Busselton sits 222 km from Perth CBD in Western Australia, around 2 hours 25 minutes by car. Census data records 1,838 residents with a median age of 56 and a median household income of $49,348 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. The suburb fell 2.1% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $320 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,635. Busselton is characterised by high crime risk and high coastal erosion risk. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is high.
Is Busselton a good suburb?
Busselton scores a D (27/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on safety and community.
Mixed results
1 school
Very walkable
Walkability 82/100 · 222.5 km · 146 min drive to Perth
Median available
Median $900K
High crime risk
Fire 38/100 · Crime 95/100 · Flood 81/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 56 · 1,838 residents
Liveability Rating
27 / 100 · Ranked #471 in WAEach bar is Busselton's rank among WA suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
How do you rate the liveability in Busselton?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
27 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataBusselton's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $900,000, roughly 39% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$900,000
In line with its 3 neighbours (median $900,000)
Based on 33 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 31 days — median across 19 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 10 sales $832K
- 3 bed 12 sales $842K
- 4 bed 7 sales $950K
Units
$764,750
Based on only 8 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 7 sales $780K
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Busselton rent for around $760 a week on average, based on 14 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$760/wk
14 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$800/wk
3 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
17 rentals advertised against an estimated 348 rented homes (4.9%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- All rentals
- $700/wk
- 18 bonds
- +35% since 2023
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies. WA's bond data does not record bedrooms or dwelling type, so it covers all rentals together.Change since 2023 compares the median of the first four quarters with the last four. Asking rents above come from advertised listings.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202592 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 33% of its income on the median rent in postcode 6280.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Short-Stay Rentals
73 active Airbnb listings: 66 whole homes and 7 rooms. Whole homes are about 6.1% of the suburb's homes.
Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months. The share is against private dwellings at the 2021 Census.
Coastal Erosion
Shoreline Change Summary
1988–2024Nearest Eroding Coastline
- Distance
- 1.3 km
- Rate
- -1.20 m/yr
- Net Movement
- -34.6 m
- Certainty
- good
Data Quality
Schools
One school serves Busselton, but none have published comparable ratings yet.
Secondary
Walkability
Busselton is very walkable on foot — at 82/100, most daily errands can be done on foot. Within the suburb there are 3 supermarkets, 9 parks and 19 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Busselton.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 24.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 14.4 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 17.2 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 11.6 hours
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Busselton.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 27%
- Premises covered
- 2,072
NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.
Amenities
Busselton: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 7 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 4 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Busselton is home to about 1,800 residents, with a median age of 56 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $49,000 a year, with unemployment at 5.9%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,838
Median Age
56
Median Household Income
$49,348/yr
Census Median Rent
$320/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,635/mo
Avg Household Size
1.9
Median Personal Income
$32,448/yr
Unemployment Rate
5.9%
Unoccupied Dwellings
26.4%
Total Dwellings
860
Owner-Occupier Rate
59.5%
Houses
70.7%
Rental Stress
33.7%
Mortgage Stress
39.8%
Work From Home
6.9%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
62 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 23 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 333 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 68.4%
- English Spoken at Home
- 85.9%
- Employment Rate
- 43.8%
- Completed Year 12
- 36.7%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
22 residents (1.2%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
9.5% of residents (170) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Perth (159).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,782 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (5 of 731).
City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 4,782 people work here; 731 employed residents live here.
A jobs hub: 6.5 jobs for every working resident. At least 85% of the people who work here must live elsewhere.
Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $3,028 a year through Busselton based on 2023 figures.
Building Approvals: Busselton
In the year to August 2026, 440 new dwellings were approved across Busselton. That mix is 421 houses and 19 units. Approvals are up 9.1% on the same period a year earlier.
Climate & Setting
from Busselton Shire, 0.8 kmModerate rainfall.
- Elevation
- -2 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 1.3 km
- Annual rainfall
- 624 mm
- 68 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- —
- Winter min (Jul)
- —
Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
2 facilities within 5 km- 0.9 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · n-Hexane · Toluene (methylbenzene)
- 4.5 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Ammonia (total) · Total Nitrogen · Total Phosphorus
EV adoption
In postcode 6280, 110 of 29,019 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.5% (739 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.9%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 6280, 8,058 rooftop-solar systems totalling 47.8 MW have been installed since 2001, against 13,930 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 535 went up in the last year.
Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$10,000 for new homes priced up to $800,000.
Cap is $800,000 SOUTH of the 26th parallel (which includes all of metropolitan Perth) and $1,000,000 NORTH of it. We store the southern figure because that is where almost every buyer is; the northern cap is higher, so the stored value never overstates eligibility. The southern cap rose from $750,000 on 7 May 2026 in the 2026-27 Housing Taxation Package. The same package moved the first home owner RATE OF DUTY thresholds, which is a different scheme and lives in the web repo's app/stamp_duty.py.
Mortgage repayments
8 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 10 across postcode 6280.
Transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with RevenueWA
The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $800,000 may qualify for $10,000 — see what qualifies with Department of Finance WA.
At $900,000 this is $100,000 above the $800,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $10,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with Department of Finance WA.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Ben Small Liberal
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Ben Small | 47.8% | 52.2% | +1.9 |
| 2022 | Nola Marino | 45.7% | 54.3% | -10.3 |
| 2019 | Nola Marino | 35.4% | 64.6% | +2.0 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Libby Mettam Liberal Party
Next state election: 10 March 2029.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Libby Mettam LP | 63.4% |
| 2021 | Libby Mettam LP | 54.3% |
| 2017 | Libby Mettam LP | 64.7% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2023, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Western Australian Electoral Commission.
Looking at a specific address in Busselton?
Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 1,838 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Featured in
- #1 in Best Busselton suburbs to rent in
- #1 in Most walkable suburbs in Busselton
- #1 in Busselton suburbs that suit young professionals
- #3 in Busselton suburbs with the most parkland nearby
- #3 in Busselton suburbs with the best public transport
- #4 in Busselton suburbs with the deepest rental markets
- #7 in Busselton suburbs with the best NBN connectivity
- #8 in The most liveable suburbs in Busselton
- #8 in Busselton suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city
- #9 in Busselton's most owner-occupied suburbs
- #11 in The safest suburbs in Busselton
- #12 in Busselton suburbs that grew fastest, 2016-2021
- #12 in Busselton suburbs that added the most residents, 2016-2021
Nearby suburbs
Compare Busselton to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other WA suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Busselton
Is Busselton a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Busselton is high (95/100, ranked against other WA suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect Busselton?
Busselton has a low recorded bushfire history (38/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Flood overlays cover a high share of it (81/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Busselton a good place to live?
Busselton has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (27/100), ranked against other WA suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.
What is the population of Busselton?
Busselton, WA had a population of 1,838 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Busselton, WA?
The postcode for Busselton, WA is 6280.
How far is Busselton from Perth?
Busselton is 222 km from Perth CBD by road, about 146 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Busselton?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Busselton was $49,348 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.
What is the median weekly rent in Busselton?
The median advertised rent in Busselton is $760 a week for houses (14 listings) and $800 a week for units (3 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Busselton?
The median age of residents in Busselton was 56 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Busselton at risk of bushfire?
Busselton has a low recorded bushfire history (38/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the suburb relative to its size, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history. It records where fire has burned, not a bushfire-prone land designation, which your council's planning scheme sets.
How are the schools in Busselton?
There is 1 school inside the Busselton boundary, none of which has enough NAPLAN and ICSEA data for a quality band.
Is Busselton walkable?
Busselton scores 82/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the weather like in Busselton?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Busselton, Busselton Shire (0.8 km away), 624 mm of rain a year over 68 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Busselton?
First-home buyers in WA may be eligible for $10,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $800,000. The grant is administered by Department of Finance WA; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does Busselton belong to?
Busselton sits within the Busselton local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Busselton?
The average residential rates bill through Busselton is $3,028 a year (2023). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Busselton?
Across Busselton, 440 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 9.1% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is Busselton in?
Busselton sits within the federal Division of Forrest, currently held by Ben Small (Liberal).
Search another suburb or address
Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2023–24
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- State electorate · 2025
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
Was the information on this page useful to you?
Thanks! Anything we could improve?
We hate spam as much as you do — we'll never use your email for marketing, and we might not be able to reply to everyone.
Thanks for your feedback! 🙏
Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.