Daylesford, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Daylesford lies in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range about 115 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, on Dja Dja Wurrung country. With its neighbour Hepburn Springs, it sits among the greatest concentration of mineral springs in Australia, and the two towns have grown into one of the country's best-known spa retreats. The district was opened up by the gold rush — alluvial gold was found at Wombat Creek in 1851 and the town, first called Wombat, was surveyed in 1854 — and later drew Swiss and Italian settlers who planted vineyards in the hills. Today Daylesford trades on its springs, its lake, its guesthouses and restaurants, a weekend escape for Melburnians drawn to the spa waters and cool-climate country.
Around the national middle
Daylesford is more socio-economically advantaged than about 53% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 992, 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 Daylesford 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 Daylesford 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
53/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (53/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
34/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $331 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 34% 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.
Daylesford at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,781
- Median age
- 55
- Median weekly household income
- $1,185
- SEIFA score
- 992
- Local government area
- Hepburn
- Coordinates
- -37.3477, 144.1589
Map of Daylesford
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Daylesford
What it costs to live in Daylesford and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $331
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,532
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 69%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 26%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Daylesford demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Daylesford demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Daylesford 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 33% and 21% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 315 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 156 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 522 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 920 | 33% |
| Seniors (65+) | 867 | 31% |
Share of the 2,780 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 572 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 304 | 24% |
| Rented | 324 | 26% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,128 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 122 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,267 occupied private dwellings in Daylesford.
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,724
- Median weekly personal income
- $715
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 529 (21%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 248 (10%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 19 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,365 (57%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.1%
- Employed full-time
- 554
- Employed part-time
- 542
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 Daylesford
Is Daylesford 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, Daylesford 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 Daylesford?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Daylesford was $331, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,532. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Daylesford?
Daylesford is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Hepburn local government area.
What is the population of Daylesford?
At the 2021 Census, Daylesford had a population of about 2,781.
Is Daylesford an advantaged area?
Daylesford has an ABS SEIFA score of 992, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 53 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 53% of Australian suburbs.
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