Buffalo River flood map & planning overlays
Buffalo River farms 3 ha lots, 15.1% flood, median age 54.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Buffalo River
(Alpine, VIC) - 83.67 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.
Constraint readout
83.67 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Buffalo River's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Buffalo River
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 24 Oct 2026
Night movements: observed, lowest 9,000 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Buffalo River at a glance
How Buffalo River is zoned
Selling in Buffalo River? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.
Across its 83.67 km², Buffalo River is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 15% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 100% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 3 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 34,167 m² across 310 parcels.
Who lives in Buffalo River
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Buffalo River suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 996, and decile 5 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Buffalo River's 285 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Bright - Mount Beauty, the wider ABS statistical area containing Buffalo River. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Buffalo River itself.
8,111 in 2001 to 8,976 in 2025, up 11%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Buffalo River data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Zoning | Mapped | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Not held | Vicmap Planning and Victorian Government spatial services, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
Profile last materially updated 24 October 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Buffalo River address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Buffalo River lot.
Buffalo River planning - frequently asked
Is Buffalo River flood-prone?
About 15% of Buffalo River falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 8%.
Is Buffalo River bushfire-prone?
Around 100% of Buffalo River is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Alpine average of 100%.
Is Buffalo River under a flight path?
No aircraft were observed over Buffalo River in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). Sampling is intermittent, so that is a floor rather than proof that none fly over. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Buffalo River?
The dominant planning zone in Buffalo River is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) and Rural Living Zone (RLZ).
Does Buffalo River have heritage-listed places?
Buffalo River has 3 heritage-listed places on record.
What is the typical lot size in Buffalo River?
Across 310 surveyed parcels in Buffalo River, the median lot size is about 34,167 m². There are also 191 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
What is the population of Buffalo River?
At the 2021 Census Buffalo River had 285 usual residents, with a median age of 54 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Bright - Mount Beauty statistical area, which contains Buffalo River, went from 8,111 people in 2001 to 8,976 in 2025, up 11%.
Is Buffalo River an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Buffalo River scores 996 and sits in decile 6 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Buffalo River?
Median household income in Buffalo River was $1,421 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,406 for the typical suburb in Alpine. Median rent was $130 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,733 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nug Nug | 6.2 km | 2% | 100% |
| Merriang South | 6.7 km | 10% | 100% |
| Whorouly South Wangaratta |
8.9 km | Not mapped | 100% |
| Carboor Wangaratta |
10.0 km | 3% | 100% |
| Merriang | 10.4 km | 49% | 100% |
| Myrtleford | 11.7 km | 17% | 100% |
| Ovens | 12.4 km | 31% | 100% |
| Whorouly East Wangaratta |
12.6 km | 20% | 100% |
| Mount Buffalo | 12.6 km | <1% | 100% |
| Edi Upper Wangaratta |
15.9 km | 3% | 100% |