Maryborough (Vic.), VIC

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 31 May 2026

Maryborough lies in central Victoria's goldfields, about 168 kilometres north-west of Melbourne and 58 kilometres north of Ballarat, in Dja Dja Wurrung country. A sheep run was taken up by the Simson brothers in 1840, but it was the 1854 gold rush that made the town: diggings opened at White Hill, the post office began that October, and a gold commissioner named the place after Maryborough in County Cork, Ireland. It became a borough in 1857 and a city in 1961. Gold mining wound down by 1918, and woollen knitting mills ran from the 1920s to the 1990s. The grand 1890 railway station and the Highland Gathering, held since 1857, recall the town's prosperous gold-era years.

4/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs

Maryborough (Vic.) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 4% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 854, 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.

Maryborough (Vic.) at a glance

Population (2021): 8,160
Median age: 51
Median weekly household income: $876
SEIFA score: 854
Coordinates: -37.0501, 143.7302

Maryborough (Vic.) demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Maryborough (Vic.) 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 32%, 27% of homes are rented, and 9% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	1,209	15%
Youth (15–24)	776	10%
Young adults (25–44)	1,467	18%
Mid-life (45–64)	2,055	25%
Seniors (65+)	2,649	32%

Share of the 8,156 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	1,578	43%
Owned with a mortgage	872	24%
Rented	993	27%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	3,169	87%
Townhouses & semis	343	9%
Flats & apartments	61	2%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 3,638 occupied private dwellings in Maryborough (Vic.).

Median weekly rent: $240
Median monthly mortgage: $1,000
Average household size: 2.1 people
Median weekly family income: $1,220
Median weekly personal income: $511

Community and culture

Born overseas: 714 (9%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 268 (3%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 208 (3%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 2,254 (34%)
Labour-force participation: 42.7%
Unemployment rate: 6.3%
Employed full-time: 1,438
Employed part-time: 1,116

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 Maryborough (Vic.)

Where is Maryborough (Vic.)?

Maryborough (Vic.) is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.

What is the population of Maryborough (Vic.)?

At the 2021 Census, Maryborough (Vic.) had a population of about 8,160.

Is Maryborough (Vic.) an advantaged area?

Maryborough (Vic.) has an ABS SEIFA score of 854, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 4 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 4% of Australian suburbs.