Robe, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Robe is a small, historic port on the Limestone Coast, set on Guichen Bay about 330 kilometres south-east of Adelaide. It sits on the ancestral lands of the Buandig and Ngarrindjeri peoples. Chosen as a port in 1845 and named after Major Frederick Robe, then governor of South Australia, the town boomed on wool and, briefly, as a landing point for more than sixteen thousand Chinese gold-seekers who walked overland to the Victorian diggings to dodge a landing tax. That prosperity left a streetscape of fine limestone buildings and the 1852 Cape Dombey Obelisk above the sea. Today Robe lives on rock-lobster fishing and summer holidays, its long firm beaches drawing swimmers, surfers, and anglers.
Around the national middle
Robe is more socio-economically advantaged than about 51% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 988, 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.
Robe at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,252
- Median age
- 54
- Median weekly household income
- $1,244
- SEIFA score
- 988
- Coordinates
- -37.2153, 139.8359
Robe demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Robe 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%, 22% of homes are rented, and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 166 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 85 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 235 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 373 | 30% |
| Seniors (65+) | 397 | 32% |
Share of the 1,256 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 249 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 139 | 26% |
| Rented | 113 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 507 | 96% |
| Townhouses & semis | 14 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 528 occupied private dwellings in Robe.
- Median weekly rent
- $250
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,232
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,709
- Median weekly personal income
- $740
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 126 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 37 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 13 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 496 (47%)
- Labour-force participation
- 55.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 1.6%
- Employed full-time
- 292
- Employed part-time
- 228
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 Robe
Where is Robe?
Robe is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Robe?
At the 2021 Census, Robe had a population of about 1,252.
Is Robe an advantaged area?
Robe has an ABS SEIFA score of 988, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 51 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 51% of Australian suburbs.
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