Drouin, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Drouin is a town in West Gippsland, Victoria, about 90 kilometres east of Melbourne and a short distance west of Warragul. The traditional owners of the area are the Kulin and Gunaikurnai peoples. The town's name is usually traced to a French engineer named Derouin, who oversaw a railway construction camp here in the 1870s. Once dense forest, the district was cleared for farming and became known for dairying, with a large cooperative butter factory operating for much of the twentieth century, as well as timber milling and, during the world wars, flax growing. Drouin is known for its flowering gum trees and the annual Ficifolia Festival that celebrates them, and has grown quickly as a commuter town.
Less advantaged than the national average
Drouin is more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 951, 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 Drouin 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 Drouin 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
30/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (30/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
36/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $330 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 36% 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.
Drouin at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 15,287
- Median age
- 39
- Median weekly household income
- $1,432
- SEIFA score
- 951
- Local government area
- Baw Baw
- Coordinates
- -38.1429, 145.8410
Map of Drouin
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Drouin
What it costs to live in Drouin and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $330
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,647
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 75%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 21%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Drouin demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Drouin demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Drouin 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 25% and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 3,122 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,583 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 3,837 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,460 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 3,283 | 21% |
Share of the 15,285 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,035 | 35% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 2,312 | 40% |
| Rented | 1,225 | 21% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 5,146 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 291 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 220 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 5,732 occupied private dwellings in Drouin.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,776
- Median weekly personal income
- $694
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,008 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 754 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 279 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 5,101 (44%)
- Labour-force participation
- 57.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.1%
- Employed full-time
- 3,775
- Employed part-time
- 2,452
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 Drouin
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Drouin is January (average daytime high around 26.3°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.6°C). The area receives roughly 949 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26.3°C | 14.3°C | 65 mm |
| Feb | 25.1°C | 13.8°C | 40 mm |
| Mar | 23.3°C | 13.2°C | 55 mm |
| Apr | 19.4°C | 10.3°C | 72 mm |
| May | 15.6°C | 8.3°C | 86 mm |
| Jun | 13.1°C | 6.2°C | 89 mm |
| Jul | 12.6°C | 5.9°C | 76 mm |
| Aug | 13.4°C | 5.9°C | 99 mm |
| Sep | 16°C | 7°C | 98 mm |
| Oct | 18.9°C | 8.6°C | 103 mm |
| Nov | 20.9°C | 10.4°C | 98 mm |
| Dec | 24°C | 12.2°C | 68 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Drouin
Is Drouin 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, Drouin rates 32/100 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 Drouin?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Drouin was $330, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,647. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Drouin?
Drouin is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Baw Baw local government area.
What is the population of Drouin?
At the 2021 Census, Drouin had a population of about 15,287.
Is Drouin an advantaged area?
Drouin has an ABS SEIFA score of 951, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 30 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Drouin?
Drouin has average daytime highs of about 19.1°C and overnight lows of about 9.7°C, with roughly 949 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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