Warrnambool, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Warrnambool is a regional city on Victoria's south-west coast, about 265 kilometres from Melbourne, where the Great Ocean Road meets the wide sweep of Lady Bay. It lies on the country of the Dhauwurd Wurrung, or Gunditjmara, people, and takes its name from nearby Mount Warrnambool, a scoria-cone volcano to the north-east. British settlers arrived from the late 1830s and the township was surveyed in 1845. Each winter, southern right whales come close inshore to calve off Logans Beach, watched from a purpose-built viewing platform — the town's signature wildlife event. Its maritime past is told at Flagstaff Hill, a re-created nineteenth-century port village above the harbour.
Less advantaged than the national average
Warrnambool is more socio-economically advantaged than about 33% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 958, 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 Warrnambool 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 5 components we can score for Warrnambool 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
33/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (33/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
49/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $290 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 49% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Amenities & access
68/100A good amount mapped nearby
About 48 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap
Green space
78/100A good amount of green space nearby
About 13.4% of the area within ~1.2 km of the centre is mapped as green space — parks, reserves, sportsgrounds and the like. An area estimate from a radius around the centre, not the suburb boundary. · OpenStreetMap
Transport
78/100A good number of stops nearby
About 25 public-transport stops (bus, train, tram or ferry) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. Stop coverage, not timetable frequency. · OpenStreetMap
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- 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.
Warrnambool at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 31,308
- Median age
- 42
- Median weekly household income
- $1,385
- SEIFA score
- 958
- Local government area
- Warrnambool
- Coordinates
- -38.3698, 142.4967
Map of Warrnambool
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Warrnambool
What it costs to live in Warrnambool and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $290
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,408
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 67%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 30%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Warrnambool demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Warrnambool demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Warrnambool 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 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 5,318 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 3,436 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 7,713 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 7,958 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 6,881 | 22% |
Share of the 31,306 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 4,635 | 37% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 3,796 | 30% |
| Rented | 3,731 | 30% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 10,315 | 82% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,574 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 622 | 5% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 12,568 occupied private dwellings in Warrnambool.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,861
- Median weekly personal income
- $749
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 3,154 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,804 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 624 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 11,967 (48%)
- Labour-force participation
- 60.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.2%
- Employed full-time
- 8,310
- Employed part-time
- 5,764
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 Warrnambool
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Warrnambool is January (average daytime high around 24.8°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.7°C). The area receives roughly 785 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24.8°C | 13.5°C | 48 mm |
| Feb | 23.7°C | 13.4°C | 33 mm |
| Mar | 22.1°C | 12.6°C | 48 mm |
| Apr | 19°C | 10.6°C | 61 mm |
| May | 15.6°C | 8.9°C | 86 mm |
| Jun | 13.3°C | 7.3°C | 70 mm |
| Jul | 12.7°C | 6.6°C | 73 mm |
| Aug | 13.4°C | 6.7°C | 77 mm |
| Sep | 15.3°C | 7.5°C | 82 mm |
| Oct | 18.1°C | 8.7°C | 86 mm |
| Nov | 19.9°C | 10.1°C | 68 mm |
| Dec | 22.3°C | 11.5°C | 53 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Places in and around Warrnambool
Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.
Eat & drink
2 nearbyWarrnambool Football Club · Domino's
Parks & recreation
38 nearbySt James Park · Reid Oval · Mack Oval · Albert Park · Warrnambool Botanic Gardens · Warrnambool Hockey Fields
Shops & groceries
3 nearbyIGA Express · Gallo Bakery · Coles
Schools & education
3 nearbyWarrnambool College · St Joseph's Primary School · King's College
Things to do
2 nearbyWarrnambool Botanic Gardens Well
Eat & drink in and around Warrnambool
Cafés, restaurants, pubs and takeaway mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre. Listings are drawn from OpenStreetMap and shown as plain data — we don't rank or rate them.
Own a café, restaurant or pub around here?
Claim your listing to feature it at the top of this section. Placement is paid advertising, clearly labelled — never editorial opinion.
Claim this listing- Domino'sTakeaway72 Hopkins Highway, Warrnambooldominos.com.au
- Warrnambool Football ClubRestaurant
Listings © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Own a venue here? Suggest a correction.
Share your local knowledge of Warrnambool
Lived here or spent time in Warrnambool? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Warrnambool
Is Warrnambool a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage, housing affordability, amenities, green space and transport, Warrnambool rates 57/100 overall (Around the national middle). Schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Warrnambool?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Warrnambool was $290, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,408. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Warrnambool?
Warrnambool is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Warrnambool local government area.
What is the population of Warrnambool?
At the 2021 Census, Warrnambool had a population of about 31,308.
Is Warrnambool an advantaged area?
Warrnambool has an ABS SEIFA score of 958, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 33 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 33% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Warrnambool?
Warrnambool has average daytime highs of about 18.4°C and overnight lows of about 9.8°C, with roughly 785 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Warrnambool?
Warrnambool is one of the most populous suburbs in Victoria — the 23rd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 31,308 usual residents).
Where Warrnambool ranks
Warrnambool appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Victoria#23 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.