Ouyen
At 1,533 square kilometres with just 1,170 residents, Ouyen is one of Victoria's most sparsely settled towns, averaging 0.8 people per square kilometre. The median age of 52 is 12 years above the national figure, and 53.1% of homes are owned outright, the highest ownership-without-debt rate seen in low-income postcodes. Household income sits in just the 17th percentile nationally, yet housing costs consume only 15.5% of income for mortgagors, far below the 30% stress threshold.
Local council: Mildura
Population
1,170
Median Age
52.0
Household IncomeiMedian weekly household income (ABS Census)
$1,092/wk
DAs (12 months)iDevelopment Applications lodged in the past year
2
Median House
$299K
October to December 2025
Only a handful of houses sold here in this period, so this median can jump sharply from one quarter to the next for reasons that have nothing to do with the market. Treat it as a rough guide, not a settled price.
Monthly mortgage repayments average $734, and mortgage-to-income sits at 15.5%, well below the 30% stress benchmark. Detached houses dominate at 95.8% of all dwellings, giving buyers rare stock consistency. The bedroom split leans practical: 56.1% are 3-bedroom homes and 24.6% have 4 or more bedrooms, so families get full-size houses at a fraction of metropolitan cost. Outright ownership at 53.1% is unusually high, signalling long-held properties changing hands infrequently. The vacancy rate of 15.5% is elevated compared to typical metro rates, which means buyers have selection but should scrutinise holding costs before committing.
For Buyers
Monthly mortgage repayments average $734, and mortgage-to-income sits at 15.5%, well below the 30% stress benchmark. Detached houses dominate at 95.8% of all dwellings, giving buyers rare stock consistency. The bedroom split leans practical: 56.1% are 3-bedroom homes and 24.6% have 4 or more bedrooms, so families get full-size houses at a fraction of metropolitan cost. Outright ownership at 53.1% is unusually high, signalling long-held properties changing hands infrequently. The vacancy rate of 15.5% is elevated compared to typical metro rates, which means buyers have selection but should scrutinise holding costs before committing.
For Investors
Ouyen's 15.5% vacancy rate is the central risk for investors, sitting substantially higher than the 2-3% range typical of tightly held markets. Renting accounts for only 21.7% of households, limiting the tenant pool. Only 2 development applications were lodged in the past 12 months, confirming this is a market where supply is static rather than expanding.
Development Activity
Total DAs
4
Last 12 Months
2
YoY ChangeiYear-over-year change in DA lodgements
0.0%
Avg DA CostiAverage estimated cost per DA in the past year
N/A
Monthly DA Lodgements
DA Categories
Schools in Ouyen
Open-register school locations for education access. This is not a school-quality ranking.
Ouyen P-12 College
Demographics
The median age of 52 is 12 years above the national figure, one of the most pronounced aging gaps in Victoria. Only 6.7% of residents were born overseas, which is 14.9 percentage points below the national share, reflecting limited recent migration to this remote agricultural area. University qualifications stand at 17.9%, which is 12.2 points below national, consistent with a workforce dominated by trade, agricultural, and healthcare occupations rather than knowledge-economy roles. Ancestry is predominantly Anglo-Celtic: English (424), Irish (135) and Scottish (114) are the three largest groups. Average household size of 2.1 is 0.4 below national, in line with an older resident base where 40.8% of families are couples without children at home. A volunteering rate of 32.7% is notably high for a small town.
Age Distribution
Bedrooms
Dwelling Structure
95.8%
Houses
3.3%
Townhouse
0.0%
Apartment
Tenure
The current price equals the peak, meaning buyers are not entering at a discounted level relative to recent history. Tenure is tilted heavily toward ownership: 53.1% own outright, 25.2% carry a mortgage, and only 21.7% rent, a profile more common in retired farming communities than general suburbs. The stock is 95.8% separate houses, with semi-detached at 3.3%, and apartments effectively absent. Three-bedroom homes make up 56.1% of dwellings. Rent-to-income at 15.1% is well below the national stress threshold, making the rental market affordable for tenants compared to most Australian postcodes.
Mortgage / mo
$734
Rent / wkiABS Census 2021 median across all dwelling types. Current market rents are typically higher.
$165
Census 2021
HH Size
2.1
Personal Income / wk
$614
Vacancy Ratei% of dwellings unoccupied on Census night (ABS 2021)
15.5%
Unoccupied
89
Rent / IncomeiMedian rent as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
15.1%
Mortgage / IncomeiMedian mortgage as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
15.5%
Community Profile
Ancestry
Household Composition
32.6%
Couples with children
52.9%
Couples, no children
12.4%
Single parent
291
Total families
Economy & Employment
Healthcare leads local employment at 23.3% of jobs (66 workers), followed by Agriculture at 19.4% (55 workers) and Education at 14.5% (41 workers). Construction (7.8%) and Transport (6.7%) round out the top five, reflecting a services-and-primary-production economy rather than a knowledge or manufacturing base. The occupation mix shows Managers (124) as the largest group, which in a rural context typically means farm operators and small business owners rather than corporate roles. The unemployment rate of 4.4% is modest, though the participation rate of just 46.6% signals a large retiree population outside the labour force entirely, with 414 people classified as not in the labour force. Full-time employment among those who do work runs at 65.3%, in line with the national average.
Unemployment
4.1%
Labour Force
510
Unemployed
21
Source: ABS Census 2021
Socio-Economic Indexes (SEIFA)iABS index ranking suburbs from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (most advantaged)
Full-time
60.3%
Part-time
32.1%
Participation
50.2%
Employed
489
Full-time and part-time are shares of the employed. Source: ABS Census 2021
Occupations
Top Industries
University
17.9%
Postgraduate
3.2%
Born Overseas
6.7%
Dwellings
480
Transport to Work
Ouyen's liveability is defined by car dependence and community self-reliance. Car use for travel to work reaches 80.9%, expected given the absence of public transport data and the vast 1,533 km2 catchment area. Walking or cycling accounts for 11.6% of work trips, which is above average for a rural town and reflects the compact town centre. No schools appear in the suburb boundary dataset, so families rely on facilities in the broader Mallee region. Crime totals 67 incidents, with a rate of 57.3 per 1,000 residents, elevated above typical low-density regional towns, though the dominant categories are justice procedure offences (21) and property offences (20) rather than violent crime. Volunteering at 32.7% is well above the national average, pointing to the community interdependence that characterises remote agricultural towns. Housing stress is low: both rent-to-income (15.1%) and mortgage-to-income (15.5%) sit comfortably below the 30% stress threshold.
Drive
73.2%
Public Transport
N/A
Walk / Cycle
10.5%
Work from Home
9.5%
Growth Outlook
The identity signals point to an aging resident base and high vacancy, which typically constrain population-driven demand growth. Residential subdivision activity is minimal, with 2 applications in 12 months, both small lot splits rather than new dwelling construction. The 86% of residents who stayed in the same address in the prior year indicates very low churn, meaning price movements are driven by the small number of transactions that do occur.
Population trend: Mildura council area
Ouyen sits in the Mildura council area. These are the council area's residents, not Ouyen's.
Residents 2025
57,309
Growth, 5 yr average
-0.0%/yr
2020 to 2025
Growth, last year
+0.3%
2024 to 2025
ABS Estimated Resident Population by LGA, 30 June each year; council area, not this suburb
Safety & Crime
Total Offences
67
Year ending June 2024
Rate per 1,000 People
57.3
Offence Categories
Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria / SA Police
National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs
How Ouyen compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Ouyen a good suburb to live in?
Ouyen suits buyers who value affordability and space over urban amenity. The trade-off is a remote location spanning 1,533 km2 with limited public transport and an aging population, with a median age of 52, which is 12 years above the national figure.
What schools are in Ouyen?
No schools are recorded within the Ouyen suburb boundary in this dataset. Families in the region access educational facilities across the broader Mallee area. Locally, 17.9% of residents hold university qualifications, which is 12.2 points below the national average, consistent with a workforce concentrated in agriculture, healthcare, and trades.
Is Ouyen safe?
Ouyen recorded 67 total crimes, giving a rate of 57.3 per 1,000 residents. The top categories are justice procedure offences (21 incidents), property and deception offences (20) and crimes against the person (15). For context, the town's 1,170 residents and remote location mean small absolute numbers move the per-1,000 rate significantly.
How is Ouyen's population changing?
Ouyen has 1,170 residents across 1,533 km2, giving a density of 0.8 people per km2. The median age of 52 is 12 years above the national figure, and 86% of residents stayed at the same address in the prior year, indicating very low population churn. The aging profile and limited overseas migration (6.7% born overseas, 14.9 points below national) suggest gradual natural population decline rather than growth.
How to read these comparisons
Phrases like "above the national average" reference the unweighted median across Australian suburbs with more than 1,000 residents, not population-weighted national figures. Suburb-level medians are more useful for ranking suburbs against each other; ABS census headlines are population-weighted (so dominated by Sydney and Melbourne) and can read very differently.
Current baseline (refreshed 2026-05-10): median age 40, university-educated 30.1%, born overseas 21.6%, average household size 2.5 people.
Data sources: ABS 2021 Census (demographics, income, tenure), Valuer-General Victoria (house prices), state education open registers (school locations), state Crime Statistics agencies (offences), council DA portals (development applications).
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