Wagin, WA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Wagin is a Wheatbelt town in the Great Southern of Western Australia, about 225 kilometres south-east of Perth on the Great Southern Highway between Narrogin and Katanning. Its name comes from nearby Wagin Lake, a usually dry salt lake, and is drawn from a Noongar word linked to emus and their tracks. The surveyor-general John Septimus Roe explored the district in 1835, and for decades it supported sandalwood cutting and sheep grazing before the Great Southern Railway arrived in 1889 and a town was proclaimed in 1898. Wagin is best known today for the Giant Ram, a nine-metre sculpture celebrating its wool heritage, and for the Wagin Woolorama, a large agricultural show that draws tens of thousands of visitors each March. Heritage buildings include the 1905 Palace Hotel.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Wagin 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.
Wagin at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,448
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $1,073
- SEIFA score
- 892
- Coordinates
- -33.3037, 117.3469
Wagin demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Wagin 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 30%, 24% of homes are rented, and 20% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 215 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 115 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 280 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 402 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 427 | 30% |
Share of the 1,439 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 252 | 43% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 172 | 29% |
| Rented | 140 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 542 | 93% |
| Townhouses & semis | 38 | 7% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 584 occupied private dwellings in Wagin.
- Median weekly rent
- $195
- Median monthly mortgage
- $932
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,518
- Median weekly personal income
- $621
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 251 (20%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 66 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 49 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 398 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 48.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.8%
- Employed full-time
- 296
- Employed part-time
- 203
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 Wagin
Where is Wagin?
Wagin is a suburb of Western Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Wagin?
At the 2021 Census, Wagin had a population of about 1,448.
Is Wagin an advantaged area?
Wagin 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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