Mount Nelson, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Mount Nelson is a leafy residential suburb in the hills just south of central Hobart, shared between the City of Hobart and Kingborough Council. The mountain it sits on was named in 1811 by Governor Lachlan Macquarie after the brig HMS Lady Nelson, a vessel central to the early European exploration of Van Diemen's Land that had carried Hobart's first settlers in 1803 — and, despite a common belief, not after the admiral Lord Nelson. The suburb's first road was cut in 1908 to reach the historic Mount Nelson Signal Station, which once relayed semaphore messages between Hobart and Port Arthur. Substantial housing came only after 1945, partly to settle immigrants arriving in the wake of the Second World War, and a local post office operated under the name Rialannah before taking the suburb's name. Today Mount Nelson is valued for its bushland, walking trails and outlooks, and is home to Hobart College, one of the city's public senior colleges.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Mount Nelson is more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1056, 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 Nelson 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Mount Nelson 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
85/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (85/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
39/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $320 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 39% 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 Nelson at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,749
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $1,687
- SEIFA score
- 1056
- Local government area
- Hobart
- Coordinates
- -42.9192, 147.3203
Map of Mount Nelson
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Mount Nelson
What it costs to live in Mount Nelson and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $320
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,586
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 71%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 28%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Mount Nelson 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 Nelson demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Mount Nelson 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 27% and 27% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 477 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 317 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 741 | 27% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 687 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 529 | 19% |
Share of the 2,751 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 419 | 40% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 325 | 31% |
| Rented | 298 | 28% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 859 | 81% |
| Townhouses & semis | 148 | 14% |
| Flats & apartments | 55 | 5% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,062 occupied private dwellings in Mount Nelson.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,120
- Median weekly personal income
- $846
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 699 (27%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 491 (19%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 55 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,640 (76%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.5%
- Employed full-time
- 658
- Employed part-time
- 580
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 Mount Nelson
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Mount Nelson is January (average daytime high around 21°C) and the coolest is July (around 11.6°C). The area receives roughly 823 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 21°C | 12.8°C | 64 mm |
| Feb | 20.2°C | 12.4°C | 55 mm |
| Mar | 18.9°C | 11.6°C | 74 mm |
| Apr | 16.6°C | 9.9°C | 44 mm |
| May | 13.8°C | 7.8°C | 68 mm |
| Jun | 12.1°C | 6.7°C | 76 mm |
| Jul | 11.6°C | 5.9°C | 52 mm |
| Aug | 12.1°C | 5.6°C | 68 mm |
| Sep | 14°C | 6.8°C | 60 mm |
| Oct | 15.6°C | 8°C | 99 mm |
| Nov | 17.2°C | 9.6°C | 81 mm |
| Dec | 19.1°C | 11°C | 82 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Mount Nelson
Is Mount Nelson 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 Nelson rates 70/100 overall (Strong 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 Nelson?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Mount Nelson was $320, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,586. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Mount Nelson?
Mount Nelson is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Hobart local government area.
What is the population of Mount Nelson?
At the 2021 Census, Mount Nelson had a population of about 2,749.
Is Mount Nelson an advantaged area?
Mount Nelson has an ABS SEIFA score of 1056, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 85 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 85% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Mount Nelson?
Mount Nelson has average daytime highs of about 16°C and overnight lows of about 9°C, with roughly 823 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Does Mount Nelson have high household incomes?
Mount Nelson has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in Tasmania — the 19th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($1,687 per week).
Where Mount Nelson ranks
Mount Nelson appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Tasmania
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Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.