Ocean Grove, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Ocean Grove is the largest town on Victoria's Bellarine Peninsula, set where the Barwon River meets Bass Strait about 98 kilometres south-west of Melbourne and 23 kilometres from Geelong, with Barwon Heads just across the river. It takes its name from the Methodist community of Ocean Grove in New Jersey: in 1887 developers subdivided the land into some 2,500 blocks under a covenant banning the sale of alcohol, and the first church service was held on New Year's Day 1888. Today the town is best known for its long surf beach, and its population swells several times over during the summer holidays. Tourism drives the local economy, alongside orchards, market gardens and wineries.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Ocean Grove is more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1054, 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 Ocean Grove 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 Ocean Grove 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
85/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (85/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
15/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $420 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 15% 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.
Ocean Grove at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 17,714
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,837
- SEIFA score
- 1054
- Local government area
- Greater Geelong
- Coordinates
- -38.2583, 144.5305
Map of Ocean Grove
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Ocean Grove
What it costs to live in Ocean Grove and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $420
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,000
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 78%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 19%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Ocean Grove demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Ocean Grove demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Ocean Grove 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 mid-life (45–64) at 26% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 3,548 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,602 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 4,000 | 23% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 4,625 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 3,941 | 22% |
Share of the 17,716 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,696 | 41% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 2,454 | 37% |
| Rented | 1,214 | 19% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 6,136 | 93% |
| Townhouses & semis | 393 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 20 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 6,567 occupied private dwellings in Ocean Grove.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,299
- Median weekly personal income
- $856
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,007 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 604 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 112 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 8,266 (61%)
- Labour-force participation
- 61.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.6%
- Employed full-time
- 4,381
- Employed part-time
- 3,389
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 Ocean Grove
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Ocean Grove is January (average daytime high around 22.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 13.1°C). The area receives roughly 590 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 22.7°C | 16.1°C | 50 mm |
| Feb | 22.3°C | 15.9°C | 28 mm |
| Mar | 21.4°C | 15.3°C | 36 mm |
| Apr | 18.9°C | 13°C | 49 mm |
| May | 16°C | 10.7°C | 50 mm |
| Jun | 13.6°C | 8.9°C | 46 mm |
| Jul | 13.1°C | 8.2°C | 42 mm |
| Aug | 13.6°C | 8.3°C | 49 mm |
| Sep | 15.6°C | 9.4°C | 59 mm |
| Oct | 17.7°C | 10.8°C | 68 mm |
| Nov | 19.1°C | 12.3°C | 60 mm |
| Dec | 21°C | 14.1°C | 53 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Ocean Grove
Is Ocean Grove 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, Ocean Grove 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 Ocean Grove?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Ocean Grove was $420, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,000. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Ocean Grove?
Ocean Grove is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Greater Geelong local government area.
What is the population of Ocean Grove?
At the 2021 Census, Ocean Grove had a population of about 17,714.
Is Ocean Grove an advantaged area?
Ocean Grove has an ABS SEIFA score of 1054, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 85 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Ocean Grove?
Ocean Grove has average daytime highs of about 17.9°C and overnight lows of about 11.9°C, with roughly 590 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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