Murtoa, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Murtoa is a town in the Wimmera region of Victoria, about 305 kilometres north-west of Melbourne and 29 kilometres north-east of Horsham. Its name is believed to come from a local Aboriginal word meaning 'home of the lizard'. Five farming families from South Australia selected land around Marma Swamp in 1871, a post office opened in 1874, the township was laid out in 1875, and the railway arrived in 1878. Murtoa is best known for the Stick Shed, a vast emergency grain store built in 1941 from 560 unmilled mountain ash poles and the last of its kind, joining the National Heritage List in 2014. It still runs one of the largest inland grain receival centres in Australia, and the psychiatrist John Cade was born here in 1912.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Murtoa is more socio-economically advantaged than about 13% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 906, 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.
Murtoa at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 897
- Median age
- 48
- Median weekly household income
- $1,007
- SEIFA score
- 906
- Coordinates
- -36.5966, 142.4746
Murtoa demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Murtoa 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 28%, 19% of homes are rented, and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 166 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 92 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 160 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 246 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 229 | 26% |
Share of the 893 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 200 | 52% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 108 | 28% |
| Rented | 72 | 19% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 371 | 96% |
| Townhouses & semis | 5 | 1% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 386 occupied private dwellings in Murtoa.
- Median weekly rent
- $178
- Median monthly mortgage
- $700
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,517
- Median weekly personal income
- $621
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 49 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 16 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 14 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 229 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 1.6%
- Employed full-time
- 210
- Employed part-time
- 128
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 Murtoa
Where is Murtoa?
Murtoa is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Murtoa?
At the 2021 Census, Murtoa had a population of about 897.
Is Murtoa an advantaged area?
Murtoa has an ABS SEIFA score of 906, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 13 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 13% of Australian suburbs.
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