Blackmans Bay, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Blackmans Bay is a coastal suburb just south of Hobart, part of the Kingston–Blackmans Bay urban area that forms a satellite town of the Tasmanian capital within the Kingborough municipality. It takes its name from James Blackman, who occupied land here in the 1820s. The suburb curls around a popular sandy beach, at the northern end of which a sea-carved blowhole has eroded into a dramatic rock arch — by local account first noticed when James Baynton tracked his lost dog to its base. Southward, rocks lead out to Flowerpot Point, a favoured fishing spot, while the Suncoast Headlands track follows the clifftops and a steep path drops to fossil-studded Fossil Cove. Kingston Beach lies immediately to the north.
More advantaged than the national average
Blackmans Bay is more socio-economically advantaged than about 79% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1041, 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 Blackmans Bay 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Blackmans Bay 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
79/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (79/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
20/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $400 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 20% 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.
Blackmans Bay at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 7,688
- Median age
- 42
- Median weekly household income
- $1,806
- SEIFA score
- 1041
- Local government area
- Kingborough
- Coordinates
- -43.0066, 147.3167
Map of Blackmans Bay
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Blackmans Bay
What it costs to live in Blackmans Bay and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $400
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,655
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 77%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 22%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Blackmans Bay demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Blackmans Bay demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Blackmans Bay 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 26% and 22% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,374 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 811 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,902 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,000 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,594 | 21% |
Share of the 7,681 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,220 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,022 | 35% |
| Rented | 628 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,702 | 93% |
| Townhouses & semis | 120 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 85 | 3% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,913 occupied private dwellings in Blackmans Bay.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,134
- Median weekly personal income
- $887
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,616 (22%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 829 (11%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 272 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 3,801 (63%)
- Labour-force participation
- 63.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.4%
- Employed full-time
- 2,075
- Employed part-time
- 1,557
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.
Weather and climate in Blackmans Bay
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Blackmans Bay is January (average daytime high around 21°C) and the coolest is July (around 11.6°C). The area receives roughly 823 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21°C | 12.8°C | 64 mm |
| Feb | 20.2°C | 12.4°C | 55 mm |
| Mar | 18.9°C | 11.6°C | 74 mm |
| Apr | 16.6°C | 9.9°C | 44 mm |
| May | 13.8°C | 7.8°C | 68 mm |
| Jun | 12.1°C | 6.7°C | 76 mm |
| Jul | 11.6°C | 5.9°C | 52 mm |
| Aug | 12.1°C | 5.6°C | 68 mm |
| Sep | 14°C | 6.8°C | 60 mm |
| Oct | 15.6°C | 8°C | 99 mm |
| Nov | 17.2°C | 9.6°C | 81 mm |
| Dec | 19.1°C | 11°C | 82 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Blackmans Bay
Is Blackmans Bay 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, Blackmans Bay rates 59/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Blackmans Bay?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Blackmans Bay was $400, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,655. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Blackmans Bay?
Blackmans Bay is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Kingborough local government area.
What is the population of Blackmans Bay?
At the 2021 Census, Blackmans Bay had a population of about 7,688.
Is Blackmans Bay an advantaged area?
Blackmans Bay has an ABS SEIFA score of 1041, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 79 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 79% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Blackmans Bay?
Blackmans Bay has average daytime highs of about 16°C and overnight lows of about 9°C, with roughly 823 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Blackmans Bay?
Blackmans Bay is one of the most populous suburbs in Tasmania — the 7th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 7,688 usual residents).
Does Blackmans Bay have high household incomes?
Blackmans Bay has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in Tasmania — the 15th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($1,806 per week).
Where Blackmans Bay ranks
Blackmans Bay appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Tasmania
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Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.