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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Barwon Heads is a coastal suburb in Victoria, Australia, with a population of approximately 4,353, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 66 km from the Melbourne CBD, Barwon Heads is a coastal area in Victoria. The median household income is $115,752 per year.
Above-average earnings in Barwon Heads support sustained property values. Coastal lifestyle appeal adds a premium that supports long-term demand.
Official Australia Post postcode for Barwon Heads. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Barwon Heads on My School →Estimated 2 parks and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Barwon Heads is a smaller community of 4,353 — about 59% of the Victoria suburb median (7,416) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Median household income of $115,752/year runs 22% above the Victoria suburb median of $95,160, indicating strong purchasing power and the type of demographic profile that tends to sustain premium property prices through market cycles. Rent of $450/week (89% coverage of the $2,184/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $234/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Barwon Heads is 66 km from Melbourne, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Coastal markets benefit from lifestyle appeal but require a buffer for higher insurance and occasional weather-driven vacancies. Local rents consume roughly 20% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Barwon Heads stacks up against the median of all Victoria suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Barwon Heads sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Barwon Heads | VIC median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,353 | 7,416 | -41% |
| Median household income | $115,752/yr | $95,160/yr | +22% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $450 | $380 | +18% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $2,184 | $1,950 | +12% |
| Distance to CBD | 66 km | 32 km | +106% |
| Separate houses | 67% | 78% | -11pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Barwon Heads — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Barwon Heads's 4,353-person market and $115,752 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage: $450/week (~$1,950/month) covers 89% of the $2,184/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $234/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 67% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 78% VIC median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Barwon Heads property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Barwon Heads are modest for 2026 — incomes 22% above the VIC median of $95,160 and a population of 4,353 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~89% of the typical mortgage ($1,950/month rent vs $2,184/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 70/100 places Barwon Heads in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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Barwon Heads scores 70/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 4,353, median household income of $115,752/year and median weekly rent of $450. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Barwon Heads are an above-state-median household income of $115,752/year, a dwelling mix that is 67% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 2 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Barwon Heads has a usual resident population of approximately 4,353, compared with a Victoria suburb median of 7,416 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Barwon Heads sits 66 km straight-line from the Melbourne CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $450 in Barwon Heads, equating to approximately $23,400/year in gross rental income (state median $380/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Barwon Heads is $2,184, or approximately $26,208/year (vs $1,950/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $450 works out to $1,950/month, covering 89% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,184/month. That leaves a $234/month shortfall (around $2,808/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (4,353 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,184 median mortgage, the broader Victoria market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.