Low Head, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Low Head is a small coastal locality at the mouth of the Tamar River in northern Tasmania, sitting on a low headland where the river opens into Bass Strait, about 55 kilometres north of Launceston and just beyond the town of George Town. European settlement here is old, with a post office operating from 1887, though Low Head was only gazetted as a locality in 1967. Today it lives on tourism and its rich maritime heritage, drawing visitors to its beaches and to some of the region's best snorkelling and diving. Its landmarks include the Low Head lighthouse, whose foghorn is the only working one of its type and is still sounded at noon each Sunday, and a colony of little penguins that waddles ashore at dusk.
Less advantaged than the national average
Low Head is more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 933, 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.
Low Head at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 619
- Median age
- 61
- Median weekly household income
- $983
- SEIFA score
- 933
- Coordinates
- -41.0552, 146.8428
Low Head demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Low Head 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 43%, 24% of homes are rented, and 18% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 43 | 7% |
| Youth (15–24) | 45 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 90 | 15% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 170 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 264 | 43% |
Share of the 612 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 116 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 58 | 21% |
| Rented | 66 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 216 | 80% |
| Townhouses & semis | 34 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 270 occupied private dwellings in Low Head.
- Median weekly rent
- $230
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,350
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,437
- Median weekly personal income
- $571
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 105 (18%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 14 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 17 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 214 (38%)
- Labour-force participation
- 41%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.5%
- Employed full-time
- 117
- Employed part-time
- 82
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 Low Head
Where is Low Head?
Low Head is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia.
What is the population of Low Head?
At the 2021 Census, Low Head had a population of about 619.
Is Low Head an advantaged area?
Low Head has an ABS SEIFA score of 933, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 22 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of Australian suburbs.
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