Swan Hill, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Swan Hill is a city on the Murray River in north-western Victoria, about 338 kilometres north-west of Melbourne, in the country of the Wemba-Wemba and neighbouring peoples. The explorer Thomas Mitchell named it in 1836 for the swans and waterfowl he saw on a nearby lagoon. River trade shaped its early growth: in 1853 Francis Cadell steamed up the Murray to Swan Hill in his paddle steamer Lady Augusta, and the Burke and Wills expedition passed through in 1860. The heritage-listed road bridge dates from 1896. Today the city anchors a productive irrigated farming district and lends its name to a sizeable wine region, with its riverside setting and pioneering river history drawing travellers to this stretch of the Murray.
Less advantaged than the national average
Swan Hill is more socio-economically advantaged than about 25% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 940, 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 Swan Hill 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 Swan Hill 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
25/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (25/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
66/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $235 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 66% 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.
Swan Hill at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 11,186
- Median age
- 38
- Median weekly household income
- $1,390
- SEIFA score
- 940
- Local government area
- Swan Hill
- Coordinates
- -35.3621, 143.5127
Map of Swan Hill
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Swan Hill
What it costs to live in Swan Hill and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $235
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 65%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 32%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Swan Hill demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Swan Hill demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Swan Hill 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 27% and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,148 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,253 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,981 | 27% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,454 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,346 | 21% |
Share of the 11,182 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,520 | 35% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,305 | 30% |
| Rented | 1,381 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3,609 | 83% |
| Townhouses & semis | 368 | 8% |
| Flats & apartments | 337 | 8% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 4,350 occupied private dwellings in Swan Hill.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,802
- Median weekly personal income
- $754
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,472 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,382 (13%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 473 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 3,818 (44%)
- Labour-force participation
- 59.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 3%
- Employed full-time
- 3,146
- Employed part-time
- 1,752
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.
Weather and climate in Swan Hill
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Swan Hill is January (average daytime high around 32.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 14°C). The area receives roughly 375 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32.7°C | 18.7°C | 29 mm |
| Feb | 31.1°C | 17.5°C | 12 mm |
| Mar | 28°C | 15.7°C | 19 mm |
| Apr | 22.7°C | 11.8°C | 45 mm |
| May | 17.7°C | 8.6°C | 32 mm |
| Jun | 14.4°C | 6.3°C | 34 mm |
| Jul | 14°C | 5.6°C | 23 mm |
| Aug | 15°C | 5.9°C | 33 mm |
| Sep | 18.8°C | 7.8°C | 42 mm |
| Oct | 23.4°C | 10.7°C | 44 mm |
| Nov | 26.7°C | 13.4°C | 32 mm |
| Dec | 30.2°C | 16.3°C | 30 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Swan Hill
Is Swan Hill 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, Swan Hill rates 39/100 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 Swan Hill?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Swan Hill was $235, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,300. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Swan Hill?
Swan Hill is a suburb of Victoria, Australia, in the Swan Hill local government area.
What is the population of Swan Hill?
At the 2021 Census, Swan Hill had a population of about 11,186.
Is Swan Hill an advantaged area?
Swan Hill has an ABS SEIFA score of 940, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 25 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 25% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Swan Hill?
Swan Hill has average daytime highs of about 22.9°C and overnight lows of about 11.5°C, with roughly 375 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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