Pemberton, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Pemberton is a small town deep in the karri forests of Western Australia's South West, about 335 kilometres south of Perth. It lies on Bibbulmun country, known to Aboriginal people as Wandergarup — 'plenty of water' — and takes its European name from Pemberton Walcott, who settled here in the 1860s. The town grew up around timber: from 1913 the State Saw Mills cut karri for railway sleepers, and milling remained its mainstay for the best part of a century. The forest is now the attraction. Visitors climb the Gloucester Tree, a giant karri once used as a fire lookout, and the even taller Bicentennial Tree, and explore the surrounding national parks, wineries and the old timber tramway.
Less advantaged than the national average
Pemberton is more socio-economically advantaged than about 24% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 938, 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 Pemberton 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 Pemberton 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
24/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (24/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
52/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $280 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 52% 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.
Pemberton at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 861
- Median age
- 48
- Median weekly household income
- $1,151
- SEIFA score
- 938
- Local government area
- Manjimup
- Coordinates
- -34.4432, 116.0539
Map of Pemberton
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Pemberton
What it costs to live in Pemberton and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $280
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 78%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 17%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Pemberton demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Pemberton demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Pemberton 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 22% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 130 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 92 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 166 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 272 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 194 | 23% |
Share of the 854 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 142 | 44% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 110 | 34% |
| Rented | 55 | 17% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 314 | 98% |
| Townhouses & semis | 8 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 322 occupied private dwellings in Pemberton.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,656
- Median weekly personal income
- $671
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 175 (22%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 64 (8%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 12 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 297 (42%)
- Labour-force participation
- 58.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.1%
- Employed full-time
- 232
- Employed part-time
- 160
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 Pemberton
Is Pemberton 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, Pemberton rates 33/100 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 Pemberton?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Pemberton was $280, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,300. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Pemberton?
Pemberton is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Manjimup local government area.
What is the population of Pemberton?
At the 2021 Census, Pemberton had a population of about 861.
Is Pemberton an advantaged area?
Pemberton has an ABS SEIFA score of 938, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 24 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 24% of Australian suburbs.
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