Skipton, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Skipton is a small town on Mount Emu Creek in Victoria's Western District, about 52km south-west of Ballarat and 166km west of Melbourne. The European settlers named it after Skipton in Yorkshire, England; the locality's earlier Aboriginal name is recorded as 'Woran'. A pastoral run was taken up in the district in 1839, the township was surveyed in 1852 and the post office opened in 1858. Long associated with fine-wool growing on the surrounding volcanic plains, Skipton today is a quiet rural service centre. It marks one end of the Ballarat-Skipton Rail Trail, a walking and cycling path that follows a former railway line through farmland and old timber trestle bridges.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Skipton is more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 892, 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 Skipton 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 Skipton 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
10/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (10/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
79/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $194 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 79% 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.
Skipton at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 609
- Median age
- 53
- Median weekly household income
- $894
- SEIFA score
- 892
- Local government area
- Pyrenees
- Coordinates
- -37.6888, 143.3395
Map of Skipton
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Skipton
What it costs to live in Skipton and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $194
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $867
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 79%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 12%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Skipton demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Skipton demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Skipton 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 31% and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 87 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 55 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 112 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 190 | 31% |
| Seniors (65+) | 165 | 27% |
Share of the 609 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 126 | 48% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 81 | 31% |
| Rented | 31 | 12% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 255 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 255 occupied private dwellings in Skipton.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,302
- Median weekly personal income
- $493
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 46 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 8 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 12 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 170 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 43.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.3%
- Employed full-time
- 121
- Employed part-time
- 75
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.
Share your local knowledge of Skipton
Lived here or spent time in Skipton? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Skipton
Is Skipton 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, Skipton 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 Skipton?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Skipton was $194, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $867. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Skipton?
Skipton is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Pyrenees local government area.
What is the population of Skipton?
At the 2021 Census, Skipton had a population of about 609.
Is Skipton an advantaged area?
Skipton has an ABS SEIFA score of 892, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 10 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.