Cervantes, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cervantes is a small coastal town on the Turquoise Coast of Western Australia, about 198 kilometres north-north-west of Perth in the Shire of Dandaragan. It takes its name from the Cervantes, an American whaler wrecked nearby in the 1840s, which itself honoured Miguel de Cervantes, the author of Don Quixote. The town was established in 1962 to service the local rock-lobster fishery, which remains its principal industry. Cervantes is the gateway to the Pinnacles, thousands of weathered limestone spires that rise from the sands of Nambung National Park. Nearby Lake Thetis contains living stromatolites, layered structures built by microbes that are among the oldest forms of life on Earth.
Less advantaged than the national average
Cervantes is more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 934, 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 Cervantes 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.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Cervantes 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
22/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (22/100) 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.
Cervantes at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 480
- Median age
- 55
- Median weekly household income
- $1,044
- SEIFA score
- 934
- Local government area
- Dandaragan
- Coordinates
- -30.4982, 115.0717
Map of Cervantes
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Cervantes
What it costs to live in Cervantes and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $300
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,427
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 82%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 17%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Cervantes demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Cervantes demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cervantes 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 34% and 17% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 60 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 21 | 4% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 91 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 141 | 30% |
| Seniors (65+) | 161 | 34% |
Share of the 474 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 107 | 59% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 41 | 23% |
| Rented | 31 | 17% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 179 | 97% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 185 occupied private dwellings in Cervantes.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,401
- Median weekly personal income
- $628
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 74 (17%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 21 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 12 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 133 (32%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.8%
- Employed full-time
- 110
- Employed part-time
- 65
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 Cervantes
Is Cervantes 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, Cervantes rates 30/100 overall (Lower 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 Cervantes?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Cervantes was $300, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,427. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Cervantes?
Cervantes is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Dandaragan local government area.
What is the population of Cervantes?
At the 2021 Census, Cervantes had a population of about 480.
Is Cervantes an advantaged area?
Cervantes has an ABS SEIFA score of 934, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 22 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Western Australia
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