Zeehan, TAS
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Zeehan is a historic mining town on Tasmania's rugged west coast, about 139 kilometres south-west of Burnie. The wider district was home to the Peerapper and Tommeginne people for thousands of years before colonisation. The town takes its name from Mount Zeehan, which Bass and Flinders named after the Zeehaen, one of Abel Tasman's ships. Following the discovery of silver and lead in the 1880s, Zeehan boomed; by about 1910 the Zeehan-Dundas field supported some 10,000 people, earning the town its nickname the Silver City and ranking it among Tasmania's largest. Survivors from that era include the 1898 Gaiety Theatre and the West Coast Heritage Centre, housed in the former School of Mines. Mining and tourism sustain the town today.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Zeehan is more socio-economically advantaged than about 2% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 807, 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.
Zeehan at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 722
- Median age
- 48
- Median weekly household income
- $951
- SEIFA score
- 807
- Coordinates
- -41.8893, 145.3624
Zeehan demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Zeehan 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 35%, 30% of homes are rented, and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 115 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 48 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 159 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 248 | 35% |
| Seniors (65+) | 139 | 20% |
Share of the 709 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 122 | 39% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 79 | 25% |
| Rented | 92 | 30% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 283 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 28 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 314 occupied private dwellings in Zeehan.
- Median weekly rent
- $160
- Median monthly mortgage
- $606
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,202
- Median weekly personal income
- $498
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 89 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 32 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 51 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 150 (26%)
- Labour-force participation
- 45.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 9.6%
- Employed full-time
- 148
- Employed part-time
- 79
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 Zeehan
Where is Zeehan?
Zeehan is a suburb of Tasmania, Australia.
What is the population of Zeehan?
At the 2021 Census, Zeehan had a population of about 722.
Is Zeehan an advantaged area?
Zeehan has an ABS SEIFA score of 807, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 2 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 2% of Australian suburbs.
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