Leongatha, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Leongatha is a town in the rolling dairy country of South Gippsland, Victoria, set in the foothills of the Strzelecki Ranges about 135 kilometres south-east of Melbourne, in the South Gippsland Shire. Europeans settled the district from the 1840s, and the post office — which first opened in 1887 under the name Koorooman — was renamed Leongatha in 1891, the year the railway arrived and spurred the town's growth. Dairying has long been the mainstay, and a large milk-processing factory still anchors the local economy. Leongatha is also known for its spring Daffodil Festival and as a hub on the Great Southern Rail Trail, a walking and cycling path built along the former railway line.
Less advantaged than the national average
Leongatha is more socio-economically advantaged than about 23% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 936, 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 Leongatha 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 Leongatha 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
23/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (23/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
55/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $270 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 55% 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.
Leongatha at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 5,869
- Median age
- 45
- Median weekly household income
- $1,183
- SEIFA score
- 936
- Local government area
- South Gippsland
- Coordinates
- -38.4720, 145.9374
Map of Leongatha
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Leongatha
What it costs to live in Leongatha and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $270
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,430
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 74%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 23%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Leongatha demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Leongatha demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Leongatha 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 28% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,075 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 583 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,236 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,352 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,618 | 28% |
Share of the 5,864 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,065 | 44% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 721 | 30% |
| Rented | 547 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,296 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 71 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 32 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,421 occupied private dwellings in Leongatha.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,639
- Median weekly personal income
- $641
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 642 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 306 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 44 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,862 (41%)
- Labour-force participation
- 53.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.9%
- Employed full-time
- 1,334
- Employed part-time
- 973
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.
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Common questions about Leongatha
Is Leongatha 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, Leongatha rates 34/100 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 Leongatha?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Leongatha was $270, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,430. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Leongatha?
Leongatha is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the South Gippsland local government area.
What is the population of Leongatha?
At the 2021 Census, Leongatha had a population of about 5,869.
Is Leongatha an advantaged area?
Leongatha has an ABS SEIFA score of 936, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 23 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 23% of Australian suburbs.
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