St Helens (Tas.), TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
St Helens is the largest town on Tasmania's north-east coast, set on the sheltered waters of Georges Bay about 160 kilometres from Launceston. Captain Tobias Furneaux named nearby St Helens Point in 1773, and the town that later grew on the bay took the same name, borrowed from St Helens on the Isle of Wight. Long a fishing port, it bills itself as the game-fishing capital of Tasmania and is well known for its oysters, with tourism, fishing, and timber underpinning the local economy. Just to the north lie the orange-lichened granite boulders and white sands of the Bay of Fires, whose beaches and the village of Binalong Bay draw visitors throughout the warmer months.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
St Helens (Tas.) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 868, 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 Helens (Tas.) 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 Helens (Tas.) 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
6/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (6/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
68/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $230 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 68% 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 Helens (Tas.) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,206
- Median age
- 57
- Median weekly household income
- $824
- SEIFA score
- 868
- Local government area
- Break O'Day
- Coordinates
- -41.2946, 148.2008
Map of St Helens (Tas.)
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in St Helens (Tas.)
What it costs to live in St Helens (Tas.) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $230
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,083
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 72%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 25%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the St Helens (Tas.) 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 Helens (Tas.) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile St Helens (Tas.) 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 34% and 16% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 281 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 149 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 356 | 16% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 660 | 30% |
| Seniors (65+) | 756 | 34% |
Share of the 2,202 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 486 | 50% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 216 | 22% |
| Rented | 246 | 25% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 844 | 86% |
| Townhouses & semis | 47 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 69 | 7% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 983 occupied private dwellings in St Helens (Tas.).
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,169
- Median weekly personal income
- $494
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 321 (16%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 82 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 94 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 591 (31%)
- Labour-force participation
- 40.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.9%
- Employed full-time
- 316
- Employed part-time
- 351
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 Helens (Tas.)
Is St Helens (Tas.) 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 Helens (Tas.) rates 27/100 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 Helens (Tas.)?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in St Helens (Tas.) was $230, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,083. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is St Helens (Tas.)?
St Helens (Tas.) is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the Break O'Day local government area.
What is the population of St Helens (Tas.)?
At the 2021 Census, St Helens (Tas.) had a population of about 2,206.
Is St Helens (Tas.) an advantaged area?
St Helens (Tas.) has an ABS SEIFA score of 868, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 6 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of Australian suburbs.
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