Shire facts

This snapshot brings together the latest data to tell the story of life on the Mornington Peninsula – from the land we live, work and play on, to the people who call it home, the economy we rely on, and how we’re tracking as a Council.

It helps us understand how things are changing, what our community needs, and where to focus our efforts. This data also supports the four key directions in our Council Plan:

  • Place – protecting what makes our Peninsula unique
  • People – supporting healthy, connected communities
  • Prosperity – building a thriving, resilient economy
  • Performance – delivering quality services and good governance

Place

Where we live

  • map 723km2 of land
  • landscape_2 70% rural and Green Wedge
  • emoji_transportation 30% townships and villages (40 in total)
  • waves 192km (10%) of Victoria’s coastline (64km is managed by the Shire)

The increasing impacts from seasonal storms and rising sea levels will affect how we use and access our coastline.

  • water440km of waterways
  • landscape 18 creek catchments
  • local_florist1/5th of Victoria’s flora
  • eco 65 ecological vegetation classes (unit for classifying vegetation types)
  • nature 37.2% tree canopy in our urban areas
  • forest 278 hectares of biolinks (habitat corridors) with 146,019 trees and shrubs
  • owl 400 native animal species

We have an internationally significant biosphere reserve (Western Port Ramsar) and wetlands of state significance (Tootgarook Wetlands).

How we live

  • home_pin 93,600 dwellings across the Peninsula
  • home 86.6% of us live in separate housing
  • group 2.38 people live in each household on average
  • real_estate_agent 17.6% of us are renting (1.4% in social housing)
  • house Median house price is $1,104,000 (Greater Melbourne (GM): $870,00)
  • apartment Median unit price is $657,550 (GM: $605,000)
  • sentiment_stressed 35% of private rental households are in rental stress (GM: 27%)
  • credit_card 10.9% of households with a mortgage are experiencing mortgage stress (GM: 12.7%)
  • camping948 people sought assistance for homelessness in 2024-25

Townships including Tootgarook, Rosebud, Capel Sound, Hastings and parts of Mornington experience more relative disadvantage than the Australian average.

  • no_stroller 29.6% couples without children (GM: 23.5%)
  • stroller 26.2% couples with children (GM: 33%)
  • person 26% lone person (GM: 24%)
  • person_add 9.8% one parent families (GM: 10.2%)
  • other_houses 8.4% other

Lone person households are projected to increase by 12% increase from 2021 to 2036.

How we move around

  • flyover 1,735km of roads
  • footprint 725km of footpaths
  • hiking 342km of walking trails
  • pedal_bike 106.4km of cycle trails
  • home_work 54.5% of us live and work on the Peninsula
  • emoji_transportation 38% of us travel outside of the area to work
  • directions_car 58% of us travel by car to work
  • directions_bike 2.6% of us walk or cycle to work
  • no_transfer 82% of the Peninsula is not serviced by public transport
  • garage 91.3% of our households own at least one car (GM 87%)

People

Who we are

  • diversity_3Population of 175,153 (expected to be 192,617 by 2046)
  • groups51.7% female / 48.3% male
  • calendar_monthMedian age is 48 (11 years older than the Australia average)
  • globe_asia17% were born overseas
  • accessible23% have a disability and 6.2% require assistance with daily activities
  • diversity_45.4% identify as LGBTIQA+
  • person_celebrate1% identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander

We have the 3rd largest Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in the Southern Metropolitan Area.

Our age profile

Age Percentage
0–4 4.7%
5–11 7.9%
12–17 7.2%
18–24 6.7%
25–34 8.6 (GM 16%)
35–49 17%
50–59 13.7%
60–69 14.1%
70–84 16.6% (GM 8.6%)
85+ 3.6%

Our health and wellbeing

  • fitness_center Self-reported health: 42.2% excellent or very good, 38.3% good, 17.9% fair or poor
  • sentiment_very_satisfied Self-reported life satisfaction: 29.8% very high, 49.6% high, 13.7% medium. 18.9% low or medium. 5.2% low
  • directions_walk Participation in weekly physical activity: 39.6% at least 150mins, 45.9% <150mins, 13.3% none
  • no_meals Food availability: 5.3% of people ran out of food and couldn’t afford more, 9.1% had worried about this, 10.2% had sometimes worried
  • nutrition 56% of residents didn’t meet daily fruit and vegetable recommendations
  • liquor 70% increased lifetime risk of alcohol-related harm
  • vaping_rooms 17.9% of residents smoke or vape
  • poker_chip $221.4 million lost across legal gambling venues
  • psychology_alt 1 in 5 of us experience loneliness
  • psychology Psychological distress: 15% high or very high. 24% moderate. 56% low
  • flood 24% of young people (15-19 years) have experienced the impacts of climate change on their health
  • crisis_alert 40% of people say concerns about climate change’s future impacts have affected their mental health

For more detail on local health and wellbeing data, view our Health and Wellbeing Data Profile(PDF, 798KB).

Our safety

  • dark_mode 42% of women felt ‘very safe’ or ‘safe’ walking alone in their local area after dark (compared to 82% of men)
  • report 2,138 family violence incidents were recorded (March 2023 to March 2024). An increase of 7.2% compared to the previous 12 months
  • camping 37% increase in people experiencing homelessness from 2016-2021

Prosperity

How we work and learn

  • cancel 36.9% no qualification (GM: 35.2%)
  • school 21.5% bachelor’s degree or higher (GM: 32.8%)
  • build 21.3% vocational (trade) (GM: 14.8%)
  • library_books 74% of 15–24-year-olds are fully engaged in work or study

Our weekly individual income (persons aged 15+)

Mornington Peninsula Shire Greater Melbourne
Negative/Nil 7.3% 10.2%
$1–$499 24.8% 21.9%
$500–$999 24% 21.2%
$1,000–$1,499 14.7% 16.1%
$1,500–$1,999 9.6% 10.6%
$2,000–$2,999 6.8% 8%
>$3,000 5.4% 5.6%
Not Stated 7.5% 6.1%

Our economy

  • attach_moneyGRP $11.3billion and $22.954 billion economic output
  • work 62,311 jobs created
  • storefront 17,072 businesses supported
  • medical_services Our top 5 industries for employment: Health Care 9,550 jobs (15.3%); Construction 8.960 jobs (14.4%); Retail 7,680 jobs (12.3%); Accommodation and Food Services 6,322 jobs (10.1%); Education and Training 5,311 jobs (8.5%)
  • groups 98% of our businesses employ less than 20 people

Our tourism

  • map 7.9 million people visit the region each year: 73% are day trippers and 27% are overnighters (26% domestic and 1% international)
  • badge 4,884 jobs supported by tourism (7.8% of total employment)
  • payments Visitors spent approx. $1.8 billion on the Peninsula last year (FY24)

Our agriculture

  • agriculture Estimated worth $1.3 billion (agriculture, food and beverage sectors) 2nd highest in Victoria

Our region produces the second highest revenue from food production per hectare in Victoria.

Performance

How we (Mornington Peninsula Shire) perform

  • design_services We provide about 150 services
  • support_agent We took 140,000 calls and welcomed 30,000 visitors to our customer service centres last year
  • sentiment_satisfied Our overall community satisfaction score is 6.5 (Melbourne average 7.0)
  • trending_down Average rate per property $1,653 (8th lowest in Victoria) FY25
  • assignment 1,994 planning applications were determined
  • solar_power 23.5% of residential buildings on the Peninsula have solar panels, avoiding 155,000 tonnes of CO2-e annually

Data Sources

All data presented is the most up-to-date available as of July 2025. Due to the time required for collection, processing, and standardisation, there may be a delay between when data is gathered and when it becomes available. This website is updated annually, or sooner if new or revised data is released.

Data sources include:

Back to top