Carnarvon, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Carnarvon lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean, about 900 kilometres north of Perth in Western Australia's Gascoyne region. It is the country of the Inggarda people, who knew the area as Kuwinywardu, meaning neck of water. The town was founded in 1883 as a port and supply centre and gazetted in 1891, taking its name from the Earl of Carnarvon, then British Secretary of State for the Colonies. Fed by the river, fertile plantations make Carnarvon famous for bananas, mangoes and other tropical fruit. The town also played a part in the space age, hosting a NASA tracking station and an OTC satellite earth station in the 1960s. Fishing, horticulture and tourism underpin the economy today.
Less advantaged than the national average
Carnarvon is more socio-economically advantaged than about 34% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 959, 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 Carnarvon 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 Carnarvon 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
34/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (34/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
73/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $210 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 73% 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.
Carnarvon at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 281
- Median age
- 39
- Median weekly household income
- $1,350
- SEIFA score
- 959
- Local government area
- Carnarvon
- Coordinates
- -24.8817, 113.6703
Map of Carnarvon
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Carnarvon
What it costs to live in Carnarvon and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $210
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,034
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 50%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 39%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Carnarvon demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Carnarvon demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Carnarvon 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 young adults (25–44) at 35% and 29% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 27 | 9% |
| Youth (15–24) | 37 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 100 | 35% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 73 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 51 | 18% |
Share of the 288 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 23 | 31% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 14 | 19% |
| Rented | 29 | 39% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 40 | 60% |
| Townhouses & semis | 12 | 18% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 67 occupied private dwellings in Carnarvon.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,803
- Median weekly personal income
- $893
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 51 (29%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 27 (16%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 29 (10%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 67 (26%)
- Labour-force participation
- 32.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.4%
- Employed full-time
- 65
- Employed part-time
- 18
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 Carnarvon
Is Carnarvon 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, Carnarvon rates 47/100 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 Carnarvon?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Carnarvon was $210, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,034. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Carnarvon?
Carnarvon is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Carnarvon local government area.
What is the population of Carnarvon?
At the 2021 Census, Carnarvon had a population of about 281.
Is Carnarvon an advantaged area?
Carnarvon has an ABS SEIFA score of 959, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 34 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 34% of Australian suburbs.
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