Lenah Valley, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Lenah Valley is a suburb of Hobart set in the foothills of Mount Wellington, west of the city centre between Mount Stuart, New Town and the City of Glenorchy. It was known in turn as Kangaroo Bottom, Kangaroo Valley and Sassafras Valley before being brought together as Lenah Valley in 1922; the name takes lenah, recorded as the Muwinina word for kangaroo. The eastern end was among the earliest parts settled, with the first land grants issued for farming in 1817, and the Newlands manor house of the late 1830s set a tone of orchards and quality homes for the surrounding district. In 1831 James Sherwin established one of Australia's earliest commercial potteries along Pottery Road. Lady Jane Franklin bought a tract of land here in 1839 to build a museum and botanical garden she called Ancanthe, from the Greek for 'blooming valley'; the sandstone museum, raised in the Greek revival style, opened in 1843, and the Art Society of Tasmania has worked from the Lady Franklin Gallery since 1949. The suburb's landmarks today include Calvary Hospital, the Pura Milk factory, John Turnbull Park and the bushland of Ancanthe Park around the gallery.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Lenah Valley is more socio-economically advantaged than about 81% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1044, 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 Lenah Valley 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 Lenah Valley 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
81/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (81/100) 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.
Lenah Valley at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,522
- Median age
- 37
- Median weekly household income
- $1,931
- SEIFA score
- 1044
- Local government area
- Hobart
- Coordinates
- -42.8696, 147.2756
Map of Lenah Valley
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Lenah Valley
What it costs to live in Lenah Valley and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $380
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,625
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 26%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Lenah Valley demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Lenah Valley demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Lenah Valley 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 32% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,159 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 618 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,117 | 32% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,605 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,017 | 16% |
Share of the 6,516 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 895 | 35% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 955 | 38% |
| Rented | 656 | 26% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,249 | 88% |
| Townhouses & semis | 127 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 161 | 6% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,546 occupied private dwellings in Lenah Valley.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,310
- Median weekly personal income
- $939
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,432 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,162 (18%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 134 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 3,626 (70%)
- Labour-force participation
- 69.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.9%
- Employed full-time
- 1,913
- Employed part-time
- 1,421
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 Lenah Valley
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Lenah Valley is January (average daytime high around 23.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 11.7°C). The area receives roughly 642 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23.6°C | 12.5°C | 51 mm |
| Feb | 22.5°C | 11.8°C | 42 mm |
| Mar | 20.8°C | 10.5°C | 53 mm |
| Apr | 17.6°C | 8.3°C | 36 mm |
| May | 14.2°C | 5.9°C | 55 mm |
| Jun | 12.1°C | 4.3°C | 55 mm |
| Jul | 11.7°C | 3.7°C | 42 mm |
| Aug | 12.6°C | 3.6°C | 56 mm |
| Sep | 14.9°C | 5.1°C | 50 mm |
| Oct | 17°C | 6.9°C | 77 mm |
| Nov | 19.1°C | 9°C | 62 mm |
| Dec | 21.4°C | 10.6°C | 63 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Lenah Valley
Is Lenah Valley 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, Lenah Valley rates 62/100 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 Lenah Valley?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Lenah Valley was $380, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,625. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Lenah Valley?
Lenah Valley is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Hobart local government area.
What is the population of Lenah Valley?
At the 2021 Census, Lenah Valley had a population of about 6,522.
Is Lenah Valley an advantaged area?
Lenah Valley has an ABS SEIFA score of 1044, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 81 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 81% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Lenah Valley?
Lenah Valley has average daytime highs of about 17.3°C and overnight lows of about 7.7°C, with roughly 642 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Lenah Valley?
Lenah Valley is one of the most populous suburbs in Tasmania — the 14th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 6,522 usual residents).
Does Lenah Valley have high household incomes?
Lenah Valley has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in Tasmania — the 6th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($1,931 per week).
Where Lenah Valley ranks
Lenah Valley 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.