Highton flood map & planning overlays

The schematic on this page is a Highton flood map: the mapped flood overlays drawn over the suburb's terrain and street grid, covering about 12% of the suburb. Flood lines vary block to block, so for a specific property use the free interactive map - search any Highton address and it shows the flood, zoning and bushfire mapping on the exact lot boundary.

About 12% of Highton falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 18%. Flood overlays vary block to block, so whether a particular lot is affected needs a property-level check.

Around 15% of Highton is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Greater Geelong average of 50%. A bushfire-prone designation can trigger additional building requirements, so check the specific address.

The dominant planning zone in Highton is General Residential Zone (GRZ1), though the suburb also includes Neighbourhood Residential Zone (NRZ8) and Transport Zone (TRZ2). Zoning sets what you can build and do on a site, and can differ lot by lot.

Highton has 17 heritage-listed places on record. Heritage listing affects what you can alter or demolish, so confirm whether a specific property is listed or near a heritage place.

Across 9,786 surveyed parcels in Highton, the median lot size is about 690 m². There are also 4,452 registered easements mapped in the suburb - an easement can restrict where you can build, so always check the title and overlays for the specific lot.

There is no train station inside Highton itself. The suburb is served by 74 bus stops.

At the 2021 Census Highton had 20,736 usual residents, with a median age of 39 and an average household size of 2.6 people. The wider Highton statistical area, which contains Highton, went from 15,469 people in 2001 to 25,794 in 2025, up 67%. ABS publishes no annual population series for individual suburbs, so that trend describes the surrounding area rather than Highton alone.

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Highton scores 1067 and sits in decile 9 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Victoria - decile 1 being the most disadvantaged tenth of Australian suburbs and decile 10 the least. The national average score is 1000. SEIFA summarises income, education, occupation and housing across the whole suburb, so it describes the area, not any particular household in it.

Median household income in Highton was $2,054 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,670 for the typical suburb in Greater Geelong. Median rent was $360 a week and the median mortgage repayment $2,000 a month. These are 2021 Census figures and have not been indexed to today.

A Highton planning report pulls every overlay - zoning, flood, bushfire, heritage, environmental and noise - that touches a single lot, on live council and state data. The interactive map preview is free; the full PDF report is $9.