Newman, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Newman is an iron-ore town deep in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, roughly 1,190 kilometres north of Perth and just north of the Tropic of Capricorn. The surrounding country is associated with the Nyiyaparli and Martu peoples. The town was built from 1966 as a company town by Mount Newman Mining, a BHP venture, to house workers for the nearby Mount Whaleback iron-ore mine, and was named after the government surveyor Aubrey Woodward Newman, who died of typhoid in 1896. Iron ore dominates the local economy; ore from Mount Whaleback travels by the long Mount Newman railway to the coast at Port Hedland for export. Newman also serves as a service centre for the wider mining district.
Around the national middle
Newman is more socio-economically advantaged than about 56% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 998, 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 Newman 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 Newman 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
56/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (56/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
93/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $110 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 93% 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.
Newman at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,456
- Median age
- 33
- Median weekly household income
- $2,972
- SEIFA score
- 998
- Local government area
- East Pilbara
- Coordinates
- -22.8815, 120.0183
Map of Newman
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Newman
What it costs to live in Newman and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $110
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,083
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 12%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 76%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Newman demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Newman demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Newman 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 44% and 31% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,251 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 626 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,815 | 44% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,600 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 156 | 2% |
Share of the 6,448 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 81 | 6% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 75 | 6% |
| Rented | 1,009 | 76% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,221 | 93% |
| Townhouses & semis | 52 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 28 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,315 occupied private dwellings in Newman.
- Average household size
- 2.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,342
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,774
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,585 (31%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 919 (18%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 646 (10%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,241 (44%)
- Labour-force participation
- 68.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.4%
- Employed full-time
- 2,690
- Employed part-time
- 480
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 Newman
Is Newman 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, Newman rates 68/100 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 Newman?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Newman was $110, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,083. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Newman?
Newman is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the East Pilbara local government area.
What is the population of Newman?
At the 2021 Census, Newman had a population of about 6,456.
Is Newman an advantaged area?
Newman has an ABS SEIFA score of 998, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 56 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 56% of Australian suburbs.
Does Newman have high household incomes?
Newman has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in Western Australia — the 16th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($2,972 per week).
Where Newman ranks
Newman appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Western Australia
More suburb guides in Western Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.