Cowes, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cowes is the main township on Phillip Island, set on the island's northern shore facing Western Port about 140 kilometres south of Melbourne. The Bunurong (Boonwurrung) people of the Kulin Nation have lived on and around the island, known to them as Millowl, for thousands of years. A government surveyor named the town in 1865 after Cowes on the Isle of Wight, replacing the earlier name Mussel Rocks; a jetty and ferry service followed around 1870. Today Cowes is the holiday heart of Phillip Island, lined with beaches, cafes and shops, and serves as the gateway to the Phillip Island Nature Park and its celebrated nightly penguin parade. Tourism anchors the local economy.
Less advantaged than the national average
Cowes is more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 943, 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 Cowes 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.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Cowes 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
26/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (26/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
34/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $331 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 34% 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.
Cowes at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,593
- Median age
- 55
- Median weekly household income
- $1,026
- SEIFA score
- 943
- Local government area
- Bass Coast
- Coordinates
- -38.4714, 145.2389
Map of Cowes
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Cowes
What it costs to live in Cowes and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $331
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,550
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 68%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 27%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Cowes demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Cowes demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cowes 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 seniors (65+) at 35% and 21% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 934 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 419 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,159 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,768 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,299 | 35% |
Share of the 6,579 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,272 | 46% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 606 | 22% |
| Rented | 727 | 27% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,290 | 83% |
| Townhouses & semis | 324 | 12% |
| Flats & apartments | 111 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,747 occupied private dwellings in Cowes.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,339
- Median weekly personal income
- $586
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,312 (21%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 527 (9%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 69 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,432 (44%)
- Labour-force participation
- 43.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.4%
- Employed full-time
- 1,089
- Employed part-time
- 1,006
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 Cowes
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Cowes is January (average daytime high around 22.8°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.8°C). The area receives roughly 808 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22.8°C | 16.3°C | 55 mm |
| Feb | 22.3°C | 16.1°C | 37 mm |
| Mar | 21.2°C | 15.5°C | 50 mm |
| Apr | 18.6°C | 13.4°C | 62 mm |
| May | 15.7°C | 11.5°C | 82 mm |
| Jun | 13.5°C | 9.7°C | 79 mm |
| Jul | 12.8°C | 9°C | 73 mm |
| Aug | 13.3°C | 9°C | 80 mm |
| Sep | 15.3°C | 9.9°C | 76 mm |
| Oct | 17.4°C | 11.1°C | 87 mm |
| Nov | 18.8°C | 12.6°C | 70 mm |
| Dec | 21°C | 14.4°C | 57 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Cowes
Is Cowes 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, Cowes rates 29/100 overall (Lower on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Cowes?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Cowes was $331, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,550. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Cowes?
Cowes is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Bass Coast local government area.
What is the population of Cowes?
At the 2021 Census, Cowes had a population of about 6,593.
Is Cowes an advantaged area?
Cowes has an ABS SEIFA score of 943, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 26 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Cowes?
Cowes has average daytime highs of about 17.7°C and overnight lows of about 12.4°C, with roughly 808 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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