Ballarat Central, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Ballarat lies in Victoria's central highlands, about 110 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, and is one of the great cities of the 1850s gold rush. Fortunes pulled from its diggings paid for the grand Victorian streetscapes, gardens and galleries that still define it, while the miners' 1854 uprising at the Eureka Stockade became a defining moment in Australian democratic history. Visitors come for the re-created goldfields township of Sovereign Hill, the Art Gallery of Ballarat and the willow-lined Lake Wendouree. The city stands on Wadawurrung Country; its name is said to come from the Wadawurrung words balla and arat, often translated as 'resting place' or camping ground.
More advantaged than the national average
Ballarat Central is more socio-economically advantaged than about 69% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1020, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Ballarat Central a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Ballarat Central from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
69/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (69/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
47/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $300 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 47% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Ballarat Central at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 5,378
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,454
- SEIFA score
- 1020
- Local government area
- Ballarat
- Coordinates
- -37.5605, 143.8507
Map of Ballarat Central
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Ballarat Central
What it costs to live in Ballarat Central and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $300
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,600
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 57%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 40%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Ballarat Central demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Ballarat Central demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Ballarat Central using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is young adults (25–44) at 28% and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 769 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 659 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,509 | 28% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,434 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,006 | 19% |
Share of the 5,377 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 758 | 32% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 594 | 25% |
| Rented | 940 | 40% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,736 | 74% |
| Townhouses & semis | 302 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 273 | 12% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,344 occupied private dwellings in Ballarat Central.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,120
- Median weekly personal income
- $821
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 701 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 426 (8%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 61 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,819 (63%)
- Labour-force participation
- 61.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.9%
- Employed full-time
- 1,529
- Employed part-time
- 1,025
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Ballarat Central
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Ballarat Central is January (average daytime high around 25.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 9.8°C). The area receives roughly 691 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25.7°C | 13°C | 49 mm |
| Feb | 24.3°C | 12.3°C | 27 mm |
| Mar | 22°C | 11.4°C | 40 mm |
| Apr | 17.5°C | 9°C | 53 mm |
| May | 13.2°C | 6.7°C | 66 mm |
| Jun | 10.6°C | 4.9°C | 63 mm |
| Jul | 9.8°C | 4.2°C | 59 mm |
| Aug | 10.8°C | 4.2°C | 69 mm |
| Sep | 13.4°C | 5.5°C | 75 mm |
| Oct | 17.1°C | 7.1°C | 75 mm |
| Nov | 19.6°C | 8.8°C | 65 mm |
| Dec | 22.9°C | 10.8°C | 50 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Ballarat Central
Is Ballarat Central a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Ballarat Central rates 62/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Ballarat Central?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Ballarat Central was $300, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,600. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Ballarat Central?
Ballarat Central is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Ballarat local government area.
What is the population of Ballarat Central?
At the 2021 Census, Ballarat Central had a population of about 5,378.
Is Ballarat Central an advantaged area?
Ballarat Central has an ABS SEIFA score of 1020, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 69 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 69% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Ballarat Central?
Ballarat Central has average daytime highs of about 17.2°C and overnight lows of about 8.2°C, with roughly 691 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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