Williams, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Williams is a town in the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, on the Williams River along the Albany Highway, about 160 kilometres south-south-east of Perth. The river was sighted by Captain Thomas Bannister in 1831, and the town that grew on its banks most likely takes its name from King William IV, who reigned in the United Kingdom in the 1830s. With the building of the Albany Highway it became an important coaching stop on the road between Perth and the south coast, and the Williams Hotel dates from 1871. The district today centres on wool, cattle and grain, and the nearby Dryandra Woodland is a refuge for native wildlife.
More advantaged than the national average
Williams is more socio-economically advantaged than about 62% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1007, 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 Williams 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Williams 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
62/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (62/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
78/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $200 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 78% 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.
Williams at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 996
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,733
- SEIFA score
- 1007
- Local government area
- Williams
- Coordinates
- -33.0522, 116.7865
Map of Williams
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Williams
What it costs to live in Williams and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $200
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 64%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 22%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Williams demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Williams demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Williams 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 27% and 13% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 213 | 21% |
| Youth (15–24) | 71 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 258 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 267 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 189 | 19% |
Share of the 998 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 151 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 79 | 22% |
| Rented | 80 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 333 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 12 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 354 occupied private dwellings in Williams.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,256
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,012
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 113 (13%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 34 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 18 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 399 (52%)
- Labour-force participation
- 67.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 0.6%
- Employed full-time
- 340
- 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 Williams
Is Williams 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, Williams rates 67/100 overall (Strong 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 Williams?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Williams was $200, 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 Williams?
Williams is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia, in the Williams local government area.
What is the population of Williams?
At the 2021 Census, Williams had a population of about 996.
Is Williams an advantaged area?
Williams has an ABS SEIFA score of 1007, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 62 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 62% of Australian suburbs.
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