Dunalley, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Dunalley is a small fishing village in south-east Tasmania, set on the narrow neck of land that joins the Forestier and Tasman Peninsulas to the rest of the island, about 53 kilometres east of Hobart. It is almost ringed by water, with Blackman Bay, Norfolk Bay and Marion Bay all close by. The village was first called East Bay Neck, but later took the name Dunalley after Henry Prittie, an Irish peer who held the title Baron Dunalley. Its best-known feature is the Denison Canal, cut across the isthmus in the early 1900s so that boats could pass between the bays without rounding the peninsulas; a swing bridge carries the highway over the channel. Fishing and farming support the small community.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Dunalley is more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 920, 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 Dunalley 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 Dunalley 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
17/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (17/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
41/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $310 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 41% 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.
Dunalley at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 333
- Median age
- 46
- Median weekly household income
- $1,292
- SEIFA score
- 920
- Local government area
- Sorell
- Coordinates
- -42.8778, 147.7863
Map of Dunalley
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Dunalley
What it costs to live in Dunalley and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $310
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,042
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 76%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 12%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Dunalley demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Dunalley demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Dunalley 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 27% and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 64 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 22 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 69 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 87 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 82 | 25% |
Share of the 324 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 61 | 48% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 36 | 28% |
| Rented | 15 | 12% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 123 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 5 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 131 occupied private dwellings in Dunalley.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,569
- Median weekly personal income
- $616
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 33 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 16 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 32 (10%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 108 (41%)
- Labour-force participation
- 55.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 6%
- Employed full-time
- 66
- Employed part-time
- 57
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 Dunalley
Is Dunalley 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, Dunalley rates 25/100 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 Dunalley?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Dunalley was $310, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,042. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Dunalley?
Dunalley is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Sorell local government area.
What is the population of Dunalley?
At the 2021 Census, Dunalley had a population of about 333.
Is Dunalley an advantaged area?
Dunalley has an ABS SEIFA score of 920, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 17 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Tasmania
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