Stawell, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Stawell is a town in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, about 237 kilometres west-north-west of Melbourne. In the Djab Wurrung language the place is known as Yirip. It began in 1853 as the gold-rush settlement of Pleasant Creek and was renamed in 1864 after Sir William Foster Stawell, a chief justice of Victoria. Gold has been mined here for well over a century, and Stawell is one of the few Victorian towns where commercial gold mining still continues. The town is best known for the Stawell Gift, a professional footrace first run in 1878 and held each Easter, regarded as one of Australia's premier athletics events. Stawell is also a gateway to the nearby Grampians and its Aboriginal rock-art sites.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Stawell is more socio-economically advantaged than about 11% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 898, 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 Stawell 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 Stawell 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
11/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (11/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
73/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $210 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 73% 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.
Stawell at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,220
- Median age
- 47
- Median weekly household income
- $1,127
- SEIFA score
- 898
- Local government area
- Northern Grampians
- Coordinates
- -37.0446, 142.7696
Map of Stawell
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Stawell
What it costs to live in Stawell and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $210
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $973
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 71%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 25%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Stawell demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Stawell demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Stawell 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 26% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 957 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 639 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,370 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,630 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,621 | 26% |
Share of the 6,217 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,150 | 44% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 705 | 27% |
| Rented | 645 | 25% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,330 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 99 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 137 | 5% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,593 occupied private dwellings in Stawell.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,504
- Median weekly personal income
- $658
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 684 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 485 (9%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 115 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,983 (39%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.3%
- Employed full-time
- 1,478
- Employed part-time
- 938
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 Stawell
Lived here or spent time in Stawell? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Stawell
Is Stawell 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, Stawell rates 32/100 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 Stawell?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Stawell was $210, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $973. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Stawell?
Stawell is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Northern Grampians local government area.
What is the population of Stawell?
At the 2021 Census, Stawell had a population of about 6,220.
Is Stawell an advantaged area?
Stawell has an ABS SEIFA score of 898, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 11 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 11% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Victoria
More suburb guides in Victoria
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.