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Barwon Heads

Geelong & Bellarine Greater Geelong
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Barwon Heads, Victoria
ABS Census 2021 Geelong & Bellarine Regional VIC

About

Barwon Heads (VIC 3227): population 4,353, median age 46, median household income $2,226/week, SEIFA IRSD decile 10. Victorian suburb guide with housing, jobs and community insights.

Barwon Heads is a suburb in Greater Geelong, Victoria (postcode 3227), located in the Geelong & Bellarine region. At the ABS Census 2021 it had a population of 4,353 people.

At a glance

Population (2021)
4,353
Median age
46
Household income
$2,226/wk
Weekly rent
$450
Unemployment
2.7%
SEIFA IRSD decile
10 / 10

Age distribution

0-4
3.7%
5-14
16.3%
15-19
6.4%
20-24
3.2%
25-34
5.5%
35-44
12.2%
45-54
15.2%
55-64
13.9%
65-74
14.9%
75-84
6.5%
85+
2.2%

Housing tenure

Owned
47.6%
Mortgage
33.9%
Rented
15.5%
Other
1.7%

Key statistics

IndicatorValue
Postcode3227
Population (2021)4,353
Males2,110 (48.5%)
Females2,249 (51.7%)
Median age46 years
Average household size2.5
Median weekly household income$2,226
Median weekly family income$2,773
Median weekly rent$450
Median monthly mortgage$2,184
Labour force2,029
Unemployment rate2.7%
Participation rate62.8%
Born overseas9.4%
Separate houses67.0%
Worked at home30.6%
SEIFA IRSD decile10 of 10
Bachelor degree or higher59.4%
Completed Year 12 or equivalent75.1%
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander residents0.5%
Residents needing assistance with core activities2.9%
Households with 2+ vehicles68.3%
Distance from Melbourne CBD65.9 km (straight line)

Age profile

Median age: 46 years. Residents under 15: 19.9%. Residents aged 65 and over: 23.7%.

Age groupPeopleShare of population
0-41593.7%
5-1470916.3%
15-192786.4%
20-241383.2%
25-342415.5%
35-4453012.2%
45-5466315.2%
55-6460613.9%
65-7465014.9%
75-842856.5%
85 and over952.2%

Households and families

Household typeCountShare of households
Total households1,553
Average household size2.5
One person37424.1%
Two persons58437.6%
Three persons16910.9%
Four persons26316.9%
Five persons1348.6%
Six or more persons271.7%
Family typeCountShare of families
Total families1,170
Couples with children847.2%
Couples without children51043.6%
One-parent families13311.4%
Other families141.2%

Children ever born

MeasureValue
Average children per woman aged 15+1.87
Women with no children24.7%
Women with three or more children32.8%

Of the 513 couple families with children in Barwon Heads, 5.5% are step or blended families.

Marital status

Marital status of residents aged 15 and over in Barwon Heads.

StatusShare of adults
Married (registered marriage)56.0%
Married (de facto)10.8%
Not married33.2%

Housing

DwellingsCountShare of dwellings
Total dwellings2,114
Occupied1,55373.5%
Unoccupied55926.4%
Dwelling structureCountShare of dwellings
Separate house1,41667.0%
Semi-detached or townhouse944.4%
Flat or apartment442.1%
Other dwelling30.1%
TenureCountShare of households
Owned outright73947.6%
Owned with a mortgage52733.9%
Rented24115.5%
Other tenure271.7%

Weekly rent

Rent bandShare of renting households
Under $350 per week26.5%
$350 to $549 per week47.0%
$550 or more per week26.5%

10.0% of renting households rent through a state or community housing provider.

Monthly mortgage repayments

Repayment bandShare of mortgaged households
Under $1,00015.1%
$1,000 to $1,79921.9%
$1,800 to $2,99930.0%
$3,000 or more33.0%

Bedrooms per dwelling

BedroomsShare of dwellings
None or one bedroom1.8%
Two bedrooms10.7%
Three bedrooms44.5%
Four or more bedrooms42.9%

Employment

Labour force statusCountShare
Labour force2,029
Employed1,97797.4%
Unemployed542.7%
Not in the labour force1,202
Unemployment rate2.7%
Participation rate62.8%

43.8% of employed residents work part time, fewer than 35 hours per week.

Household income

Household incomes in Barwon Heads are distributed across the following weekly bands.

Weekly household incomeShare of households
Under $65012.7%
$650 to $1,49922.0%
$1,500 to $2,99928.2%
$3,000 or more37.1%

For residents aged 15 and over, personal weekly income is distributed as follows.

Weekly personal incomeShare of residents 15+
Under $50027.7%
$500 to $99920.9%
$1,000 to $1,99928.8%
$2,000 or more22.5%

Travel to work

MethodCountShare of workers
Car driver94047.5%
Car passenger442.2%
Train40.2%
Bus30.2%
Tram00.0%
Bicycle311.6%
Walked only422.1%
Worked at home60430.6%

Religious affiliation

ReligionCountShare of residents
Christianity1,64737.8%
No religion2,28352.4%
Islam00.0%
Hinduism40.1%
Buddhism310.7%
Judaism50.1%
Other or not stated3838.8%

Socio-economic profile (SEIFA 2021)

SEIFA deciles run from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (least disadvantaged) nationally.

IndexScoreDecilePercentile
IRSD (disadvantage)10951096
IRSAD (advantage and disadvantage)110010
IER (economic resources)10779
IEO (education and occupation)111210

Where residents were born

89.8% of residents were born in Australia and 10.2% were born overseas. The most common overseas birthplaces in Barwon Heads are listed below.

Country of birthPeopleShare of residents
England1834.5%
New Zealand310.8%
United States of America250.6%
Scotland220.5%
South Africa190.5%
Netherlands160.4%

When overseas-born residents arrived

Year of arrivalShare of overseas-born residents
2016 to 20216.6%
2011 to 20158.7%
2001 to 201015.9%
Before 200168.9%

Languages spoken at home

98.5% of residents speak only English at home. The most common other languages in Barwon Heads are listed below. Across all households, 0.0% of residents speak English not well or not at all.

LanguagePeopleShare of residents
Italian110.3%
Greek70.2%
Chinese: Other60.1%
Japanese60.1%
Croatian40.1%
Russian40.1%

Ancestry

Residents of Barwon Heads most commonly report the following ancestries.

AncestryResponsesShare of responses
English1,93632.3%
Australian1,72728.9%
Irish74812.5%
Scottish69211.6%
German1582.6%
Italian1141.9%

Work and industry

The largest employment sectors for Barwon Heads residents are listed below.

Industry of employmentWorkersShare of workers
Health Care and Social Assistance31916.7%
Construction22411.7%
Education and Training22011.5%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services1899.9%
Retail Trade1467.7%
Accommodation and Food Services1467.7%

The most common occupations among Barwon Heads residents are listed below.

OccupationWorkersShare of workers
Professionals64733.0%
Managers38319.5%
Technicians and Trades Workers24012.2%
Clerical and Administrative Workers21611.0%
Community and Personal Service Workers19910.1%
Sales Workers1588.1%

Education

Of residents attending an education institution in Barwon Heads, 12.5% are at university or higher education, 6.1% are at TAFE or vocational education, and 80.4% are at school.

75.1% of residents aged 15 and over have completed Year 12 or equivalent.

The most common fields of study among Barwon Heads residents with qualifications are listed below.

Field of studyPeopleShare
Management and Commerce41518.6%
Health38017.1%
Education32914.8%
Society and Culture32114.4%
Engineering and Related Technologies2219.9%
Architecture and Building1727.7%

Long-term health conditions

58.6% of residents report no long-term health condition. The most commonly reported conditions in Barwon Heads are listed below.

Health conditionPeopleShare of residents
Arthritis4339.5%
Asthma3307.2%
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety)3046.6%
Cancer (including remission)1553.4%
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina)1543.4%
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes)1062.3%
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema)541.2%
Kidney disease370.8%
Stroke300.7%
Dementia (including Alzheimer's)80.2%

20.0% of residents report one condition, 6.2% report two, and 2.3% report three or more.

Community and care

How residents of Barwon Heads contribute to their community (share of residents aged 15 and over).

Community activityShare
Volunteers for an organisation or group24.2%
Provides unpaid assistance to a person with a disability or health condition13.9%
Provides unpaid child care63.7%
Does 15 or more hours of unpaid domestic work25.8%
Has served or is serving in the Australian Defence Force2.0%

Moving and stability

MobilityShare of residents
Same address 1 year ago86.7%
Moved within Victoria in the last year8.4%
Moved interstate in the last year0.7%
Moved from overseas in the last year0.6%
Same address 5 years ago60.3%
Moved within Victoria in the last 5 years25.9%
Moved interstate in the last 5 years2.2%
Moved from overseas in the last 5 years2.2%

Photo: Barwon Heads, Victoria. Credit: No machine-readable author provided. Stevage assumed (based on copyright claims) / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Crime and safety

Victoria Police recorded 158 offences in Barwon Heads in the 12 months to March 2026.

Offence divisionRecorded offences
A Crimes against the person20
B Property and deception offences106
C Drug offences4
D Public order and security offences16
E Justice procedures offences8
F Other offences4

That is a calculated rate of 36.3 recorded offences per 1,000 residents, based on the ABS Census 2021 population. This rate was calculated by My Victoria AU and is not a Crime Statistics Agency figure.

For context, the Greater Geelong local government area recorded 8,631 offences per 100,000 residents in the same period. That figure is the official Crime Statistics Agency rate for the LGA.

Five-year trend

2022
163
2023
178
2024
94
2025
208
2026
158

Recorded offences count crimes reported to Victoria Police in this locality, not crimes committed by or against its residents. Areas with shopping centres, transport hubs, hospitals or entertainment precincts record more offences regardless of how safe they are for people who live there. Counts are revised as investigations progress.

Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria, Data tables - Recorded offences, Year ending March 2026. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Rates per 1,000 residents are calculations by My Victoria AU using ABS Census 2021 population and are not CSA figures. View the source dataset.

Location

<iframe src="https://www.openstreetmap.org/export/embed.html?bbox=144.4766%2C-38.2826%2C144.5006%2C-38.2646&layer=mapnik&marker=-38.273630%2C144.488632" width="100%" height="320" style="border:0;border-radius:12px;max-width:100%;" loading="lazy" title="Map of Barwon Heads, Victoria"></iframe>

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby suburbs

Browse more suburbs in Greater Geelong, or explore the wider Geelong & Bellarine region of Victoria.

Data disclaimer: The statistics on this page are sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), Census of Population and Housing 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (ASGS Edition 3), and are used under the ABS CC BY 4.0 licence. This directory is an independent community resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the ABS.

Population 4353
Median Age 46
Average Household Size 2.5
Median Weekly Household Income $2226
Median Weekly Rent $450
Median Monthly Mortgage $2184
Unemployment Rate 2.7%
Participation Rate 62.8%
Born Overseas 9.4%
Separate House 67%
Worked at Home 30.6%
SEIFA IRSD Decile 10
SEIFA IRSD Percentile 96
SEIFA IRSAD Decile 10
Median Weekly Family Income $2773
Postcode 3227

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Barwon Heads, Victoria 3227, Australia
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