Sea Lake, VIC
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Sea Lake is a small wheat town in the Mallee district of north-west Victoria, about 350 kilometres from Melbourne and set just south of Lake Tyrrell, the largest salt lake in the state. The town's curious name has two competing explanations: some say the explorer Edward Eyre named the spot for the sea-like appearance of the great salt lake, while others believe a surveyor simply misread the words see lake scrawled on an early map. Colonists first passed through in 1838, but the town took shape after the railway arrived in 1893. Wheat farming has sustained it ever since. Lake Tyrrell, a vast shimmering sheet of salt, now draws sightseers to the district, while the town's painted grain silos and the annual Mallee Rally add to its appeal.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Sea Lake is more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 892, 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.
Sea Lake at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 619
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $883
- SEIFA score
- 892
- Coordinates
- -35.4868, 142.8956
Sea Lake demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Sea Lake 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 29%, 14% of homes are rented, and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 92 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 61 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 113 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 177 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 175 | 28% |
Share of the 618 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 147 | 54% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 65 | 24% |
| Rented | 39 | 14% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 251 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 9 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 265 occupied private dwellings in Sea Lake.
- Median weekly rent
- $140
- Median monthly mortgage
- $650
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,318
- Median weekly personal income
- $524
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 47 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 16 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 11 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 179 (36%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.8%
- Employed full-time
- 137
- Employed part-time
- 83
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 Sea Lake
Where is Sea Lake?
Sea Lake is a suburb of Victoria, Australia.
What is the population of Sea Lake?
At the 2021 Census, Sea Lake had a population of about 619.
Is Sea Lake an advantaged area?
Sea Lake has an ABS SEIFA score of 892, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 10 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of Australian suburbs.
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