Chewton, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Chewton is a historic gold-mining village in central Victoria, about 5 kilometres east of Castlemaine and 116 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, in the Mount Alexander Shire. Gold found nearby at Barkers Creek in 1851 set off one of the great rushes of the Mount Alexander diggings, drawing tens of thousands of diggers within months. The town was surveyed in 1854, and as the shallow alluvial gold ran out, miners turned to the deep quartz reefs; the Wattle Gully mine, opened in 1876, still works today. Reminders of the boom survive in the Red Hill Hotel of 1854, the 1858 town hall and the 1879 post office. Chewton keeps its own character while slowly becoming part of greater Castlemaine.
Around the national middle
Chewton is more socio-economically advantaged than about 56% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 997, 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 Chewton 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 Chewton 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
56/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (56/100) 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.
Chewton at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 763
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $1,245
- SEIFA score
- 997
- Local government area
- Mount Alexander
- Coordinates
- -37.0913, 144.2696
Map of Chewton
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Chewton
What it costs to live in Chewton and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $300
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,517
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 84%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 14%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Chewton demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Chewton demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Chewton 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 34% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 112 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 43 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 145 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 264 | 34% |
| Seniors (65+) | 202 | 26% |
Share of the 766 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 170 | 50% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 114 | 34% |
| Rented | 49 | 14% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 330 | 98% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 336 occupied private dwellings in Chewton.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,781
- Median weekly personal income
- $687
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 84 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 23 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 7 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 365 (58%)
- Labour-force participation
- 53.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.2%
- Employed full-time
- 151
- Employed part-time
- 156
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 Chewton
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Chewton is January (average daytime high around 29.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 12.6°C). The area receives roughly 637 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.9°C | 16.6°C | 41 mm |
| Feb | 28.5°C | 15.7°C | 20 mm |
| Mar | 25.8°C | 14.6°C | 40 mm |
| Apr | 20.9°C | 11.6°C | 55 mm |
| May | 16.1°C | 8.9°C | 62 mm |
| Jun | 13.3°C | 7°C | 64 mm |
| Jul | 12.6°C | 6.2°C | 59 mm |
| Aug | 13.6°C | 6.2°C | 63 mm |
| Sep | 16.5°C | 7.7°C | 59 mm |
| Oct | 20.6°C | 9.7°C | 72 mm |
| Nov | 23.5°C | 11.8°C | 56 mm |
| Dec | 27.1°C | 14.2°C | 46 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Chewton
Is Chewton 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, Chewton rates 53/100 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 Chewton?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Chewton was $300, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,517. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Chewton?
Chewton is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Mount Alexander local government area.
What is the population of Chewton?
At the 2021 Census, Chewton had a population of about 763.
Is Chewton an advantaged area?
Chewton has an ABS SEIFA score of 997, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 56 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 56% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Chewton?
Chewton has average daytime highs of about 20.7°C and overnight lows of about 10.9°C, with roughly 637 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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