Rye is a suburb in Mornington Peninsula, Victoria (postcode 3941), located in the Mornington Peninsula region. At the ABS Census 2021 it had a population of 9,438 people.

At a glance

Population (2021)

9,438

Median age

Household income

$1,334/wk

Weekly rent

$372

Unemployment

3.6%

SEIFA IRSD decile

6 / 10

Age distribution

0-4

4.2%

5-14

10.3%

15-19

4.0%

20-24

3.7%

25-34

9.1%

35-44

10.2%

45-54

13.7%

55-64

15.7%

65-74

16.6%

75-84

9.3%

85+

3.3%

Housing tenure

Owned

45.6%

Mortgage

29.8%

Rented

21.1%

Other

1.9%

Key statistics

Indicator	Value
Postcode	3941
Population (2021)	9,438
Males	4,724 (50.1%)
Females	4,716 (50.0%)
Median age	51 years
Average household size	2.2
Median weekly household income	$1,334
Median weekly family income	$1,712
Median weekly rent	$372
Median monthly mortgage	$1,800
Labour force	4,051
Unemployment rate	3.6%
Participation rate	55.2%
Born overseas	15.2%
Separate houses	43.2%
Worked at home	21.8%
SEIFA IRSD decile	6 of 10
Bachelor degree or higher	37.4%
Completed Year 12 or equivalent	55.3%
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander residents	1.0%
Residents needing assistance with core activities	6.7%
Households with 2+ vehicles	61.4%
Distance from Melbourne CBD	65.1 km (straight line)

Age profile

Median age: 51 years. Residents under 15: 14.5%. Residents aged 65 and over: 29.2%.

Age group	People	Share of population
0-4	398	4.2%
5-14	971	10.3%
15-19	376	4.0%
20-24	347	3.7%
25-34	857	9.1%
35-44	967	10.2%
45-54	1,290	13.7%
55-64	1,480	15.7%
65-74	1,564	16.6%
75-84	876	9.3%
85 and over	314	3.3%

Households and families

Household type	Count	Share of households
Total households	3,724
Average household size	2.2
One person	1,127	30.3%
Two persons	1,494	40.1%
Three persons	475	12.8%
Four persons	416	11.2%
Five persons	162	4.4%
Six or more persons	53	1.4%

Family type	Count	Share of families
Total families	2,532
Couples with children	75	3.0%
Couples without children	1,274	50.3%
One-parent families	381	15.0%
Other families	30	1.2%

Children ever born

Measure	Value
Average children per woman aged 15+	1.74
Women with no children	27.0%
Women with three or more children	28.3%

Of the 843 couple families with children in Rye, 11.3% are step or blended families.

Marital status

Marital status of residents aged 15 and over in Rye.

Status	Share of adults
Married (registered marriage)	46.2%
Married (de facto)	14.4%
Not married	39.4%

Housing

Dwellings	Count	Share of dwellings
Total dwellings	8,176
Occupied	3,724	45.5%
Unoccupied	4,452	54.5%

Dwelling structure	Count	Share of dwellings
Separate house	3,529	43.2%
Semi-detached or townhouse	141	1.7%
Flat or apartment	7	0.1%
Other dwelling	47	0.6%

Tenure	Count	Share of households
Owned outright	1,697	45.6%
Owned with a mortgage	1,110	29.8%
Rented	786	21.1%
Other tenure	69	1.9%

Weekly rent

Rent band	Share of renting households
Under $350 per week	36.3%
$350 to $549 per week	54.7%
$550 or more per week	9.0%

0.5% of renting households rent through a state or community housing provider.

Monthly mortgage repayments

Repayment band	Share of mortgaged households
Under $1,000	20.1%
$1,000 to $1,799	28.7%
$1,800 to $2,999	36.3%
$3,000 or more	15.0%

Bedrooms per dwelling

Bedrooms	Share of dwellings
None or one bedroom	1.7%
Two bedrooms	13.9%
Three bedrooms	53.0%
Four or more bedrooms	31.4%

Employment

Labour force status	Count	Share
Labour force	4,051
Employed	3,906	96.4%
Unemployed	146	3.6%
Not in the labour force	3,283
Unemployment rate	3.6%
Participation rate	55.2%

45.4% of employed residents work part time, fewer than 35 hours per week.

Household income

Household incomes in Rye are distributed across the following weekly bands.

Weekly household income	Share of households
Under $650	22.1%
$650 to $1,499	34.1%
$1,500 to $2,999	27.3%
$3,000 or more	16.5%

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

Weekly personal income	Share of residents 15+
Under $500	36.7%
$500 to $999	28.8%
$1,000 to $1,999	24.2%
$2,000 or more	10.3%

Travel to work

Method	Count	Share of workers
Car driver	2,084	53.4%
Car passenger	138	3.5%
Train	0	0.0%
Bus	16	0.4%
Tram	0	0.0%
Bicycle	15	0.4%
Walked only	49	1.3%
Worked at home	852	21.8%

Religious affiliation

Religion	Count	Share of residents
Christianity	3,869	41.0%
No religion	4,397	46.6%
Islam	19	0.2%
Hinduism	20	0.2%
Buddhism	53	0.6%
Judaism	14	0.1%
Other or not stated	1,066	11.3%

Socio-economic profile (SEIFA 2021)

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

Index	Score	Decile	Percentile
IRSD (disadvantage)	1024	6	56
IRSAD (advantage and disadvantage)	994	6
IER (economic resources)	1011	5
IEO (education and occupation)	1002	7

Where residents were born

83.4% of residents were born in Australia and 16.6% were born overseas. The most common overseas birthplaces in Rye are listed below.

Country of birth	People	Share of residents
England	369	4.3%
Italy	169	2.0%
New Zealand	125	1.5%
Greece	121	1.4%
Germany	52	0.6%
Scotland	49	0.6%

When overseas-born residents arrived

Year of arrival	Share of overseas-born residents
2016 to 2021	5.9%
2011 to 2015	5.5%
2001 to 2010	8.2%
Before 2001	80.4%

Languages spoken at home

91.8% of residents speak only English at home. The most common other languages in Rye are listed below. Across all households, 1.0% of residents speak English not well or not at all.

Language	People	Share of residents
Greek	185	2.1%
Italian	178	2.1%
Croatian	37	0.4%
German	36	0.4%
French	30	0.3%
Spanish	23	0.3%

Ancestry

Residents of Rye most commonly report the following ancestries.

Ancestry	Responses	Share of responses
English	3,895	31.8%
Australian	3,283	26.8%
Irish	1,259	10.3%
Scottish	1,057	8.6%
Italian	592	4.8%
German	324	2.6%

Work and industry

The largest employment sectors for Rye residents are listed below.

Industry of employment	Workers	Share of workers
Construction	677	18.4%
Health Care and Social Assistance	449	12.2%
Accommodation and Food Services	371	10.1%
Retail Trade	370	10.1%
Education and Training	329	8.9%
Professional, Scientific and Technical Services	287	7.8%

The most common occupations among Rye residents are listed below.

Occupation	Workers	Share of workers
Technicians and Trades Workers	769	20.3%
Professionals	752	19.8%
Managers	583	15.4%
Community and Personal Service Workers	448	11.8%
Clerical and Administrative Workers	414	10.9%
Sales Workers	364	9.6%

Education

Of residents attending an education institution in Rye, 12.6% are at university or higher education, 10.8% are at TAFE or vocational education, and 74.0% are at school.

55.3% of residents aged 15 and over have completed Year 12 or equivalent.

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

Field of study	People	Share
Management and Commerce	787	18.8%
Engineering and Related Technologies	534	12.8%
Education	531	12.7%
Society and Culture	520	12.4%
Architecture and Building	499	11.9%
Health	471	11.3%

Long-term health conditions

46.8% of residents report no long-term health condition. The most commonly reported conditions in Rye are listed below.

Health condition	People	Share of residents
Arthritis	1,148	10.9%
Mental health condition (including depression or anxiety)	924	8.8%
Asthma	775	7.4%
Heart disease (including heart attack or angina)	515	4.9%
Cancer (including remission)	448	4.3%
Diabetes (excluding gestational diabetes)	446	4.2%
Lung condition (including COPD or emphysema)	213	2.0%
Dementia (including Alzheimer's)	129	1.2%
Stroke	123	1.2%
Kidney disease	122	1.2%

24.0% of residents report one condition, 8.3% report two, and 4.9% report three or more.

Community and care

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

Community activity	Share
Volunteers for an organisation or group	13.9%
Provides unpaid assistance to a person with a disability or health condition	13.8%
Provides unpaid child care	46.4%
Does 15 or more hours of unpaid domestic work	24.4%
Has served or is serving in the Australian Defence Force	3.2%

Moving and stability

Mobility	Share of residents
Same address 1 year ago	86.3%
Moved within Victoria in the last year	8.3%
Moved interstate in the last year	0.5%
Moved from overseas in the last year	0.4%
Same address 5 years ago	59.0%
Moved within Victoria in the last 5 years	25.3%
Moved interstate in the last 5 years	2.0%
Moved from overseas in the last 5 years	2.0%

Photo: Rye, Victoria. Credit: Peter Campbell / CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Crime and safety

Victoria Police recorded 622 offences in Rye in the 12 months to March 2026.

Offence division	Recorded offences
A Crimes against the person	129
B Property and deception offences	279
C Drug offences	45
D Public order and security offences	43
E Justice procedures offences	126
F Other offences	0

That is a calculated rate of 65.9 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 Mornington Peninsula local government area recorded 6,718 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
623

2023
583

2024
803

2025
731

2026
622

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

Nearby suburbs

Tootgarook (3.6 km)
St Andrews Beach (4.0 km)
Blairgowrie (4.1 km)
Fingal (5.3 km)
Capel Sound (5.6 km)

Browse more suburbs in Mornington Peninsula, or explore the wider Mornington Peninsula 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.

Rye

About

At a glance

Age distribution

Housing tenure

Key statistics

Age profile

Households and families

Children ever born

Marital status

Housing

Weekly rent

Monthly mortgage repayments

Bedrooms per dwelling

Employment

Household income

Travel to work

Religious affiliation

Socio-economic profile (SEIFA 2021)

Where residents were born

When overseas-born residents arrived

Languages spoken at home

Ancestry

Work and industry

Education

Long-term health conditions

Community and care

Moving and stability

Crime and safety

Five-year trend

Location

Nearby suburbs

Reviews

Location & Contact

Location

Contact

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