Merredin, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Merredin is the main town of the central Wheatbelt of Western Australia, roughly 256 kilometres east of Perth on the Great Eastern Highway and the railway between Perth and Kalgoorlie. Local Aboriginal people knew the place as Merriding, and the surveyor C. C. Hunt is said to have taken the name from them in the 1860s. Its meaning is uncertain: some link it to the merrit, a wattle that grows nearby, while others tie it to the great bare granite rock that rises beside the town. The railway reached Merredin in 1893, and a dam built to catch run-off from Merredin Peak still survives. Wheat farming has long been the mainstay, supported by an agricultural research station opened in 1904.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Merredin is more socio-economically advantaged than about 19% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 924, 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.
Merredin at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,604
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $1,396
- SEIFA score
- 924
- Coordinates
- -31.4728, 118.2955
Merredin demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Merredin 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 26%, 32% of homes are rented, and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 503 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 299 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 641 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 673 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 476 | 18% |
Share of the 2,592 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 302 | 31% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 313 | 32% |
| Rented | 314 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 927 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 43 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 981 occupied private dwellings in Merredin.
- Median weekly rent
- $220
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,074
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,899
- Median weekly personal income
- $756
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 309 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 139 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 153 (6%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 786 (39%)
- Labour-force participation
- 58.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%
- Employed full-time
- 719
- Employed part-time
- 369
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.
Common questions about Merredin
Where is Merredin?
Merredin is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Merredin?
At the 2021 Census, Merredin had a population of about 2,604.
Is Merredin an advantaged area?
Merredin has an ABS SEIFA score of 924, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 19 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 19% of Australian suburbs.
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