Barwon HeadsVIC · suburb profile
VIC 3227 · Greater Geelong
Daily life in Barwon Heads offers a blend of coastal living and community engagement. The suburb has a high rate of home ownership, with 47.6% of homes owned outright and 33.9% owned with a mortgage. Commuting is primarily done by car, with 47.5% of residents driving to work, while 30.6% work from home, reflecting a modern work-life balance. The community is well-educated, with 38.4% holding a bachelor's degree or higher, which is above the Victorian average.
Sales · 12 months to August 2026
What property sold for in Barwon Heads
Houses · The median house in Barwon Heads went for $1,260,000 over the 12 months to August 2026, dearer than 77% of the suburbs we cover. That is 12.8% down on the twelve months before, on 35 sales.
Half of all houses landed in the $1,095,000 to $1,585,000 range.
Houses
$1.26m
median of 35 sales
12.8% down on the previous twelve months.
Dearer than 77% of the 426 suburbs we cover in Victoria.
Half sold between $1.09m and $1.58m.
Last sold within the past two weeks
35 sales on record · data to 30 August 2026
Since 2022
How prices have moved
Houses · Since 2022, houses have eased from $1,800,000 to $1,260,000 — 30% lower.
- Houses
- Units
- Townhouses
Dashed lines and hollow points are part years — incomplete, so a dip may only mean fewer sales have happened yet. A break in a line is a year with no published figure, not a fall to zero.
| Year | Houses | Units | Townhouses |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 · part year | $1.19m | ||
| 2025 · part year | $1.43m | $930k | $1.30m |
| 2024 | $1.46m | $1.03m | |
| 2023 | $1.84m | $1.02m | |
| 2022 | $1.80m | $1.35m |
Quarter by quarter
| Quarter | Median | Sales | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 Q2 | $1.43m | 6 | +20.2%low confidence6 sales this quarter, 8 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2026 Q1 | $1.19m | 8 | -10.5%low confidence8 sales this quarter, 10 the quarter before. Under 30 either side, the movement is mostly which homes happened to sell rather than the market moving. |
| 2025 Q4 | $1.33m | 10 |
A change is marked low confidence where either quarter had fewer than 30 sales. The medians are real; with a handful of sales the movement between them is mostly which homes happened to change hands, not the market moving.
Last 12 months
What an extra bedroom costs in Barwon Heads
In Barwon Heads, over the last 12 months, a four-bedroom house has a median of $1.52 million from 20 sales, while a three-bedroom house has a median of $1.06 million from 11 sales.
| Bedrooms | Median | Sales |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | $1.06m | 11 · few |
| 4 | $1.52m | 20 · few |
Counts with fewer than five sales are left out rather than estimated, and bigger does not always mean dearer — a bedroom count with few sales can be pulled either way by the particular homes that happened to change hands.
1 school · 2025 figures
Who goes to school in Barwon Heads
All schools · Barwon Heads has a single school, with 416 students.
Schools here
1
1 primary
Students, all schools
416
2025 · −5.7% since 2015
At primary schoolsStudents at schools whose type is “Primary”. It excludes children in primary years at a Prep-to-12 college — they are counted in the tile beside this one. This number answers “are the primary schools here filling or emptying?”
−18.8%
416 students · five years
Children in primary yearsChildren in Years 1–6 at any school, including Prep-to-12 colleges. This answers “are there still young families here?” — a different question from the tile on the left, which is why the two can move in opposite directions.
Prep and ungraded students are counted separately again; see the chart below.
−17.7%
368 · Years 1–6, anywhere
11 years · two ways to read them
Enrolments, 2015–2025
The same students, counted two ways — by the kind of school they attend, and by the year they are in. They answer different questions and can point in different directions. Both views are in the page; the buttons only change which is visible.
Enrolments in Barwon Heads have fallen 5.7% over 10 years.
- Primary schools
Show data table
| Year | Primary schools |
|---|---|
| 2015 | 441 |
| 2016 | 474 |
| 2017 | 492 |
| 2018 | 489 |
| 2019 | 513 |
| 2020 | 512 |
| 2021 | 525 |
| 2022 | 506 |
| 2023 | 454 |
| 2024 | 426 |
| 2025 | 416 |
Which schools in Barwon Heads are filling and which are emptying. A school that covers Prep to Year 12 is counted once, in its own line — its primary-age students are not in the primary schools line.
- Years 1–6
- Prep & ungradedTwo groups that sit outside the numbered year levels: Prep — the first year of school, which the national data does not number — and ungraded students at specialist schools, who are not placed in a year level at all.
A suburb with a specialist school will have a large line here.
Show data table
| Year | Years 1–6 | Prep & ungraded | All students |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 376 | 65 | 441 |
| 2016 | 405 | 69 | 474 |
| 2017 | 424 | 68 | 492 |
| 2018 | 420 | 69 | 489 |
| 2019 | 435 | 78 | 513 |
| 2020 | 447 | 65 | 512 |
| 2021 | 466 | 59 | 525 |
| 2022 | 436 | 70 | 506 |
| 2023 | 413 | 41 | 454 |
| 2024 | 380 | 46 | 426 |
| 2025 | 368 | 48 | 416 |
This counts children by the year they are in, not by the kind of school they attend — so a Prep-to-12 college contributes to every line. The three add up to every student in the suburb.
2025 · ACARA
The school in Barwon Heads
Ordered by size, not by results — 1 government, 0 Catholic and 0 independent. Schools with more than one campus are counted once.
What these columns mean
- Type
- Prep-to-12 is one school a child can start and finish at without changing schools. Specialist schools also appear as Prep-to-12.
- 5 yr
- Change in enrolments against five years ago, not against last year. Enrolments move slowly, so a single year is mostly noise.
| School | Sector | Type | Students | 5 yr | 10 yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barwon Heads Primary School | Government | Primary | 416 | −18.8% | −5.7% |
Government zoning
Which catchments cover Barwon Heads
2 government catchments cover Barwon Heads — 1 secondary and 1 primary — so which one applies depends on the address, not the suburb. The secondary catchment is Bellarine Secondary College.
| CatchmentThe area around a government school where living there guarantees your child a place. Boundaries follow streets, not suburb lines, so an address near the edge of a suburb may be zoned elsewhere. They are redrawn each year. | Level |
|---|---|
| Bellarine Secondary College | Secondary |
| Barwon Heads Primary School | Primary |
The read
What living here is actually like
Barwon Heads is a coastal suburb with a population of 4,359 people, characterized by a slightly older median age of 46 compared to the Victorian average of 38. The suburb has a balanced gender distribution with 48.4% males and 51.6% females. Families are a significant part of the community, with 43.8% of households being couples with children and 43.6% being couples without children. The area is predominantly Australian-born, with 83.5% of residents born in Australia, and a strong English-speaking presence, as 91.7% speak only English at home.
Buyer fit
Who this suburb suits
One score per buyer type, out of 100, built from the demographic, housing and commute profile. Strongest first.
Buyer-fit score
Barwon Heads · 0–100
Show data table
| Buyer type | Score |
|---|---|
| Families | 85 |
| Professionals | 80 |
| Retirees | 75 |
| Investors | 65 |
| First home buyers | 60 |
Why families score highest
The signals doing the work
- High percentage of family households at 74.4%
- Good educational attainment with 38.4% holding bachelor's degrees
- Above average median household income of $2,226 weekly
- Predominantly separate houses at 91.2%
Against the state
How Barwon Heads differs from Victoria
Every bar is this suburb. The vertical tick is the Victorian figure — the gap between them is the story.
Housing & movement
What’s built here, and how people leave in the morning
Dwelling mix
Share of occupied private dwellings
Show data table
| Dwelling type | Share |
|---|---|
| Apartments | 2.8% |
| Separate houses | 91.2% |
| Townhouses | 6.1% |
How people get to work
Method of travel, 2021 Census
Show data table
| Method | Share |
|---|---|
| Worked from home | 30.6% |
| Drove a car | 47.5% |
| Public transport | 1.2% |
| Walked only | 2.1% |
| Car passenger | 2.2% |
Costs 2021 Census
Census figures, collected in 2021. Rents and repayments have moved since — for what property is selling for now, see .
Top occupations
Share of the employed workforce
Key highlights
- Highly educated population - 38.4% hold bachelor degrees (vs VIC 29.2%)
- Low unemployment rate at 2.7% (vs VIC 5.0%)
- High median household income of $2,226 weekly (vs VIC $1,759)
- Predominantly separate houses - 91.2% (vs VIC 73.4%)
- Significant work-from-home culture - 30.6% (vs VIC 25.7%)
Things to be aware of
- Higher median age of 46 may not appeal to younger demographics
- Limited public transport usage at 1.2%
- High median weekly rent of $450 could be a barrier for renters
- Low diversity with 83.5% born in Australia
- Limited apartment living options at 2.8%
Coming soon to this page
Where the richer profile lands
Schools & catchments
Zoned primary and secondary, NAPLAN bands, distances.
Transport & access
Stations, tram routes, drive time to the CBD, walkability.
Development activity
Permits approved, projects underway, zoning changes.
Want to dig into one address in Barwon Heads?
A suburb page gets you this far. For a specific block you get what homes of that size sell for here, the schools that address is zoned to, any subdivisions proposed within 500 m, plus lot dimensions, easements, planning overlays and true sun aspect — free, no account.
X-Ray an address →Data sources
Demographic figures from the Census of Population and Housing © Australian Bureau of Statistics, used under Creative Commons Attribution.
Cadastral and boundary data contains information © State of Victoria (Vicmap), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Narrative summaries are AI-generated from the underlying data and may contain errors.
School details, enrolments and senior secondary results from the National Schools Data Collection © Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
School catchment boundaries contain information © State of Victoria (Department of Education), licensed under CC BY 4.0.
Base map © Mapbox © OpenStreetMap. Improve this map at openstreetmap.org/fixthemap.
Informational only — not financial, legal or planning advice. Verify zoning, overlays and catchments with the relevant council before relying on them. Data vintage: 2021 Census.