Strahan, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Strahan is a small harbour town on Tasmania's wild west coast, set on the vast Macquarie Harbour about 300 kilometres from Hobart by road. Once a rough port shipping out timber and mineral ore, it is now the main gateway to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area: cruises run from the wharf up the tannin-dark Gordon River and out through the narrow, aptly named Hells Gates to the open sea. Nearby Sarah Island holds the ruins of one of the colony's harshest convict settlements, and the restored West Coast Wilderness Railway climbs into the rainforest. The town was renamed in 1881 after the colonial governor Sir George Strahan.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Strahan is more socio-economically advantaged than about 16% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 916, 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 Strahan 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Strahan 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
16/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (16/100) 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 $195 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.
Strahan at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 697
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $1,347
- SEIFA score
- 916
- Local government area
- West Coast
- Coordinates
- -42.1482, 145.3408
Map of Strahan
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Strahan
What it costs to live in Strahan and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $195
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,083
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 64%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 30%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Strahan demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Strahan demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Strahan 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 young adults (25–44) at 32% and 13% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 116 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 51 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 221 | 32% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 189 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 123 | 18% |
Share of the 700 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 102 | 35% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 84 | 29% |
| Rented | 87 | 30% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 276 | 98% |
| Townhouses & semis | 3 | 1% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 283 occupied private dwellings in Strahan.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,908
- Median weekly personal income
- $722
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 82 (13%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 43 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 56 (8%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 205 (36%)
- Labour-force participation
- 63.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.6%
- Employed full-time
- 182
- Employed part-time
- 142
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 Strahan
Is Strahan 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, Strahan rates 37/100 overall (Below the national middle 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 Strahan?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Strahan was $195, 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 Strahan?
Strahan is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia, in the West Coast local government area.
What is the population of Strahan?
At the 2021 Census, Strahan had a population of about 697.
Is Strahan an advantaged area?
Strahan has an ABS SEIFA score of 916, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 16 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 16% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Tasmania
More suburb guides in Tasmania
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.