City profile
The City of Ballarat is the council for Ballarat and the surrounding towns and farmland. It takes in central Ballarat and suburbs such as Wendouree, Sebastopol, Delacombe, Alfredton and Mount Clear, the growth areas around Lucas and Winter Valley, and towns including Buninyong, Miners Rest, Learmonth and Cardigan Village, with rural localities west towards Burrumbeet and Waubra.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Local Government Area (LGA)
- The official area a council governs.
- Estimated Resident Population (ERP)
- The official population count for an area.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
- The national statistics agency behind population figures.
The area at a glance
- Population (ERP, 30 June 2025)
- 122,661ABS Estimated Resident Population (preliminary).
- Area
- 739 km²ABS.
- Population density
- About 166 people per km²ABS population ÷ ABS area (our calculation). Much of the area is rural, so density varies widely.
- Wards
- 9, with one councillor each
- Council group (LGPRF)
- Regional City
- Rateable properties
- 63,995 assessments (2026–27 budget)Including 58,545 residential, 4,664 business and 786 farm assessments.
- Traditional Owners
- The Wadawurrung and Dja Dja Wurrung PeoplesAs acknowledged by the council.
Suburbs & postcodes
- Addington3352
- Alfredton3350
- Ascot3364
- Bakery Hill3350
- Bald Hills3364
- Ballarat Central3350
- Ballarat East3350
- Ballarat North3350
- Black Hill3350
- Blowhard3352
- Bo Peep (part)3351
- Bonshaw3352
- Brown Hill3350
- Buninyong (part)3357
- Bunkers Hill3352
- Burrumbeet (part)3352
- Canadian3350
- Cardigan3352
- Cardigan Village3352
- Chapel Flat3352
- Coghills Creek3364
- Delacombe3356
- Durham Lead (part)3352
- Ercildoune (part)3352
- Eureka3350
- Glen Park (part)3352
- Glendaruel3363
- Glendonald3364
- Golden Point3350
- Gong Gong3352
- Invermay3352
- Invermay Park3350
- Lake Gardens3355
- Lake Wendouree3350
- Learmonth3352
- Lucas3350
- Magpie3352
- Miners Rest3352
- Mitchell Park3355
- Mount Bolton3352
- Mount Clear3350
- Mount Helen3350
- Mount Pleasant3350
- Mount Rowan3352
- Nerrina3350
- Newington3350
- Redan3350
- Scotchmans Lead3352
- Scotsburn (part)3352
- Sebastopol3356
- Smythes Creek (part)3351
- Soldiers Hill3350
- Sulky (part)3352
- Tourello3363
- Warrenheip (part)3352
- Wattle Flat (part)3352
- Waubra (part)3352
- Weatherboard3352
- Wendouree3355
- Windermere3352
- Winter Valley3358
On the map
The shaded area is the official Local Government Area boundary.
Localities and postcodes come from the CSA's suburb-and-postcode table for Ballarat. We checked each against the official Vicmap locality polygons and the ABS council boundary: localities with less than 95% of their area inside Ballarat are marked '(part)' because they are shared with neighbouring councils. Wattle Flat has about 8% of its area inside the boundary but no Ballarat row in the CSA table; slivers of Creswick under 5% are left out. If you live in a split locality, your rates notice shows which council you pay. The shaded area on the map is the ABS council boundary (ASGS 2025); area and density figures use the ABS area.
Sources — check it yourself
- ABS — Regional population 2024–25, data cube 32180DS0002 Table 2 (Victoria; LGA 20570) · ERP 30 Jun 2025
- ABS — Regional population, latest release · Released Mar 2026
- Victorian Electoral Commission — Ballarat City Council (9 single-councillor wards) · Sep 2026
- City of Ballarat — Budget 2026/27, section 4.1.1(d) number of assessments (PDF) · 2026–27
- City of Ballarat — Home page (Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners) · Sep 2026
- Crime Statistics Agency (CSA) — LGA Recorded Offences, Table 03 (suburb and postcode by LGA) · Jul 2025 to Jun 2026
- DataVic — Vicmap Admin locality polygons · Sep 2026
- Local Government Victoria — LGPRF 2020–2025 Full Council Data Set (council group: Regional City) · 2024–25
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.