Meckering, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Meckering is a small Wheatbelt town about 130 kilometres east of Perth, in the Shire of Cunderdin. Its name is an Aboriginal word generally thought to mean 'moon on the water' or 'good hunting', while the original townsite carried the name Beebering, after the hills just to the north. The railway reached the district in 1895 and the town, renamed Meckering in 1897, settled into a quiet life of wheat growing and grain handling. Its name became nationally known on 14 October 1968, when an earthquake of magnitude 6.5 struck beneath the district at a maximum intensity of nine on the Mercalli scale, wrecking much of the town, injuring more than twenty people and causing around 2.2 million dollars in damage.
Less advantaged than the national average
Meckering is more socio-economically advantaged than about 23% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 935, 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.
Meckering at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 232
- Median age
- 45
- Median weekly household income
- $1,083
- SEIFA score
- 935
- Coordinates
- -31.6132, 116.9862
Meckering demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Meckering 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 26%, 11% of homes are rented, and 18% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 45 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 17 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 48 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 60 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 61 | 26% |
Share of the 231 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 43 | 52% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 25 | 30% |
| Rented | 9 | 11% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 80 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 80 occupied private dwellings in Meckering.
- Median weekly rent
- $183
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,000
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,325
- Median weekly personal income
- $605
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 36 (18%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 0 (0%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 4 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 65 (36%)
- Labour-force participation
- 50.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.2%
- Employed full-time
- 48
- Employed part-time
- 31
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 Meckering
Where is Meckering?
Meckering is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Meckering?
At the 2021 Census, Meckering had a population of about 232.
Is Meckering an advantaged area?
Meckering has an ABS SEIFA score of 935, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 23 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 23% of Australian suburbs.
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