Old Beach, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Old Beach is a riverside locality on the eastern bank of the River Derwent, in the Brighton municipality north of Hobart, Tasmania. Largely residential with a rural fringe, it is framed by green, hilly country and looks across the water to the suburbs on the river's far bank. The East Derwent Highway runs through it, linking the locality to the city downstream. An old sandstone quarry, worked in the late 1980s, lies near its heart, and the Baskerville Raceway motor-racing circuit is a short drive away. Old Beach was gazetted as a locality in 1970, though a post office had served the district since 1866.
Around the national middle
Old Beach is more socio-economically advantaged than about 54% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 994, 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.
Old Beach at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 4,394
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $1,865
- SEIFA score
- 994
- Coordinates
- -42.7585, 147.2919
Old Beach demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Old Beach 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%, 12% of homes are rented, and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 829 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 439 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,200 | 27% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,121 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 801 | 18% |
Share of the 4,390 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 575 | 35% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 843 | 52% |
| Rented | 192 | 12% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,465 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 19 | 1% |
| Flats & apartments | 135 | 8% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,619 occupied private dwellings in Old Beach.
- Median weekly rent
- $400
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,517
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,121
- Median weekly personal income
- $887
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 472 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 232 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 199 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,654 (48%)
- Labour-force participation
- 68.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.4%
- Employed full-time
- 1,459
- Employed part-time
- 750
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 Old Beach
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Old Beach is January (average daytime high around 23.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 11.7°C). The area receives roughly 642 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23.6°C | 12.5°C | 51 mm |
| Feb | 22.5°C | 11.8°C | 42 mm |
| Mar | 20.8°C | 10.5°C | 53 mm |
| Apr | 17.6°C | 8.3°C | 36 mm |
| May | 14.2°C | 5.9°C | 55 mm |
| Jun | 12.1°C | 4.3°C | 55 mm |
| Jul | 11.7°C | 3.7°C | 42 mm |
| Aug | 12.6°C | 3.6°C | 56 mm |
| Sep | 14.9°C | 5.1°C | 50 mm |
| Oct | 17°C | 6.9°C | 77 mm |
| Nov | 19.1°C | 9°C | 62 mm |
| Dec | 21.4°C | 10.6°C | 63 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Old Beach
Where is Old Beach?
Old Beach is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia.
What is the population of Old Beach?
At the 2021 Census, Old Beach had a population of about 4,394.
Is Old Beach an advantaged area?
Old Beach has an ABS SEIFA score of 994, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 54 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 54% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Old Beach?
Old Beach has average daytime highs of about 17.3°C and overnight lows of about 7.7°C, with roughly 642 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Does Old Beach have high household incomes?
Old Beach has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in Tasmania — the 16th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($1,865 per week).
Where Old Beach ranks
Old Beach appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Highest-income suburbs in Tasmania#16 of 25
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