Werribee, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Werribee is a fast-growing suburb on Melbourne's south-western edge, about thirty-two kilometres from the city and the administrative centre of the City of Wyndham. It sits on the Werribee River roughly midway between Melbourne and Geelong, and takes its name from an Aboriginal word of the Wadawurrung and Boonwurrung languages said to mean 'backbone' or 'spine'. Laid out as a farming township in the 1850s, it was first called Wyndham and was renamed Werribee in 1904, by which time the Melbourne-to-Geelong railway had given it a station. The grand pastoral estate of Thomas Chirnside survives as Werribee Park, and the suburb is best known today for that mansion and its gardens, the Victoria State Rose Garden, and the Werribee Open Range Zoo.
Less advantaged than the national average
Werribee 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 Werribee 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 Werribee 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
Amenities & access
80/100Plenty mapped nearby
About 80 everyday places (cafés, shops, services and more) mapped within ~1.2 km of the centre. · OpenStreetMap
Green space
66/100A good amount of green space nearby
About 9.8% 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 38 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.
Werribee at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 50,027
- Median age
- 35
- Median weekly household income
- $1,645
- SEIFA score
- 951
- Local government area
- Wyndham
- Coordinates
- -37.9079, 144.6420
Map of Werribee
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Werribee
What it costs to live in Werribee and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $330
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,733
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 64%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 33%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Werribee demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Werribee demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Werribee 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 32% and 37% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 10,247 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 5,946 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 16,187 | 32% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 11,101 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 6,539 | 13% |
Share of the 50,020 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 4,443 | 25% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 6,802 | 39% |
| Rented | 5,860 | 33% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 14,970 | 85% |
| Townhouses & semis | 2,436 | 14% |
| Flats & apartments | 192 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 17,609 occupied private dwellings in Werribee.
- Average household size
- 2.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,944
- Median weekly personal income
- $760
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 17,315 (37%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 15,995 (34%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 798 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 20,856 (55%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.9%
- Employed full-time
- 14,055
- Employed part-time
- 7,379
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 Werribee
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Werribee is January (average daytime high around 24.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 13.3°C). The area receives roughly 629 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 24.9°C | 16°C | 57 mm |
| Feb | 24.2°C | 15.6°C | 29 mm |
| Mar | 22.8°C | 14.8°C | 39 mm |
| Apr | 19.6°C | 12.1°C | 58 mm |
| May | 16.3°C | 9.9°C | 52 mm |
| Jun | 13.7°C | 7.9°C | 55 mm |
| Jul | 13.3°C | 7.4°C | 43 mm |
| Aug | 13.9°C | 7.4°C | 48 mm |
| Sep | 16.2°C | 8.6°C | 55 mm |
| Oct | 18.9°C | 10.1°C | 70 mm |
| Nov | 20.7°C | 12°C | 65 mm |
| Dec | 22.9°C | 13.9°C | 58 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Places in and around Werribee
Amenities mapped within about 1.2km of the suburb centre, from OpenStreetMap. A guide to what's nearby — not a complete directory.
Eat & drink
1 nearbyWestside Pizza Boys
Parks & recreation
73 nearbyWerribee Sports & Fitness Centre · Werribee Tennis Club · Gordon O'Keeffe Reserve · Werribee Racecourse · Chirnside Park · Werribee Outdoor Pool
Shops & groceries
1 nearbyIGA
Schools & education
3 nearbySt Andrew's Primary School · Thomas Chirnside Primary School
Things to do
2 nearbyBungies Hole Landing · B-24 Liberator Museum
Eat & drink in and around Werribee
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- Westside Pizza BoysTakeaway
Listings © OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL. Own a venue here? Suggest a correction.
Share your local knowledge of Werribee
Lived here or spent time in Werribee? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Werribee
Is Werribee 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, Werribee rates 53/100 overall (Around the national middle). Schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Werribee?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Werribee was $330, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Werribee?
Werribee is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Wyndham local government area.
What is the population of Werribee?
At the 2021 Census, Werribee had a population of about 50,027.
Is Werribee an advantaged area?
Werribee 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 Werribee?
Werribee has average daytime highs of about 19°C and overnight lows of about 11.3°C, with roughly 629 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Werribee?
Werribee is one of the most populous suburbs in Victoria — the 8th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 50,027 usual residents).
Where Werribee ranks
Werribee appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Victoria#8 of 25
- Largest suburbs in Australia#9 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.