Katanning, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Katanning is a town in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, on the Great Southern Highway about 277 kilometres south-east of Perth. Its name is thought to come from an Aboriginal word, possibly meaning a meeting or camping place, though the origin is uncertain. The town grew after the Great Southern Railway reached the district, and from 1891 the Premier Roller Flour Mill anchored the local wheat economy. Katanning is known for its strong multicultural character: from the late 1970s a community of Malay Muslims from the Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas Islands settled here for work at the abattoir, and the town's mosque dates from 1980. The restored Premier Mill reopened in 2018 as a hotel, and farming and livestock remain central.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Katanning is more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 883, 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 Katanning 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 Katanning 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
9/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (9/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
78/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $200 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 78% 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.
Katanning at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 3,637
- Median age
- 38
- Median weekly household income
- $1,308
- SEIFA score
- 883
- Local government area
- Katanning
- Coordinates
- -33.6843, 117.5791
Map of Katanning
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Katanning
What it costs to live in Katanning and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $200
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,005
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 63%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 32%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Katanning demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Katanning demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Katanning 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 25% and 26% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 699 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 463 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 913 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 880 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 686 | 19% |
Share of the 3,641 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 415 | 32% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 405 | 31% |
| Rented | 424 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,178 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 126 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 5 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,320 occupied private dwellings in Katanning.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,595
- Median weekly personal income
- $698
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 835 (26%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 783 (24%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 341 (9%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 989 (35%)
- Labour-force participation
- 57%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.6%
- Employed full-time
- 963
- Employed part-time
- 504
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 Katanning
Is Katanning 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, Katanning rates 32/100 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 Katanning?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Katanning was $200, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,005. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Katanning?
Katanning is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Katanning local government area.
What is the population of Katanning?
At the 2021 Census, Katanning had a population of about 3,637.
Is Katanning an advantaged area?
Katanning has an ABS SEIFA score of 883, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 9 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of Australian suburbs.
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