Salmon Gums, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Salmon Gums is a small town in the Goldfields-Esperance region of Western Australia, about 106 kilometres north of Esperance and 780 kilometres south-east of Perth, in the Shire of Esperance. It takes its name from a prominent stand of salmon gum trees, Eucalyptus salmonophloia, that early settlers used as a landmark; the land lies in the country of the Kalaako people. The townsite was reserved in 1912 and gazetted in 1925, when the railway from Esperance reached it, and soldier settlers took up land here after the First World War. A government research station later helped correct the district's poor soils, and today the area grows wheat and other cereals, with the town serving as a grain receival site. The Coolgardie-Esperance Highway runs through it.
More advantaged than the national average
Salmon Gums is more socio-economically advantaged than about 78% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1039, 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 Salmon Gums 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.
Very strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Salmon Gums 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
78/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (78/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
94/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $104 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 94% 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.
Salmon Gums at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 146
- Median age
- 48
- Median weekly household income
- $900
- SEIFA score
- 1039
- Local government area
- Esperance
- Coordinates
- -32.8555, 121.6918
Map of Salmon Gums
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Salmon Gums
What it costs to live in Salmon Gums and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $104
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $661
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 63%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 12%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Salmon Gums demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Salmon Gums demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Salmon Gums 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 38% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 32 | 22% |
| Youth (15–24) | 6 | 4% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 24 | 16% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 56 | 38% |
| Seniors (65+) | 29 | 20% |
Share of the 147 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 29 | 57% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 3 | 6% |
| Rented | 6 | 12% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 52 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 52 occupied private dwellings in Salmon Gums.
- Average household size
- 2.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,312
- Median weekly personal income
- $604
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 17 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 9 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 3 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 48 (44%)
- Labour-force participation
- 73.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.4%
- Employed full-time
- 54
- Employed part-time
- 25
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 Salmon Gums
Is Salmon Gums 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, Salmon Gums rates 83/100 overall (Very 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 Salmon Gums?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Salmon Gums was $104, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $661. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Salmon Gums?
Salmon Gums is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Esperance local government area.
What is the population of Salmon Gums?
At the 2021 Census, Salmon Gums had a population of about 146.
Is Salmon Gums an advantaged area?
Salmon Gums has an ABS SEIFA score of 1039, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 78 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 78% of Australian suburbs.
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