Your area › Victoria › Surf Coast
What it costs to live in Surf Coast, VIC
Surf Coast council area, Victoria. About 40,265 people lived here in 2025. Here's what rent, power, the pokies and crime look like, and how each one sits against the rest of Victoria.
Rent
Victoria doesn't publish new-lease rents by council in a form we can use yet.
Pokies losses
$161
Lost for every adult in a year. That's 29% of the VIC average.
See pokies losses in Surf CoastElectricity
$1,633
A year on the default offer in the Powercor network area, for 4,000 kWh. That's the most a standing offer can cost. A typical plan here costs $1,518.
See electricity pricesCrime police recorded
Crimes against the person, 2025–26
Police recorded 209 of these in Surf Coast. That's 513 for every 100,000 people, or 49% of the VIC average. Five years before, in 2020–21, it was 555, so it has come down 8%.
See each year
| Year | Recorded | Per 100,000 | VIC per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | 209 | 513 | 1,040 |
| 2024–25 | 213 | 529 | 1,067 |
| 2023–24 | 172 | 432 | 998 |
| 2022–23 | 169 | 431 | 974 |
| 2021–22 | 216 | 559 | 968 |
| 2020–21 | 209 | 555 | 987 |
| 2019–20 | 177 | 494 | 976 |
| 2018–19 | 203 | 593 | 965 |
| 2017–18 | 138 | 421 | 951 |
| 2016–17 | 146 | 463 | 956 |
Property and deception offences, 2025–26
Police recorded 620 of these in Surf Coast. That's 1,521 for every 100,000 people, or 37% of the VIC average. Five years before, in 2020–21, it was 1,798, so it has come down 15%.
See each year
| Year | Recorded | Per 100,000 | VIC per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | 620 | 1,521 | 4,071 |
| 2024–25 | 688 | 1,709 | 4,459 |
| 2023–24 | 654 | 1,642 | 3,612 |
| 2022–23 | 471 | 1,201 | 3,148 |
| 2021–22 | 556 | 1,440 | 2,776 |
| 2020–21 | 677 | 1,798 | 2,929 |
| 2019–20 | 667 | 1,862 | 3,677 |
| 2018–19 | 533 | 1,558 | 3,547 |
| 2017–18 | 602 | 1,838 | 3,625 |
| 2016–17 | 830 | 2,630 | 4,065 |
This is crime that police recorded in the area over a year, July to June. Lots of crime is never reported, and a rise can mean police are looking harder, not just that more crime happened. Each state counts crime its own way, so only compare a council with its own state. Victoria rounds very small numbers of homicide and sexual offences.
Suburbs in Surf Coast
Who lives in each one, their homes and how they get around.
- Aireys Inlet
- Anglesea
- Bambra
- Barrabool
- Bellbrae
- Bells Beach
- Benwerrin
- Big Hill (Surf Coast - Vic.)
- Birregurra (part)
- Boonah
- Breamlea (part)
- Buckley
- Connewarre (part)
- Deans Marsh
- Eastern View
- Fairhaven
- Freshwater Creek
- Gherang
- Gnarwarre
- Inverleigh (part)
- Jan Juc
- Lorne
- Modewarre
- Moggs Creek
- Moriac
- Mount Duneed (part)
- Mount Moriac
- Ombersley (part)
- Paraparap
- Pennyroyal
- Torquay
- Wensleydale
- Winchelsea
- Winchelsea South
- Wurdiboluc
Look further
- Rents across Australia: what tenants really pay by suburb and postcode.
- Pokies losses by council: where the most is lost, in four states.
- Fuel prices: the price cycle and the cheapest day to fill up.
- Compare Surf Coast with another area, side by side.
- Look up another area.
Sources: recorded crime, Crime Statistics Agency, CC BY 4.0. Population: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Regional population, CC BY 4.0. Pokies losses: the state's gambling regulator (see the pokies page for its credit). Electricity: Victorian Default Offer 2026–27: Essential Services Commission, CC BY 4.0; retailers' plans under the Consumer Data Right.