Dunsborough, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Dunsborough is a relaxed holiday town on the curve of Geographe Bay, in Western Australia's South West about 250 kilometres south of Perth. The Wardandi people knew this stretch of coast as Quedjinup; the town's later name comes from nearby Dunn Bay, named in turn after an early ship's captain. Once a quiet fishing and farming settlement, Dunsborough has grown into a popular seaside escape, busiest over summer and the holidays. It sits at the northern end of the Cape Naturaliste peninsula, with calm swimming beaches, the sheltered coves of Meelup Regional Park, and the lighthouse at the cape close by, and the vineyards and surf breaks of the Margaret River region just to the south.
More advantaged than the national average
Dunsborough is more socio-economically advantaged than about 78% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1038, 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 Dunsborough 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 Dunsborough 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
78/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (78/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
11/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $450 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 11% 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.
Dunsborough at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,413
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,738
- SEIFA score
- 1038
- Local government area
- Busselton
- Coordinates
- -33.6013, 115.0929
Map of Dunsborough
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Dunsborough
What it costs to live in Dunsborough and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $450
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,885
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 75%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 21%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Dunsborough demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Dunsborough demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Dunsborough 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 young adults (25–44) at 26% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,410 | 22% |
| Youth (15–24) | 489 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,691 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,562 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,265 | 20% |
Share of the 6,417 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 741 | 33% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 942 | 42% |
| Rented | 463 | 21% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,996 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 193 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 25 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,223 occupied private dwellings in Dunsborough.
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,040
- Median weekly personal income
- $883
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,372 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 392 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 63 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,898 (60%)
- Labour-force participation
- 63.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 2%
- Employed full-time
- 1,529
- Employed part-time
- 1,304
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 Dunsborough
Is Dunsborough 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, Dunsborough rates 56/100 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 Dunsborough?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Dunsborough was $450, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,885. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Dunsborough?
Dunsborough is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Busselton local government area.
What is the population of Dunsborough?
At the 2021 Census, Dunsborough had a population of about 6,413.
Is Dunsborough an advantaged area?
Dunsborough has an ABS SEIFA score of 1038, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 78 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 78% of Australian suburbs.
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