Orford (Tas.), TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Orford is a seaside village on the east coast of Tasmania, set around the mouth of the Prosser River about 73 kilometres north-east of Hobart. The area is the Country of the Paredarerme, or Oyster Bay, people. The town is named after the English title of the Walpole family, after Edward Walpole was granted land nearby in 1831. European settlement grew from the 1820s around whaling stations and a small garrison, and in the late nineteenth century a quarry near the town shipped sandstone to Melbourne. Today Orford is a popular holiday spot, its population swelling in summer with visitors drawn to its beaches and fishing, and it serves as a gateway, through neighbouring Triabunna, to Maria Island.
Less advantaged than the national average
Orford (Tas.) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 952, 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 Orford (Tas.) 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Orford (Tas.) 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
30/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (30/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
63/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $250 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 63% 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.
Orford (Tas.) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 685
- Median age
- 62
- Median weekly household income
- $1,110
- SEIFA score
- 952
- Local government area
- Glamorgan-Spring Bay
- Coordinates
- -42.5752, 147.8631
Map of Orford (Tas.)
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Orford (Tas.)
What it costs to live in Orford (Tas.) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $250
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,517
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 80%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 16%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Orford (Tas.) demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Orford (Tas.) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Orford (Tas.) 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 43% and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 54 | 8% |
| Youth (15–24) | 26 | 4% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 84 | 12% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 227 | 33% |
| Seniors (65+) | 289 | 43% |
Share of the 680 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 181 | 59% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 64 | 21% |
| Rented | 50 | 16% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 296 | 97% |
| Townhouses & semis | 7 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 306 occupied private dwellings in Orford (Tas.).
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,363
- Median weekly personal income
- $621
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 68 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 21 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 19 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 235 (38%)
- Labour-force participation
- 40.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.9%
- Employed full-time
- 121
- Employed part-time
- 99
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 Orford (Tas.)
Is Orford (Tas.) 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, Orford (Tas.) rates 41/100 overall (Below the national middle 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 Orford (Tas.)?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Orford (Tas.) was $250, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,517. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Orford (Tas.)?
Orford (Tas.) is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Glamorgan-Spring Bay local government area.
What is the population of Orford (Tas.)?
At the 2021 Census, Orford (Tas.) had a population of about 685.
Is Orford (Tas.) an advantaged area?
Orford (Tas.) has an ABS SEIFA score of 952, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 30 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of Australian suburbs.
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