Cobden, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cobden is a town in the Western District of Victoria, about 200km southwest of Melbourne and 50km north of Port Campbell. It was named after Richard Cobden, a nineteenth-century English parliamentarian and free-trade campaigner. Dr Daniel Curdie settled in the area in 1840 and first called his property Lovely Banks; the town was surveyed in 1861, renamed Cobden, and a post office opened in 1867. A railway linking Camperdown, Cobden and Timboon operated from 1892 until 1987. Dairy farming dominates the surrounding district, and Cobden is home to one of Australia's largest milk-drying plants, run by Fonterra. The local Australian rules football club is a foundation member of the Hampden league.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Cobden is more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 900, 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.
Cobden at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,804
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $1,162
- SEIFA score
- 900
- Coordinates
- -38.3315, 143.0836
Cobden demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cobden 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 29%, 20% of homes are rented, and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 281 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 177 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 318 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 505 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 524 | 29% |
Share of the 1,805 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 344 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 209 | 29% |
| Rented | 148 | 20% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 674 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 56 | 8% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 733 occupied private dwellings in Cobden.
- Median weekly rent
- $220
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,083
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,517
- Median weekly personal income
- $631
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 104 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 22 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 36 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 486 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 53%
- Unemployment rate
- 3%
- Employed full-time
- 440
- Employed part-time
- 273
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.
Common questions about Cobden
Where is Cobden?
Cobden is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Cobden?
At the 2021 Census, Cobden had a population of about 1,804.
Is Cobden an advantaged area?
Cobden has an ABS SEIFA score of 900, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 12 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of Australian suburbs.
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