Bicheno, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Bicheno is a small holiday town on Tasmania's east coast, about 185 kilometres north-east of Hobart on the Tasman Highway. Once a fishing port, it now lives on tourism, drawing visitors to its granite shoreline of orange, lichen-stained boulders and its colony of little penguins, which waddle ashore at dusk on guided tours. The Bicheno Blowhole sends spray high into the air when the swell is up, and the town makes an easy base for nearby Freycinet National Park. The name honours James Ebenezer Bicheno, colonial secretary of Van Diemen's Land in the 1840s. Quiet beaches, fresh seafood, and a relaxed pace round out its appeal.
Less advantaged than the national average
Bicheno is more socio-economically advantaged than about 24% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 938, 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.
Bicheno at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,049
- Median age
- 54
- Median weekly household income
- $1,030
- SEIFA score
- 938
- Coordinates
- -41.8949, 148.2529
Bicheno demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Bicheno 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 33%, 23% of homes are rented, and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 121 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 50 | 5% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 226 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 350 | 33% |
| Seniors (65+) | 307 | 29% |
Share of the 1,054 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 229 | 51% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 100 | 22% |
| Rented | 106 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 422 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 7 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 9 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 445 occupied private dwellings in Bicheno.
- Median weekly rent
- $250
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,280
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,292
- Median weekly personal income
- $631
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 188 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 94 (10%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 42 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 403 (45%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52%
- Unemployment rate
- 5%
- Employed full-time
- 215
- Employed part-time
- 191
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.
Common questions about Bicheno
Where is Bicheno?
Bicheno is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia.
What is the population of Bicheno?
At the 2021 Census, Bicheno had a population of about 1,049.
Is Bicheno an advantaged area?
Bicheno has an ABS SEIFA score of 938, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 24 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 24% of Australian suburbs.
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