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.
Warrnambool at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 31,308
- Median age
- 42
- Median weekly household income
- $1,385
- SEIFA score
- 958
- Coordinates
- -38.3698, 142.4967
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%, 30% of homes are rented, 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.
- Median weekly rent
- $290
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,408
- 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).
Common questions about Warrnambool
Where is Warrnambool?
Warrnambool is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
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.