Geilston Bay, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Geilston Bay is a largely residential suburb of Hobart on the eastern shore of the River Derwent, named after an inlet of the river. The wider Oyster Bay region was home to the Mumirimina people for thousands of years before British colonisation. Its name derives from an early landholding called Geils Town, after Andrew Geils, briefly Commandant of Van Diemen's Land in 1812 and 1813 before he returned to Scotland. For a time the inlet was also known as Limekiln Bay, after the lime kilns that worked at its head from about the 1830s to the 1920s, producing lime for Hobart's early sandstone buildings. The locality also gives its name to the nationally significant Geilston Bay Local Fauna, fossils first uncovered by quarrying in the 1860s. From about 1939 the bay was used to assemble the floating concrete pontoons of the original Hobart Bridge. Today it is a quiet suburb with a boat club, bushland reserves and views of kunanyi / Mount Wellington.
More advantaged than the national average
Geilston Bay is more socio-economically advantaged than about 60% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1005, 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.
Geilston Bay at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 3,461
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,610
- SEIFA score
- 1005
- Coordinates
- -42.8305, 147.3533
Geilston Bay demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Geilston Bay 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 26%, 17% of homes are rented, and 13% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 558 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 349 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 893 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 854 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 807 | 23% |
Share of the 3,461 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 581 | 40% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 591 | 41% |
| Rented | 239 | 17% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,392 | 97% |
| Townhouses & semis | 31 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 17 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,440 occupied private dwellings in Geilston Bay.
- Median weekly rent
- $380
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,625
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,094
- Median weekly personal income
- $845
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 448 (13%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 227 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 102 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,560 (56%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.6%
- Employed full-time
- 1,006
- Employed part-time
- 613
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 Geilston Bay
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Geilston Bay is January (average daytime high around 23.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 11.7°C). The area receives roughly 642 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 23.6°C | 12.5°C | 51 mm |
| Feb | 22.5°C | 11.8°C | 42 mm |
| Mar | 20.8°C | 10.5°C | 53 mm |
| Apr | 17.6°C | 8.3°C | 36 mm |
| May | 14.2°C | 5.9°C | 55 mm |
| Jun | 12.1°C | 4.3°C | 55 mm |
| Jul | 11.7°C | 3.7°C | 42 mm |
| Aug | 12.6°C | 3.6°C | 56 mm |
| Sep | 14.9°C | 5.1°C | 50 mm |
| Oct | 17°C | 6.9°C | 77 mm |
| Nov | 19.1°C | 9°C | 62 mm |
| Dec | 21.4°C | 10.6°C | 63 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Geilston Bay
Where is Geilston Bay?
Geilston Bay is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia.
What is the population of Geilston Bay?
At the 2021 Census, Geilston Bay had a population of about 3,461.
Is Geilston Bay an advantaged area?
Geilston Bay has an ABS SEIFA score of 1005, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 60 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 60% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Geilston Bay?
Geilston Bay has average daytime highs of about 17.3°C and overnight lows of about 7.7°C, with roughly 642 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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