Avenel, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Avenel is a small town in the Shire of Strathbogie in central Victoria, about 130 kilometres north of Melbourne and just north of Seymour, where Hughes Creek runs through the district. Henry Kent Hughes settled here in 1838, laid out the township and named the creek; the name Avenel is generally traced to a village in Gloucestershire. The town is best known for its links to a young Ned Kelly, who spent part of his boyhood here and is said to have saved a local boy from drowning in Hughes Creek; members of the Kelly family are buried in the Avenel cemetery. Today the town sits on the Melbourne to Albury railway and hosts the long-running Goulburn Valley Horse Trials, held since 1967.
Around the national middle
Avenel is more socio-economically advantaged than about 43% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 976, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Avenel a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Avenel from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
43/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (43/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
47/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $300 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 47% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Avenel at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,112
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $1,414
- SEIFA score
- 976
- Local government area
- Strathbogie
- Coordinates
- -36.9304, 145.3140
Map of Avenel
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Avenel
What it costs to live in Avenel and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $300
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,509
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 82%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 15%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Avenel demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Avenel demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Avenel using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is mid-life (45–64) at 29% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 180 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 99 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 220 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 320 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 296 | 27% |
Share of the 1,115 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 214 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 160 | 35% |
| Rented | 69 | 15% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 453 | 99% |
| Townhouses & semis | 3 | 1% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 456 occupied private dwellings in Avenel.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,756
- Median weekly personal income
- $749
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 126 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 36 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 6 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 438 (49%)
- Labour-force participation
- 60.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.3%
- Employed full-time
- 322
- Employed part-time
- 180
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
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Common questions about Avenel
Is Avenel a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Avenel rates 44/100 overall (Below the national middle on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Avenel?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Avenel was $300, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,509. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Avenel?
Avenel is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Strathbogie local government area.
What is the population of Avenel?
At the 2021 Census, Avenel had a population of about 1,112.
Is Avenel an advantaged area?
Avenel has an ABS SEIFA score of 976, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 43 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 43% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
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