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.
Stawell at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,220
- Median age
- 47
- Median weekly household income
- $1,127
- SEIFA score
- 898
- Coordinates
- -37.0446, 142.7696
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%, 25% of homes are rented, 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.
- Median weekly rent
- $210
- Median monthly mortgage
- $973
- 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.
Common questions about Stawell
Where is Stawell?
Stawell is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
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.
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