Onslow, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Onslow is a small coastal town in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, roughly 1,386km north of Perth near the mouth of the Ashburton River. It was gazetted in 1885 to serve a port at Ashburton Roads, shipping out wool from the surrounding pastoral country. Battered by cyclones and troubled by silting of the river, the original settlement proved hard to sustain, so in the 1920s the government built a new town and jetty about 18km north-east at Beadon Point, and residents moved there in 1925. Cyclones have continued to shape the town's history. During the Second World War, on 15 May 1943, Onslow became the most southerly place in Australia to be bombed by Japanese aircraft, though no one was killed.
More advantaged than the national average
Onslow is more socio-economically advantaged than about 63% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1009, 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.
Onslow at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 829
- Median age
- 35
- Median weekly household income
- $2,596
- SEIFA score
- 1009
- Coordinates
- -21.6750, 115.1552
Onslow demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Onslow 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 37%, 52% of homes are rented, and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 205 | 24% |
| Youth (15–24) | 41 | 5% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 314 | 37% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 204 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 76 | 9% |
Share of the 840 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 36 | 14% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 16 | 6% |
| Rented | 134 | 52% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 214 | 85% |
| Townhouses & semis | 12 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 16 | 6% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 252 occupied private dwellings in Onslow.
- Median weekly rent
- $240
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,825
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,075
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,386
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 124 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 100 (15%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 121 (15%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 255 (41%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.6%
- Employed full-time
- 272
- Employed part-time
- 67
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 Onslow
Where is Onslow?
Onslow is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Onslow?
At the 2021 Census, Onslow had a population of about 829.
Is Onslow an advantaged area?
Onslow has an ABS SEIFA score of 1009, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 63 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 63% of Australian suburbs.
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