General open data (CC BY 4.0). Median of Victoria suburb medians: $765k.
How it compares
Median house price86th percentile
<$210k766 priced suburbs$2.9M+
Household income / wk87th percentile
<$599ABS Census 2021$3,249+
Median house price+71% vs Greater Melbourne · +132% vs Rest of Vic.
MelbourneRest of state
Greater Melbourne $850k · Rest of Vic. $625kBarwon Heads $1.45M
Percentiles rank this suburb against Victoria suburbs that carry the metric — never across states, and never against suburbs where it is missing. Price references are ABS median established-house transfer prices for the Mar 2026 quarter (CC BY 4.0); the suburb figure is a Valuer-General median over a different window, so read the gap as indicative. Income references are the Census 2021 median of the middle suburb in Victoria and nationally, not a household-weighted median.
People & housing
Population
4,353
Median age
46 yrs
Income / person / wk
$1,030
Household income / wk
$2,226
▲ 41% vs VIC
Median rent / wk
$450
Mortgage / month
$2,184
Who lives here
- Couples with children
- 33%
- +1 pts vs VIC
- Living alone
- 24%
- −2 pts vs VIC
- Unemployment
- 3%
- −2 pts vs VIC
- In the labour force
- 58%
- −4 pts vs VIC
- Bachelor degree or higher
- 38%
- +9 pts vs VIC
- Earning $1–$499 a week
- 18%
- −5 pts vs VIC
- Earning $2,000+ a week
- 21%
- +8 pts vs VIC
Households for the family mix, residents aged 15+ for work, education and income; unemployment is a share of the labour force. VIC figures weight each suburb by its dwellings or residents. ABS Census 2021 (CC BY 4.0). Withheld for very small populations — under 100 residents, or under 50 dwellings, households or workers for the shares that count those.
Housing stock
1,553 occupied private dwellings
- Separate house 91%
- Flat or apartment 3%
- Semi, terrace & other 6%
VIC: 73% separate houses · 12% flats & apartments
- Owned outright 48%
- Mortgaged 34%
- Rented 16%
- Other & not stated 3%
VIC: 32% owned outright · 36% mortgaged · 29% rented
ABS Census 2021 (CC BY 4.0). Withheld for very small populations — under 100 residents, or under 50 dwellings, households or workers for the shares that count those.
Socio-economic profile
IRSD
Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage
Score 1,095
Measures relative socio-economic disadvantage only; a higher score means less disadvantage.
Within AustraliaDecile 10 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 10 of 10
IER
Economic Resources
Score 1,077
Measures access to economic resources, including income, housing costs and assets.
Within AustraliaDecile 9 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 9 of 10
IEO
Education and Occupation
Score 1,112
Measures relative education and occupation characteristics.
Within AustraliaDecile 10 of 10
Within VictoriaDecile 10 of 10
Scores are standardised across Australia to a mean of 1,000 and a standard deviation of 100. Deciles run from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (least disadvantaged).
Source: ABS SEIFA 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
Terrain & hazard exposure
Median elevation
5 m
range 0–19 m
Land below 5 m
42%
11% below 2 m
Shares are the proportion of the suburb's land area. Land where Landsat saw water in at least 1% of clear passes since 1987, excluding permanent water and filtered by DEA's confidence layer. Satellites miss flood peaks, so this is a floor, not a risk estimate; dense high-rise cores can still register tower shadow as water. A statutory planning-control boundary, not a flood extent, and it can lag the latest flood study. Designated for development control; a designation, not a prediction of fire behaviour. The Building Regulations' Designated Bushfire Prone Area, the like-for-like of NSW Bush Fire Prone Land; the narrower Bushfire Management Overlay is a separate planning control. Elevation is orthometric height from a 30 m model; no hydrology or drainage is modelled.
Planning & zoning
Zoning mix (share of the suburb's land)
Show on map →- Low-density residential28%
- Conservation27%
- Rural20%
- Infrastructure & special purpose12%
- Open space & recreation6.6%
- General / medium / high-density residential5.0%
- Centres & mixed use0.9%
- Growth area, deferred or unzoned<0.1%
In a heritage area
20%
conservation area / Heritage Overlay
Show on map →Planning instrument: Greater Geelong Planning Scheme. Zones are grouped into ten families so states compare; the council's own scheme is the authority for any one lot. Source: Vicmap Planning zones; Vicmap Heritage Overlay.
Local amenities
Schools
1
Supermarkets
1
Pubs & bars
2
Parks
10
Libraries
0
GP clinics
2
Pharmacies
1
Hospitals
0
Nearest supermarket
0.7 km
Nearest train
14.4 km
Nearest hospital
17.3 km
Distance to coast
1.2 km
NBN
FIXED LINE
Amenity counts via © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) & Geoscience Australia HealthDirect (CC BY 4.0). Distance to coast derived from ABS state boundaries (CC BY 4.0).
Culture & community
- Dominant religion
- No religion · 52%
- Top language at home
- Japanese · 0%
- No religion
- 52%
- Born overseas
- 10%
- English only at home
- 98%
Schools by sector
- Government / Catholic / Indep.
- 1 / 0 / 0
- Primary / Secondary
- 1 / 0
- Nearest secondary
- 5.0 km
School sector & type: ACARA (Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority), School Location dataset.
Local council
- Council (LGA)
- Greater Geelong
- Population
- 295,052 (2025) · +2.2% in a year
- Area / density
- 1,248 km² · 236/km²
- Council medians (2021)
- age 39 · $1,592/wk household income · $346/wk rent
- Council-wide house median (2023-24)
- $707k
- Federal grants
- $29.44M in 2025-26 · $100/resident
- Avg rates / property
- $1,802
- Operating result
- +0.4%
- Asset renewal
- 63%
- Website
- geelongcity.vic.gov.au
Council boundaries and the suburb split: ABS ASGS LGA 2024, allocated by 2021 mesh block and weighted by Census 2021 residents. Population: ABS Estimated Resident Population 2025. Medians: ABS Census 2021. House median: ABS Data by Region, established-house transfers across the whole council, financial year 2023-24. Federal grants: Financial Assistance Grants, Dept of Infrastructure. Financials: VIC Local Government Performance Reporting 2024-25, Local Government Victoria. ABS, Dept of Infrastructure and Local Government Victoria data CC BY 4.0; council website from Wikidata (CC0).
Representation
- Federal division
- Corangamite
- Federal MP
- Libby Coker (ALP)
- Two-party-preferred
- Labor 58% 2PP
- State electorate
- Bellarine
- State MP
- Alison Marchant (ALP)
Comparable suburbs
Closest by median house price across VIC.
Similar suburbs
Closest demographic & amenity profile, nationally.
Sources: ABS ASGS boundaries (CC BY 4.0); ABS Census 2021 (CC BY 4.0); Victoria Valuer-General settled transfers (CC BY 4.0); ACARA School Locations (CC BY 4.0); © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL); Australian Electoral Commission (CC BY 4.0); Geoscience Australia 1 Second DEM-S (CC BY 4.0); DEA Water Observations Statistics, Geoscience Australia (CC BY 4.0); Vicmap Planning overlays, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Designated Bushfire Prone Area, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Vicmap Planning — Planning Scheme Zones, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Vicmap Planning — Heritage Overlay, Department of Transport and Planning Victoria (CC BY 4.0); Wikipedia state-member tables (CC BY-SA 4.0). Not financial advice.