Capel, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Capel is a town in the South West of Western Australia, on the Capel River between Bunbury and Busselton, about 212 kilometres south of Perth, in the Shire of Capel. The Wardandi Noongar people are the traditional owners, and their name for the place, Coolingnup, was used before the town was renamed Capel in 1899. The name honours Capel Carter Brockman, a daughter of the settler John Bussell. Surveyed in the 1870s, with its first lots sold in 1897, the town grew on dairy and beef farming. Since the 1950s, mineral-sands mining has been a major industry, with companies working the local ilmenite deposits, and today vineyards, aquaculture and tourism add to the mix. The Bussell Highway runs through the shire.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Capel is more socio-economically advantaged than about 15% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 913, 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.
Capel at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,606
- Median age
- 42
- Median weekly household income
- $1,425
- SEIFA score
- 913
- Coordinates
- -33.5605, 115.5682
Capel demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Capel 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 28%, 19% of homes are rented, and 15% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 525 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 277 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 575 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 732 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 505 | 19% |
Share of the 2,614 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 297 | 30% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 462 | 47% |
| Rented | 183 | 19% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 918 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 62 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 980 occupied private dwellings in Capel.
- Median weekly rent
- $320
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,498
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,735
- Median weekly personal income
- $703
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 356 (15%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 65 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 90 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 741 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 58.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.3%
- Employed full-time
- 676
- Employed part-time
- 423
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 Capel
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Capel is January (average daytime high around 29.1°C) and the coolest is August (around 16.2°C). The area receives roughly 624 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.1°C | 16.6°C | 15 mm |
| Feb | 28.6°C | 16.9°C | 16 mm |
| Mar | 26.3°C | 16.3°C | 32 mm |
| Apr | 22.3°C | 13.8°C | 40 mm |
| May | 19°C | 11.9°C | 77 mm |
| Jun | 16.9°C | 10.8°C | 92 mm |
| Jul | 16.2°C | 10.3°C | 121 mm |
| Aug | 16.2°C | 9.6°C | 103 mm |
| Sep | 17.3°C | 10.2°C | 63 mm |
| Oct | 19.6°C | 11.4°C | 39 mm |
| Nov | 23.4°C | 13.1°C | 18 mm |
| Dec | 26.9°C | 15.1°C | 8 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Capel
Where is Capel?
Capel is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Capel?
At the 2021 Census, Capel had a population of about 2,606.
Is Capel an advantaged area?
Capel has an ABS SEIFA score of 913, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 15 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 15% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Capel?
Capel has average daytime highs of about 21.8°C and overnight lows of about 13°C, with roughly 624 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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