St Arnaud, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
St Arnaud lies in the Wimmera, in north-central Victoria, about 244 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, within the recognised country of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. Like a number of Australian places named in the Crimean War era, it honours the French marshal Jacques Leroy de Saint Arnaud. The town grew as a gold-mining settlement from the mid-1850s, its post office opening in 1856. Much of that early prosperity is still legible in the streetscape: Napier Street keeps a fine run of well-preserved nineteenth-century buildings and hotels, and the 1878 railway station has been restored as a public gallery and arts hub. The town's Pioneer Park is believed to be the only surviving public park designed by the celebrated landscape gardener Edna Walling.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
St Arnaud 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 St Arnaud 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 St Arnaud 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
80/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $188 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 80% 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.
St Arnaud at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,318
- Median age
- 52
- Median weekly household income
- $920
- SEIFA score
- 892
- Local government area
- Northern Grampians
- Coordinates
- -36.6200, 143.2409
Map of St Arnaud
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in St Arnaud
What it costs to live in St Arnaud and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $188
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $867
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 76%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 20%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the St Arnaud demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
St Arnaud demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile St Arnaud 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 32% and 7% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 317 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 215 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 420 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 617 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 745 | 32% |
Share of the 2,314 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 511 | 49% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 285 | 27% |
| Rented | 207 | 20% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 980 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 49 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,038 occupied private dwellings in St Arnaud.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,325
- Median weekly personal income
- $560
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 147 (7%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 59 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 54 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 619 (32%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.1%
- Employed full-time
- 495
- Employed part-time
- 354
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 St Arnaud
Is St Arnaud 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, St Arnaud 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 St Arnaud?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in St Arnaud was $188, 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 St Arnaud?
St Arnaud is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Northern Grampians local government area.
What is the population of St Arnaud?
At the 2021 Census, St Arnaud had a population of about 2,318.
Is St Arnaud an advantaged area?
St Arnaud 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
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