Birchip, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Birchip is a wheat-and-sheep town in the Victorian Mallee, in the Shire of Buloke, about 312 kilometres north-west of Melbourne and roughly midway between Horsham and Swan Hill. Closer settlement began in the early 1880s, a post office opened in 1883, and the townsite was surveyed as Birchip — a name carried over from the local pastoral run — in 1887. Wheat, barley, canola and sheep still drive the district. The town has a sense of humour about its setting: it celebrates the old Australian saying 'as game as a Mallee bull' with a Mallee Bull sculpture, and Sharp's Bakery has become a repeat winner of the Great Australian Vanilla Slice Triumph. About 700 people live in Birchip.
Around the national middle
Birchip is more socio-economically advantaged than about 41% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 972, 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.
Birchip at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 694
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $1,171
- SEIFA score
- 972
- Coordinates
- -35.9973, 142.9247
Birchip demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Birchip 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 29%, 19% of homes are rented, and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 119 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 51 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 143 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 183 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 203 | 29% |
Share of the 699 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 142 | 49% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 77 | 26% |
| Rented | 56 | 19% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 271 | 93% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 16 | 5% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 291 occupied private dwellings in Birchip.
- Median weekly rent
- $155
- Median monthly mortgage
- $758
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,612
- Median weekly personal income
- $740
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 52 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 40 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 8 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 220 (40%)
- Labour-force participation
- 55.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 1.9%
- Employed full-time
- 185
- Employed part-time
- 108
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 Birchip
Where is Birchip?
Birchip is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Birchip?
At the 2021 Census, Birchip had a population of about 694.
Is Birchip an advantaged area?
Birchip has an ABS SEIFA score of 972, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 41 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 41% of Australian suburbs.
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