Denham, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Denham is a small coastal town in the Gascoyne region of Western Australia, set on the Peron Peninsula about 830 kilometres north of Perth, and is often described as the westernmost town in Australia. The Shark Bay area is the Country of the Malgana people, recognised as native title holders in 2018, whose connection to the bay reaches back many thousands of years. The town began as a pearling camp in the nineteenth century and is named after Captain Henry Mangles Denham of the Royal Navy, who charted Shark Bay in 1858. Pearling and fishing long sustained the settlement, but today its mainstay is tourism: Denham is the gateway to the Shark Bay World Heritage Area, the beaches of Francois Peron National Park, and the famous dolphins of nearby Monkey Mia.
Less advantaged than the national average
Denham is more socio-economically advantaged than about 21% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 931, 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 Denham 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 Denham 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
21/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (21/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
71/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $220 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 71% 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.
Denham at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 849
- Median age
- 48
- Median weekly household income
- $1,021
- SEIFA score
- 931
- Local government area
- Shark Bay
- Coordinates
- -25.8977, 113.5982
Map of Denham
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Denham
What it costs to live in Denham and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $220
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,387
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 54%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 38%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Denham demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Denham demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Denham 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 29% and 27% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 112 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 61 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 220 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 241 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 208 | 25% |
Share of the 842 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 123 | 39% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 47 | 15% |
| Rented | 122 | 38% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 226 | 71% |
| Townhouses & semis | 20 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 9 | 3% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 320 occupied private dwellings in Denham.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,449
- Median weekly personal income
- $754
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 191 (27%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 78 (11%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 76 (9%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 278 (39%)
- Labour-force participation
- 53.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 1.8%
- Employed full-time
- 250
- Employed part-time
- 101
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 Denham
Is Denham 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, Denham rates 38/100 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 Denham?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Denham was $220, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,387. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Denham?
Denham is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Shark Bay local government area.
What is the population of Denham?
At the 2021 Census, Denham had a population of about 849.
Is Denham an advantaged area?
Denham has an ABS SEIFA score of 931, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 21 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 21% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Western Australia
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