Warrnambool residents among the worst hit financially during coronavirus crisis

The city's reliance on agriculture, food manufacturing and tourism have contributed to this, according to the COVID-19 Financial Impact Index.

The index, created by analytics and actuarial consultancy Taylor Fry, uses the latest employment data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in combination with the most recent census to identify the regions of Australia that have experienced the biggest negative financial impact as a result of the pandemic.

Taylor Fry principal Alan Greenfield said data from the latest ABS census indicated south-west residents were generally employed in industries that had been negatively impacted by the pandemic.

"Those on medium incomes are often paying off a mortgage and just making ends meet, so a sudden drop in income is really challenging for them," Mr Greenfield said.

The index reveals Warrnambool's index rating is 80-90, which makes it among the 10 per cent of Australian postcodes most affected financially by the virus.

Mr Greenfield said several things were considered when compiling the index.

"The index takes into account the likelihood of job losses in an area but also considers their income before and after the pandemic (considering government subsidies) as well as the likelihood that they will have enough savings to tie them over," he said.

"South-west Victoria's exposure to agriculture, food manufacturing and hospitality has created an uncertain outlook for many residents in the region. Local tourism has been heavily impacted by government restrictions on public gatherings and movement and both manufacturing and agriculture output has been hampered by reduced export demand.

"Many residents in the region are middle income earners so a sudden loss of employment or income is unlikely to be fully covered by government subsidies such as the JobKeeper and JobSeeker schemes."

Residents in Portland, Port Fairy, Hamilton and Camperdown haven't been hit as hard, with these towns rating in the top 20 per cent on the index.

Mr Greenfield said the index showed Victorians hadn't fared as well as residents in other states since the coronavirus outbreak.

"May data from the ABS shows that the number of Victorian jobs registered under the ATO's Single Touch Payroll program has dropped by 8.4 per cent since the start of the pandemic, relative to a national drop of 7.3 per cent," Mr Greenfield said.

"Total wages paid have dropped by 6.7 per cent in Victoria compared to 5.4 per cent nationally.

Taylor Fry has produced an interactive map on its website that shows how each postcode has been affected.

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