Toodyay, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Toodyay lies in the Avon Valley beside the Avon River, about 85 kilometres north-east of Perth on the edge of the Wheatbelt. It is Ballardong Noongar country, home to people who drew food and water from the river for thousands of years; the town's name is Noongar in origin and is often said to mean place of plenty, though its exact sense is uncertain. Settled in the 1830s, the town was relocated after flooding and for a time renamed Newcastle, before reverting to Toodyay in 1910. It once imprisoned the bushranger Moondyne Joe, still celebrated at the annual Moondyne Festival, and draws visitors to heritage buildings such as Connor's Mill and to the white-water Avon Descent.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Toodyay is more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 917, 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 Toodyay 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 Toodyay 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
17/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (17/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
52/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $280 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 52% 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.
Toodyay at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,362
- Median age
- 56
- Median weekly household income
- $941
- SEIFA score
- 917
- Local government area
- Toodyay
- Coordinates
- -31.5713, 116.4417
Map of Toodyay
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Toodyay
What it costs to live in Toodyay and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $280
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,365
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 72%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 18%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Toodyay demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Toodyay demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Toodyay 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 33% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 187 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 99 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 238 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 388 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 447 | 33% |
Share of the 1,359 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 245 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 178 | 30% |
| Rented | 105 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 550 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 10 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 578 occupied private dwellings in Toodyay.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,274
- Median weekly personal income
- $568
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 281 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 43 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 64 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 452 (39%)
- Labour-force participation
- 45.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.4%
- Employed full-time
- 277
- Employed part-time
- 172
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 Toodyay
Is Toodyay 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, Toodyay rates 29/100 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 Toodyay?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Toodyay was $280, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,365. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Toodyay?
Toodyay is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Toodyay local government area.
What is the population of Toodyay?
At the 2021 Census, Toodyay had a population of about 1,362.
Is Toodyay an advantaged area?
Toodyay has an ABS SEIFA score of 917, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 17 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of Australian suburbs.
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