Hobart, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Hobart is the capital of Tasmania and, founded as a penal colony in 1804, the second-oldest capital city in Australia after Sydney. It sits on the estuary of the River Derwent beneath kunanyi / Mount Wellington, on the land of the Muwinina people, who knew the place as nipaluna — a name meaning 'saltwater country' in the reclaimed palawa kani language. It was named after Lord Hobart, a British colonial secretary of the day. From convict settlement and whaling port it grew into a small, characterful city, keeping much of its Georgian and Victorian sandstone. Today it is known for Salamanca Place and its Saturday market, the harbour, and the boundary-pushing Museum of Old and New Art (MONA).
More advantaged than the national average
Hobart is more socio-economically advantaged than about 71% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1024, 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 Hobart 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 Hobart 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
71/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (71/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
23/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $380 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 23% 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.
Hobart at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 3,390
- Median age
- 31
- Median weekly household income
- $1,464
- SEIFA score
- 1024
- Local government area
- Hobart
- Coordinates
- -42.8829, 147.3263
Map of Hobart
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Hobart
What it costs to live in Hobart and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $380
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,848
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 28%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 68%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Hobart demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Hobart demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Hobart 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 43% and 44% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 173 | 5% |
| Youth (15–24) | 745 | 22% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,475 | 43% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 530 | 16% |
| Seniors (65+) | 472 | 14% |
Share of the 3,395 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 169 | 16% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 123 | 12% |
| Rented | 723 | 68% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 198 | 19% |
| Townhouses & semis | 158 | 15% |
| Flats & apartments | 660 | 62% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,060 occupied private dwellings in Hobart.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,946
- Median weekly personal income
- $667
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,326 (44%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,050 (35%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 87 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,284 (72%)
- Labour-force participation
- 57.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 13%
- Employed full-time
- 804
- Employed part-time
- 707
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.
Weather and climate in Hobart
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Hobart is January (average daytime high around 21°C) and the coolest is July (around 11.6°C). The area receives roughly 823 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21°C | 12.8°C | 64 mm |
| Feb | 20.2°C | 12.4°C | 55 mm |
| Mar | 18.9°C | 11.6°C | 74 mm |
| Apr | 16.6°C | 9.9°C | 44 mm |
| May | 13.8°C | 7.8°C | 68 mm |
| Jun | 12.1°C | 6.7°C | 76 mm |
| Jul | 11.6°C | 5.9°C | 52 mm |
| Aug | 12.1°C | 5.6°C | 68 mm |
| Sep | 14°C | 6.8°C | 60 mm |
| Oct | 15.6°C | 8°C | 99 mm |
| Nov | 17.2°C | 9.6°C | 81 mm |
| Dec | 19.1°C | 11°C | 82 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Hobart
Is Hobart 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, Hobart rates 55/100 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 Hobart?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Hobart was $380, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,848. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Hobart?
Hobart is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Hobart local government area.
What is the population of Hobart?
At the 2021 Census, Hobart had a population of about 3,390.
Is Hobart an advantaged area?
Hobart has an ABS SEIFA score of 1024, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 71 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 71% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Hobart?
Hobart has average daytime highs of about 16°C and overnight lows of about 9°C, with roughly 823 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Where Hobart ranks
Hobart appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Tasmania
More suburb guides in Tasmania
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.