suburb.guide

WA · Busselton Council

Dunsborough, 6281

Est. population · Jun 2025

7,562

Growth (1 yr)

+3.0%

Growth (5 yr)

+18.0%

Median age

41

Median income

$1,738/wk

Employment rate

62.1%

University qualified

24.2%

Work from home

12.1%

Languages at home

6.6%non-English

Most common: German, French, Italian

2021 Census · usual residence

Desirability score

47.9/100
Average

Top 29% of Western Australia's suburbs

Verified 88% confidence

How this score is calculated
  • Beach
  • Golf
  • Green suburb
What Dunsborough is known for: Beach, Golf, Green suburb

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Dunsborough, WA suburb snapshot — Suburb Guide

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Suburb Guide, “Dunsborough, WA Suburb Guide”, updated 1 October 2026, https://suburb.guide/wa/dunsborough

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Suburb profile

Dunsborough is a coastal town in Western Australia, in Busselton Council. It is close to the Geographe Bay and the Margaret River.

Shops and everyday services are easier to access than in most comparable places. Local school ICSEA scores are among the highest in the peer group, placing it among the highest-ranked coastal towns. Socio-economic advantage sits well above the peer median, and university qualifications are more common than in comparable places, with university qualifications 52% above the peer median. The clearer weaknesses are higher rents and thinner mapped green cover within the suburb boundary, with median rents 43% above the peer median.

Dunsborough is a better fit for people who value school quality and daily services more than lower rents.

Generated from the official metrics on this page. It can omit nuance or contain errors — check the tables and source notes before relying on it.

Strengths and weaknesses

Coastal town · compared with coastal towns in Western Australia (61)

Strengths

  • Local school ICSEA scores are among the highest in the peer group
  • Shops and everyday services are easier to access than in most comparable places
  • Socio-economic advantage sits well above the peer median
  • University qualifications are more common than in comparable places

Weaknesses

  • Rents are among the highest in the peer group
  • Mapped green cover within the suburb boundary is below comparable suburbs

What stands out

  • Dunsborough Beach
  • Geographe Bay
  • Margaret River
  • Rottnest Island
  • River Wine Region

Who it suits

  • Families
  • Professionals
  • Retirees
  • Students
  • Budget buyers

Housing, growth and risk

How Dunsborough compares

A quick read of housing, growth, livability, and risk

Median house price

—

No data available

Median rent

$850/wk

Population (ERP)

7,562

+3.0% annual growth

Dwelling vacancy

38.0%

Census unoccupied dwellings

Livability profile

Desirability pillars vs the peer median (50th percentile)

How it compares

Relative standing using percentiles, ranks, and national deciles

Desirability

#8

among Coastal & beach · Established

Pop. growth

86th

percentile in WA

Rented dwellings

22%

2021 Census tenure

Advantage (IRSAD)

8/10

national SEIFA decile

School ICSEA

73rd

percentile among schools with ICSEA

Population growth

Recent ERP change over 1 and 5 years

Housing mix

Dwelling types from the 2021 Census

Risks & flags

Quick scan — open a section below for full context

Living here

Desirability

Ranks & confidence
Desirability score
47.9/100 — Average
State standing
Top 29% of Western Australia's suburbs
National rank
2440th in Australia
State rank
198th in WA
Peer rank
#8 among Coastal & beach · Established suburbs
Cohort rank
#25 among Coastal & beach suburbs
Data confidence
88%

Data sources & freshness

  • Suburb Guide desirability index — Suburb Guide (derived) · current · Updated

Housing

All types (wa-rental-bond/Monthly Bond Lodgement Summary (CSV)-(01-12-2025-31-12-2025).csv)
$850
Rental bonds lodged (wa-rental-bond/Monthly Bond Lodgement Summary (CSV)-(01-12-2025-31-12-2025).csv)
565

Median weekly rent from WA rental bond lodgements. Figures can be unreliable where few bonds were lodged in the quarter.

Contributes to desirability score · Housing (10%) · Future Growth (6%)

Household crowding and healthy vacancy — not cheapness Modest price change as a healthy-growth band

Data sources & freshness

  • WA rental bond lodgements — Department of Communities (WA) · wa-rental-bond/Monthly Bond Lodgement Summary (CSV)-(01-12-2025-31-12-2025).csv · Updated · Monthly bond summaries

Population

Estimated resident population

7,562(June 2025)

+3.0% annual · +18.0% over 5 years · 86th percentile in WA

Growth figures & methodology
Annual growth
+3.0%
5-year growth
+18.0%
Change in 1 year
+222
Change in 5 years
+1,154
Growth rank in WA
86th percentile

ABS Estimated Resident Population allocated to this suburb from SA2-level data. Not an official ABS suburb count.

Methodology

Figures are allocated from ABS Estimated Resident Population at Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2), using 2021 Census share within overlapping SA2 regions. Where Census data is unavailable, area overlap is used instead.

The dashed chart line is a simple growth-trend estimate to June 2030 (~8,900), extrapolated at +3.4% average annual growth since 2011. It is illustrative only — not an official ABS forecast.

2021 Census figures

2021 Census

Population
6,413
Median age
41
Median household income / week
$1,738
Dwelling vacancy
38%
Unoccupied private dwellings
1,362 of 3,587
Median monthly mortgage
$1,885
Median weekly rent (2021 Census)
$450
Tenure (owned / mortgaged / rented)
34.5% / 43.9% / 21.6%
Employment rate
62.1%
Travel to work (WFH / public transport / car)
12.1% / 1.1% / 63%
Walked or cycled to work
3.4%
Dwelling mix (houses / semi / flats)
1,996 / 193 / 25

Contributes to desirability score · Community (12%) · Accessibility (12%) · Future Growth (6%)

Employment, household income and owned-outright tenure (2021 Census) Work-from-home and public-transport commute shares (2021 Census) Five-year population change as a healthy-growth band, not a boom bonus

Data sources & freshness

  • 2021 Census — General Community Profile (including method of travel to work and educational attainment) — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Updated

    The 2026 Census was conducted in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.

  • Estimated Resident Population — Australian Bureau of Statistics · 2025 · Updated · SA2 ERP allocated to suburb boundaries

Qualifications

24.2% of adults have a university degree, compared with 23.8% across Western Australia. 20% have a trade or vocational qualification.

  • University qualified24.2% · 23.8% WA
  • Diploma qualified12.1% · 9.3% WA
  • Trade / vocational20% · 17.8% WA
  • Year 12 or below43.6% · 49.1% WA

Highest qualification field

Main field of the highest non-school qualification (2021 Census).

  • Management and commerce19.3%
  • Engineering and related technologies15.5%
  • Health12.5%
  • Education12.3%
  • Society and culture9.7%
  • Architecture and building9.3%
How these groups are defined
MeasureDefinition
University qualifiedBachelor degree or higher
Diploma qualifiedAdvanced Diploma / Diploma
Trade / vocationalCertificate III + IV
Year 12Year 12 as highest attainment
Below Year 12Year 11 / 10 / 9 or below

People aged 15 years and over, 2021 Census. University, diploma and trade shares match ABS highest educational attainment (HEAP). Year 12 and below Year 12 are combined in the chart because the General Community Profile reports school-only attainment as a residual.

Contributes to desirability score · Community (12%)

University qualifications from the 2021 Census

Data sources & freshness

  • 2021 Census — General Community Profile (including method of travel to work and educational attainment) — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Updated

    The 2026 Census was conducted in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.

Tax & income

Median taxable income (2023–24)
$56,340

34th percentile in WA · -4% vs Australia

Median salary / wages (2023–24)
$58,184

37th percentile in WA · -10% vs Australia

Residents with rental investments
14.0%

66th percentile in WA · +1% vs Australia

Median super balance (2023–24)
$91,217

84th percentile in WA · +44% vs Australia

Residents with business income
13.0%

93rd percentile in WA · +25% vs Australia

Australian Taxation Office Taxation Statistics 2023–24, individuals Table 25. Figures describe taxpayers who live in postcode 6281 — not a suburb-level official statistic. Rental investment is the share of local taxpayers reporting rental income or loss, not the share of local properties owned by investors.

Counts, net rent & state comparison
Taxpayers in this postcode
6,726
Taxpayers reporting net rent
922
Median net rent
$2,970
Taxpayers reporting business income
901
Taxable income vs state median
-7%
Salary / wages vs state median
-7%
Rental investment vs state median
+17%
Super vs state median
+43%
Business income vs state median
+63%

Percentiles rank this postcode among unique postcodes in WA, so suburbs that share a postcode are not counted twice. Dollar figures are compared with Australia-wide ATO medians from the same release. Median net rent is among taxpayers who reported the rent label and can be negative.

Data sources & freshness

  • Taxation Statistics 2023–24 — individuals by postcode (Table 25) — Australian Taxation Office · Updated · Annual release; taxpayer residential postcode, not suburb boundary

Community & culture

6.6% speak a language other than English at home; 23.2% born overseas

Language at home
5,567 English only · 392 other
Non-English at home
6.6%
Born overseas
1,372 (23.2%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
63 (1%)
Australian citizens
5,510
Languages spoken at home (other than English)
16

Top languages other than English

Share of residents who speak a language other than English at home (2021 Census).

  • German24 · 17.9%
  • French15 · 11.2%
  • Italian12 · 9%
  • Punjabi11 · 8.2%
  • Spanish10 · 7.5%
  • Hindi9 · 6.7%
  • Mandarin8 · 6%
  • Portuguese8 · 6%

Religion

52.8%No religion

No religion is the most common response at 52.8%, while Christianity accounts for 35.4%.

MeasureSuburbState
No religion52.8%42.5%
Christianity35.4%41.1%
Other / not stated11.8%16.4%
Christian denominations
DenominationSuburbState
Catholic15.3%18.7%
Anglican12.5%10.1%
Uniting Church2.2%1.6%

2021 Census — languages spoken at home, birthplace, Indigenous status, and religious affiliation (usual residence). Religion is optional on the Census form.

Data sources & freshness

  • 2021 Census — General Community Profile (including method of travel to work and educational attainment) — Australian Bureau of Statistics · Updated

    The 2026 Census was conducted in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.

Crime & safety

Figures are for the South West Police District, not this suburb alone.

Reported offences are running lower than the same point last year.

Offence counts & rates
Total offences (Jan 2026 to Sep 2026)
8,011
Against the person
2,104
Against property
3,892
Rate per 1,000 residents (annualised)
49.6
State crime-rate percentile
14.5th (higher = more crime)
Decrease (daily rate, partial year)
-35%

Most common offence types

  • Assault (Family)
  • Breach Of Violence Restraint Order
  • Drug Offences
  • Property Damage
  • Stealing

Contributes to desirability score · Safety (22%)

Crime rate, offences against the person, year-on-year trend and recorded road crash rates

Data sources & freshness

  • WA Police district crime statistics — Western Australia Police Force · Jan 2025 to Dec 2025 → Jan 2026 to Sep 2026; Jan 2026 to Sep 2026 · Updated · Quarterly timeseries XLSX; district-level aggregates

Family & Lifestyle

Schools & preschools

Schools within 2 km
2
Median school ICSEA (2 schools)
1,060.5
Median ICSEA percentile
73th
School list
  • Dunsborough Primary SchoolPrimary · Government · ICSEA 1051 · 69th percentile · LBOTE 16% · 751 students · Top SEA quarter 21% · 1.0 km awayView on My School →
  • Our Lady of the Cape Primary SchoolPrimary · Catholic · ICSEA 1070 · 76th percentile · LBOTE 5% · 331 students · Top SEA quarter 27% · 1.1 km awayView on My School →

Contributes to desirability score · Education (14%)

Median school ICSEA first, then school and catchment counts

Data sources & freshness

Public transport

61 public transport stops in this suburb

  • Dunn Bay Rd After Geographe Bay Rd
  • Dunn Bay Rd After Hannay L
  • Greenacre Rd After Naturaliste Tce
  • North St Before High View Rd
  • Seymour Bvd Before Dunn Bay Rd

Contributes to desirability score · Accessibility (12%)

Public transport stops per 1,000 residents and walkability

Data sources & freshness

Amenities

56 mapped amenities

2 restaurants · 3 cafes · 1 supermarkets · 1 fast food · 1 bakeries · 7 beaches · 2 petrol stations · 2 post offices

Local character & venue list

Local character

  • Reasonably walkable — many shops and services reachable on foot or by bus
  • Great for outdoor family life — 8 parks mapped in suburb
  • Well connected by public transport — 61 public transport stops
Walkability proxy
69/100
Cafés per 1,000 residents
0.47
Food & drink per 1,000 residents
1.09
Parks per 1,000 residents
1.25
Food & drink(7)
  • Dunsborough BakeryBakery
  • Dunsborough Growers MarketCafe
  • Hot ChocolattéCafe
  • Merchant & MakerCafe
  • Squid Lips DunsboroughFast food
  • Dunsborough Chinese RestaurantRestaurant
  • WayfinderRestaurant
Shopping(2)
  • Beef by the ReefButcher
  • ColesSupermarket

    55 Dunn Bay Road

Everyday services(4)
  • BPPetrol station
  • ShellPetrol station
  • Australia PostPost office
  • Post office
Community(2)
  • Dunsborough Primary SchoolSchool

    40 Turner Street, Dunsborough

  • Our Lady of the Cape Primary SchoolSchool

    245 Cape Naturaliste Road, Dunsborough

Sport & outdoors(21)
  • Beach (7)
  • Boat ramp
  • Cape Naturaliste Road Shared PathCycling route
  • Dunsborough Pump TrackCycling route
  • Dunsborough to Busselton Shared PathCycling route
  • Gibson Drive Shared PathCycling route
  • MTB CourseCycling route
  • Quedjinup LinkCycling route
  • Dunsborough and Districts Country ClubGolf course
  • Geographe Multiple Use ZoneNature reserve
  • Peron ReserveNature reserve
  • Park (2)
  • Public toilets
  • Sports field
Places to stay(1)
  • Lanterns RetreatHotel

    16 Newberry Road

Other(12)
  • Country Life FarmAttraction

    1694 Caves Road, Dunsborough

  • PassionBeauty salon
  • Bicycle Parking
  • AFAR BoutiqueClothes
  • HyperluxeClothes
  • Gift

    Dunsborough Australie-Occidentale 6281, Australie

  • Elski Ice CreameryIce Cream
  • Dunsborough Visitor CentreInformation

    31 Dunn Bay Road

  • Parking (8)
  • Dunsborough PolicePolice
  • Post Box
  • Shower

Names and addresses from OpenStreetMap. Unnamed venues show as their type (e.g. Cafe). Transport stops are summarised by type rather than listed individually. Campgrounds, beaches, wineries and local trails are included when they sit inside the suburb boundary.

Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (12%)

Food, shopping, recreation and sport per 1,000 residents (OpenStreetMap)

Data sources & freshness

  • Local amenity insights — Suburb Guide (derived) · current · Updated
  • OpenStreetMap amenities — OpenStreetMap contributors · current · Updated

Parks & reserves

1 parks and public open space in this suburb

  • Peron ReserveNature reserve

Data sources & freshness

Green cover

Green cover of suburb area
0.5%
Woodland / forest cover
0.2%
Parks & woodland features (OSM)
9
Parks (OSM)
8
Typical summer maximum
26°C

Green cover is the share of this suburb's boundary overlapping OpenStreetMap parks, woodland and forest polygons — not a satellite tree-canopy product. Summer maximum is the WorldClim / Open-Meteo seasonal normal already collected for Weather.

Contributes to desirability score · Environment (12%)

Tree canopy first, then green-cover area and parks per 1,000

Data sources & freshness

  • OpenStreetMap green cover and tree canopy — OpenStreetMap contributors · current · Updated · Park/woodland polygons intersected with suburb boundaries

Health access

Nearest hospital
Busselton Hospital (21.5 km)
Nearest hospital type
Hospital
Nearest hospital emergency
Emergency department
GP clinics in suburb
0
Aged-care services
1
Residential aged-care places
82

GP clinic counts from OpenStreetMap. Bulk-billing figures only include clinics tagged in OSM (sparse and unofficial — not a Medicare list).

Aged-care services
  • Capecare DunsboroughDUNSBOROUGHResidential

Australian Government–subsidised services from the AIHW GEN list (30 June 2025), assigned to this suburb by location.

Contributes to desirability score · Accessibility (12%)

Hospitals, GPs and aged care

Data sources & freshness

NDIS participation

NDIS participants (31 March 2026)
108
Participants per 1,000 residents
14.3

Active NDIS participants allocated from NDIA Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2, ASGS 2016) counts to this suburb boundary. Not an official suburb-level NDIS figure · as at 31 March 2026.

For NDIS spend and service-demand exploration by SA2 or postcode, see the Care Sector Demand Map.

Data sources & freshness

Weather

Typical conditions by season for suburbs in the same ~44 km climate area. Rainfall totals are summed from monthly WorldClim layers; rainy-day counts are approximate.

Summer (Dec–Feb)

Usual max / min
26° / 15°
Rainfall
49 mm · ~6 rainy days

Autumn (Mar–May)

Usual max / min
22° / 13°
Rainfall
242 mm · ~30 rainy days

Winter (Jun–Aug)

Usual max / min
17° / 9°
Rainfall
600 mm · ~75 rainy days

Spring (Sep–Nov)

Usual max / min
20° / 11°
Rainfall
248 mm · ~31 rainy days

Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (12%)

Temperature and humidity comfort

Data sources & freshness

  • Seasonal climate normals — WorldClim 2.1 · Updated

Future & Planning

Hazards

Bushfire planning zone
Overlay applies
Flood / inundation overlay
No mapped inundation on suburb boundary

Bushfire overlay checked at suburb centroid via WA bush fire prone area mapping. Flood cover uses floodplain mapping against the suburb boundary where published.

Contributes to desirability score · Safety (22%)

Bushfire and flood hazard overlays

Data sources & freshness

  • Bushfire and flood planning overlays — State government hazard layers · current · Updated

Politics & representation

Federal electorate
Forrest
Member of Parliament
Ben SMALL (Liberal)
Results from
2025 federal election
Electorate enrolment (2025)
117,485
Turnout (2025)
89.3%
Swing since 2022 (2025)
+1.9 pp toward Labor

Two-party preferred (2025)

Coalition 52.2%Labor 47.8%

Estimated suburb voting profile

Estimated from 8 nearby ordinary polling places (up to 24.0 km away).

Coalition 47.2%Labor 52.8%

5.1 percentage points more Labor-leaning than the electorate

Estimated swing since 2022: +9.2 pp toward Labor

Nearest polling places

  • Dunsborough SouthLabor 57.0% · Coalition 43.0% TPP (2025)1.2 km away
  • DunsboroughLabor 46.6% · Coalition 53.4% TPP (2025)1.4 km away
  • YallingupLabor 51.9% · Coalition 48.1% TPP (2025)7.0 km away
  • Carbunup RiverLabor 35.6% · Coalition 64.4% TPP (2025)13.1 km away
  • VasseLabor 46.3% · Coalition 53.7% TPP (2025)16.2 km away

Federal electorate from AEC federal division boundaries (2025 redistribution). Division-level results are official AEC figures from the latest general election, with by-election updates where applicable. The estimated suburb profile blends up to eight nearest ordinary polling booths in the same electorate using inverse-distance weighting from the suburb centroid — an approximation, not official AEC data. Nearest polling places are shown for reference.

Data sources & freshness

Socio-economic

IRSAD decile (2021)
8/10
IRSD decile (2021)
9/10

ABS Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), 2021 release — the latest available, derived from the 2021 Census. Deciles rank suburbs nationally from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).

What do IRSAD and IRSD measure?

IRSAD — Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage. Combines indicators of advantage (e.g. high income, skilled occupations) and disadvantage. Higher decile = more advantaged relative to other Australian areas.

IRSD — Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage. Focuses on disadvantage only (e.g. low income, unemployment, limited education). Higher decile = less disadvantage nationally.

A new SEIFA edition typically follows each census; the ABS has not announced a release date beyond 2021.

Contributes to desirability score · Community (12%)

Socio-economic advantage (IRSAD and IRSD deciles)

Data sources & freshness

Compare with

Similar suburbs to weigh up side by side — scores, safety, schools, and lifestyle.

More in Busselton Council

Other suburbs in the same local government area.

Comparable suburbs

Similar population and socio-economic profile in other parts of Western Australia.