Sale flood map & planning overlays

Sale is Wellington's hub: 14,296 people, 189 heritage places, 86 flights a day.

Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.

A planning-constraint profile of Sale (Wellington, VIC) - 46.03 km², mapped from live council and state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 24 October 2026.

Planning schematicSale

Constraint readout

46.03 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.

Flood overlay 41%

1.6× council avg (26%) · #18 of 80 mapped council suburbs

See the Wellington flood map by suburb.

Bushfire-prone 78%

≈ council avg (96%) · #120 of 126 mapped council suburbs

Environmental12%

≈ council avg (14%) · #28 of 126 in council

Heritage sites 189 Noise corridor 4% Aircraft noise (ANEF) 4% Aircraft seen below 3,000 ft 90% Mostly Farming Zone (FZ) Flood 18th most affected of 80 → Bushfire 120th most affected of 126 →

Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Sale's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Amber hatching is the published aircraft noise (ANEF) contour. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.

Nearby suburbs, nearest first

Aircraft noise and flight paths over Sale

The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.

Inside an aircraft noise contour

4% of the suburb's land sits inside a published ANEF or airport-environs contour. Contours vary street by street, so whether a particular lot is inside one needs a property-level check.

Highest contour present

ANEF 25

Under AS 2021, land between ANEF 25 and 30 is generally unacceptable for new houses; 20 to 25 is conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. The contour is a forecast, not a measurement at any one house.

Contours held

Defence Airfields ANEF
Victorian Airport Environs Overlay

Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 24 Oct 2026

Under observed aircraft

98%

of the suburb, at or below 10,000 ft

Below 3,000 ft

90%

of the suburb's area

Lowest measured

500 ft

averaging 1,500 ft · ground movements recorded: on or beside an aerodrome

Busiest square

~85 a day

85 a day below 3,000 ft · ±6%
typical observed square 1 a day

Night movements: observed, lowest 500 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.

Sale at a glance

Parcels 9,538 Median lot 707 m² Mapped easements 1,760 Train Sale Station Bus stops 68

How Sale is zoned

Farming Zone (FZ) 58%

General Residential Zone (GRZ1) 15%

Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ) 11%

Public Park and Recreation Zone (PPRZ) 3%

Transport Zone (TRZ2) 2%

Low Density Residential Zone (LDRZ) 2%

Selling in Sale? The zoning and planning overlays on this page are the controls a Section 32 vendor statement discloses.

Across its 46.03 km², Sale is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 41% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay, and 78% is flagged bushfire-prone. There are 189 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Farming Zone (FZ). The median lot measures about 707 m² across 9,538 parcels.

Who lives in Sale

Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Sale suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.

Population

14,296

usual residents, 2021

Median age

years

Median household income

$1,327

per week, Wellington suburb typical $1,357

Median rent

$280

per week, Wellington suburb typical $240

Median mortgage

$1,300

per month

Household size

2.3

people, average

Socio-economic standing

ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.

Advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD) Decile 3

most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Score 951, and decile 3 within Victoria. The national average is 1000.

Relative disadvantage (IRSD) Decile 3

most disadvantagedleast disadvantaged

Age profile

Share of Sale's 14,296 residents in each ABS age band.

0-4 5.9%

5-14 12.2%

15-19 5.6%

20-24 5.3%

25-34 12.6%

35-44 11.6%

45-54 12.2%

55-64 12.2%

65-74 11.9%

75-84 7.4%

85+ 3.2%

Population trend, 2001 to 2025

Estimated resident population of Sale, the wider ABS statistical area containing Sale. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Sale itself.

13,676 in 2001 to 15,232 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.

Sale 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)	Inside a held contour	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 Sale 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 →

Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 90% of Sale. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.

Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Sale lot.

Sale planning - frequently asked

Is Sale flood-prone?

About 41% of Sale falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 26%.

Is Sale bushfire-prone?

Around 78% of Sale is mapped as bushfire-prone, compared with a Wellington average of 96%.

Is Sale affected by aircraft noise?

About 4% of Sale sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 25 - under AS 2021, land above ANEF 25 is generally considered unacceptable for new houses, and 20-25 conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. ANEF contours are forecasts published per airport and used to control noise-sensitive development; they are not a measurement at any one house, and a property can sit under a flight path and outside every contour.

Is Sale under a flight path?

Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 90% of Sale, and over about 98% at any altitude up to 10,000 ft, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 24 Oct 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 500 ft, with an average of 1,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 85 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. 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 Sale?

The dominant planning zone in Sale is Farming Zone (FZ), though the suburb also includes General Residential Zone (GRZ1) and Public Conservation and Resource Zone (PCRZ).

Does Sale have heritage-listed places?

Sale has 189 heritage-listed places on record.

What is the typical lot size in Sale?

Across 9,538 surveyed parcels in Sale, the median lot size is about 707 m². There are also 1,760 registered easements mapped in the suburb.

Does Sale have a train station?

Yes - Sale has 1 train station: Sale Station. It is also served by 68 bus stops.

What is the population of Sale?

At the 2021 Census Sale had 14,296 usual residents, with a median age of 42 and an average household size of 2.3 people. The wider Sale statistical area, which contains Sale, went from 13,676 people in 2001 to 15,232 in 2025, up 11%.

Is Sale an advantaged suburb?

On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Sale scores 951 and sits in decile 3 of 10 nationally and decile 3 within Victoria (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).

What is the median household income in Sale?

Median household income in Sale was $1,327 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,357 for the typical suburb in Wellington. Median rent was $280 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,300 a month.

Compare nearby suburbs

Nearby suburb	Distance	Flood mapped	Bushfire-prone
Wurruk	5.1 km	31%	96%
East Sale	5.3 km	<1%	100%
Pearsondale	5.7 km	68%	100%
Cobains	7.0 km	20%	100%
Myrtlebank	7.1 km	47%	100%
Montgomery	7.6 km	3%	100%
Airly	8.8 km	16%	100%
The Heart	9.1 km	85%	100%
Fulham	10.6 km	12%	100%
Bundalaguah	11.1 km	25%	100%

See all Wellington suburb profiles →