Penguin, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Penguin is a seaside town on Tasmania's north-west coast, about 30 kilometres west of Devonport, strung along the shore between Burnie and Ulverstone. It owes its name to the little penguins that nest along this coast: the botanist Ronald Gunn chose it for the rookeries scattered through the area. Settled in 1861 as a timber town and proclaimed in 1875, Penguin shipped timber across Bass Strait to the Victorian goldfields before the railway reached it in 1901. The town leans cheerfully into its name — a Big Penguin statue, raised in 1975 for the centenary of the naming, presides over the foreshore, and even the street bins wear little penguins. The Dial Range rises close behind.
Less advantaged than the national average
Penguin is more socio-economically advantaged than about 27% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 945, 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 Penguin 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 Penguin 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
27/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (27/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
57/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $260 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 57% 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.
Penguin at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 4,132
- Median age
- 47
- Median weekly household income
- $1,301
- SEIFA score
- 945
- Local government area
- Central Coast (Tas.)
- Coordinates
- -41.1393, 146.0610
Map of Penguin
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Penguin
What it costs to live in Penguin and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $260
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 75%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 21%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Penguin demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Penguin demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Penguin 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 29% and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 663 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 426 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 857 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,208 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 971 | 24% |
Share of the 4,125 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 652 | 39% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 589 | 36% |
| Rented | 347 | 21% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,498 | 91% |
| Townhouses & semis | 109 | 7% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,652 occupied private dwellings in Penguin.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,686
- Median weekly personal income
- $657
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 432 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 89 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 328 (8%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,239 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 57.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.2%
- Employed full-time
- 1,050
- Employed part-time
- 712
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 Penguin
Is Penguin 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, Penguin rates 37/100 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 Penguin?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Penguin was $260, 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 Penguin?
Penguin is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Central Coast (Tas.) local government area.
What is the population of Penguin?
At the 2021 Census, Penguin had a population of about 4,132.
Is Penguin an advantaged area?
Penguin has an ABS SEIFA score of 945, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 27 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 27% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Tasmania
More suburb guides in Tasmania
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