Mount Magnet, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Mount Magnet is a gold-mining town in the Mid West of Western Australia, about 573 kilometres north-east of Perth and 341 kilometres east-north-east of the coastal city of Geraldton. The explorer Robert Austin named the nearby hill West Mount Magnet in 1854, after the iron in its rock that disturbed his compass; the hill's Aboriginal name, Warramboo, recorded as meaning campfire camping place, was reinstated in 1972. Alluvial gold was found at Poverty Flats in 1891, and mining still drives the local economy. Visitors can explore the Mining and Pastoral Museum and the Wirnda Barna art centre, and in spring the surrounding plains turn colourful with everlastings and other wildflowers.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Mount Magnet is more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 858, 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 Mount Magnet 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 Mount Magnet 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
5/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (5/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
83/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $175 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 83% 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.
Mount Magnet at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 583
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,192
- SEIFA score
- 858
- Local government area
- Mount Magnet
- Coordinates
- -28.0635, 117.8846
Map of Mount Magnet
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Mount Magnet
What it costs to live in Mount Magnet and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $175
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $535
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 55%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 31%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Mount Magnet demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Mount Magnet demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Mount Magnet 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 32% and 21% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 120 | 21% |
| Youth (15–24) | 45 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 138 | 24% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 189 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 93 | 16% |
Share of the 585 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 52 | 41% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 18 | 14% |
| Rented | 39 | 31% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 114 | 91% |
| Townhouses & semis | 6 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 125 occupied private dwellings in Mount Magnet.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,357
- Median weekly personal income
- $703
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 60 (21%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 15 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 54 (9%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 90 (19%)
- Labour-force participation
- 30.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.6%
- Employed full-time
- 102
- Employed part-time
- 23
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 Mount Magnet
Is Mount Magnet 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, Mount Magnet 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 Mount Magnet?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Mount Magnet was $175, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $535. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Mount Magnet?
Mount Magnet is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Mount Magnet local government area.
What is the population of Mount Magnet?
At the 2021 Census, Mount Magnet had a population of about 583.
Is Mount Magnet an advantaged area?
Mount Magnet has an ABS SEIFA score of 858, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 5 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of Australian suburbs.
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