Meekatharra, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Meekatharra is an outback town in the Murchison district of Western Australia's Mid West region, roughly 764km north-east of Perth along the Great Northern Highway. Its name is a Yamatji word said to mean 'place of little water.' The settlement dates from about 1894 and grew quickly after gold was discovered in 1896, becoming a gazetted township by 1903. Gold mining has come and gone in waves, with later booms in the 1980s and 2000s before operations wound down. Just as important has been pastoralism, and Meekatharra long served as a railhead for trucking sheep and cattle to market. The railway ran from 1910 to 1978, and the town remains a regional hub, home to a Royal Flying Doctor Service base and a School of the Air.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Meekatharra is more socio-economically advantaged than about 4% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 844, 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.
Meekatharra at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 849
- Median age
- 33
- Median weekly household income
- $1,273
- SEIFA score
- 844
- Coordinates
- -26.5082, 118.6560
Meekatharra demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Meekatharra 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 33%, 48% of homes are rented, and 13% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 149 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 122 | 14% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 280 | 33% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 221 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 82 | 10% |
Share of the 854 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 62 | 27% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 14 | 6% |
| Rented | 110 | 48% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 194 | 87% |
| Townhouses & semis | 7 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 9 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 224 occupied private dwellings in Meekatharra.
- Median weekly rent
- $110
- Median monthly mortgage
- $650
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,286
- Median weekly personal income
- $824
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 91 (13%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 127 (19%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 387 (46%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 198 (29%)
- Labour-force participation
- 48.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 8%
- Employed full-time
- 225
- Employed part-time
- 38
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 Meekatharra
Where is Meekatharra?
Meekatharra is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Meekatharra?
At the 2021 Census, Meekatharra had a population of about 849.
Is Meekatharra an advantaged area?
Meekatharra has an ABS SEIFA score of 844, 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.
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