Morawa, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Morawa is a small town in the Mid West of Western Australia, roughly 370 kilometres north of Perth and about 180 kilometres inland from Geraldton, on the old railway between Wongan Hills and Mullewa. Its name is Aboriginal and is thought to come from a local word for the dalgite, a kind of bilby; it was first written on maps in 1910 as the name of a rock hole. A railway siding arrived in 1913 and the townsite was gazetted the same year, briefly carrying the name Merkanooka before reverting to Morawa. The district runs on wheat, sheep, cattle and sandalwood, and is a receival point for the grain handler CBH. Nearby, the Koolanooka Hills were mined for iron ore from the 1960s, and the wider region is known for its spring wildflowers.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Morawa is more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 872, 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 Morawa 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 Morawa 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
7/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (7/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
80/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $190 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 80% 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.
Morawa at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 459
- Median age
- 45
- Median weekly household income
- $1,239
- SEIFA score
- 872
- Local government area
- Morawa
- Coordinates
- -29.1949, 116.0135
Map of Morawa
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Morawa
What it costs to live in Morawa and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $190
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $500
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 63%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 29%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Morawa demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Morawa demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Morawa 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 seniors (65+) at 28% and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 96 | 21% |
| Youth (15–24) | 50 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 80 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 101 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 126 | 28% |
Share of the 453 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 70 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 28 | 18% |
| Rented | 45 | 29% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 137 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 3 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 149 occupied private dwellings in Morawa.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,589
- Median weekly personal income
- $632
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 38 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 13 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 50 (11%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 117 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 40.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.1%
- Employed full-time
- 94
- Employed part-time
- 42
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 Morawa
Is Morawa 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, Morawa rates 31/100 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 Morawa?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Morawa was $190, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $500. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Morawa?
Morawa is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Morawa local government area.
What is the population of Morawa?
At the 2021 Census, Morawa had a population of about 459.
Is Morawa an advantaged area?
Morawa has an ABS SEIFA score of 872, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 7 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of Australian suburbs.
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