Casterton, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Casterton sits on the Glenelg River in the Western District of Victoria, about 360 kilometres west of Melbourne and not far from the South Australian border. The Gunditjmara people are the formally recognised traditional owners of the country around the town. Casterton takes its name from a village in Cumbria, England. Pastoralists, among them the Henty brothers, took up large runs in the district from the 1830s, and a township grew at a river crossing where the Glenelg Inn opened in 1846. Wheat gave way over time to sheep, cattle and dairying. The town proudly claims to be the birthplace of the kelpie, Australia's celebrated working dog, a heritage celebrated each year at the lively Casterton Kelpie Festival.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Casterton is more socio-economically advantaged than about 11% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 898, 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 Casterton 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 Casterton 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
11/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (11/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
85/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $160 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 85% 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.
Casterton at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,673
- Median age
- 58
- Median weekly household income
- $881
- SEIFA score
- 898
- Local government area
- Glenelg
- Coordinates
- -37.6003, 141.2920
Map of Casterton
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Casterton
What it costs to live in Casterton and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $160
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $700
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 79%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 15%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Casterton demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Casterton demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Casterton 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 seniors (65+) at 38% and 10% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 186 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 136 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 240 | 14% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 472 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 637 | 38% |
Share of the 1,671 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 438 | 58% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 161 | 21% |
| Rented | 110 | 15% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 717 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 36 | 5% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 760 occupied private dwellings in Casterton.
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,297
- Median weekly personal income
- $523
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 163 (10%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 65 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 31 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 467 (32%)
- Labour-force participation
- 43.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4%
- Employed full-time
- 350
- Employed part-time
- 216
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 Casterton
Is Casterton 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, Casterton rates 36/100 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 Casterton?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Casterton was $160, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $700. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Casterton?
Casterton is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Glenelg local government area.
What is the population of Casterton?
At the 2021 Census, Casterton had a population of about 1,673.
Is Casterton an advantaged area?
Casterton has an ABS SEIFA score of 898, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 11 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 11% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
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