Wonthaggi, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Wonthaggi is a town on the Bass Coast of Gippsland in Victoria, about 132 kilometres south-east of Melbourne via the South Gippsland and Bass highways and some 39 kilometres south of Leongatha, close to Cape Paterson and Phillip Island. The Boonwurrung people are recorded as custodians of this stretch of coast, and the name Wonthaggi is said to come from a Boonwurrung word meaning home. The town was proclaimed in 1910 to give the Victorian Railways a state-owned coal supply after a strike cut off New South Wales coal, and its State Coal Mine worked until 1968. That mine is now a heritage museum, while the desalination plant, a wind farm and surf beaches mark the modern town. Tourism, beef and dairy sustain it today.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Wonthaggi is more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 881, 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 Wonthaggi 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 Wonthaggi 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
8/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (8/100) 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.
Wonthaggi at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 5,215
- Median age
- 55
- Median weekly household income
- $852
- SEIFA score
- 881
- Local government area
- Bass Coast
- Coordinates
- -38.6215, 145.5887
Map of Wonthaggi
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Wonthaggi
What it costs to live in Wonthaggi and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $270
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,198
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 67%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 29%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Wonthaggi demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Wonthaggi demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Wonthaggi 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 35% and 16% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 668 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 425 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 950 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,342 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,834 | 35% |
Share of the 5,219 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,077 | 46% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 499 | 21% |
| Rented | 682 | 29% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,025 | 86% |
| Townhouses & semis | 208 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 17 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,366 occupied private dwellings in Wonthaggi.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,240
- Median weekly personal income
- $515
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 757 (16%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 257 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 110 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,529 (35%)
- Labour-force participation
- 41.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.1%
- Employed full-time
- 798
- Employed part-time
- 829
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 Wonthaggi
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Wonthaggi is January (average daytime high around 23°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.6°C). The area receives roughly 988 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23°C | 15.7°C | 60 mm |
| Feb | 22.3°C | 15.5°C | 48 mm |
| Mar | 21.2°C | 14.8°C | 58 mm |
| Apr | 18.4°C | 12.6°C | 72 mm |
| May | 15.4°C | 10.7°C | 108 mm |
| Jun | 13.2°C | 8.9°C | 93 mm |
| Jul | 12.6°C | 8.2°C | 90 mm |
| Aug | 13.1°C | 8.3°C | 107 mm |
| Sep | 15.2°C | 9.3°C | 102 mm |
| Oct | 17.5°C | 10.5°C | 97 mm |
| Nov | 18.9°C | 12.1°C | 86 mm |
| Dec | 21.1°C | 13.8°C | 67 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Wonthaggi
Is Wonthaggi 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, Wonthaggi rates 24/100 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 Wonthaggi?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Wonthaggi was $270, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,198. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Wonthaggi?
Wonthaggi is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Bass Coast local government area.
What is the population of Wonthaggi?
At the 2021 Census, Wonthaggi had a population of about 5,215.
Is Wonthaggi an advantaged area?
Wonthaggi has an ABS SEIFA score of 881, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 8 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Wonthaggi?
Wonthaggi has average daytime highs of about 17.7°C and overnight lows of about 11.7°C, with roughly 988 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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