Suburb overview
Penguin is a regional centre in Tasmania, Australia, with a population of approximately 4,132, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 221 km from the Hobart CBD, Penguin is a regional area in Tasmania. The median household income is $67,652 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
7316
Postcode for Penguin, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
4,132
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$450/wk
Median weekly rent — as at May 2025 – Apr 2026, Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
221 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,300/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
84% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Penguin
- Regional location about 221 km from Hobart.
- Predominantly separate houses (84%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Country-town feel with lower density and slower pace of life.
Who Penguin suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Mortgage costs are lower than the Tasmania median, improving cash-flow margins.
- Lower purchase prices and more land for the money.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (221 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment insight
4,132 residents places Penguin squarely in the middle of the Tasmania suburb size distribution (state median 3,902), with market depth comparable to most TAS localities. Household income of $67,652/year is 9% below the Tasmania median of $73,944, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Median rent of $450/week (as at May 2025 – Apr 2026, Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds) equates to roughly $1,950/month — about 150% of the $1,300/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. Penguin is 221 km from Hobart, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment tip
Regional property can deliver strong cash-flow yields but liquidity is tighter — plan for longer hold periods and verify local employment stability. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 20% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Penguin vs Tasmania median
How Penguin stacks up against the median of all Tasmania suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Penguin sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Penguin | TAS median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,132 | 3,902 | +6% |
| Median household income | $67,652/yr | $73,944/yr | -9% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $260 | $320 | -19% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,300 | $1,378 | -6% |
| Distance to CBD | 221 km | 24 km | +821% |
| Separate houses | 84% | 80% | +4pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Penguin — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 4,132 residents — 106% of the TAS suburb median (3,902).
- Purchasing power: median household income $67,652/year (-9% vs Tasmania suburb median of $73,944).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $260/week rent (≈ $1,127/month) covered ~87% of the $1,300/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 221 km straight-line from Hobart (state suburb median 24 km).
- Dwelling mix: 84% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 80% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$130/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,300/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 20% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Penguin's 4,132-person market and $67,652 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $260/week (~$1,127/month) covered 87% of the $1,300/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $173/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 84% houses in a 4,132-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,300/month median mortgage in Penguin means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $130/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 4,132 residents, Penguin has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Commute distance: at 221 km from the nearest CBD, Penguin depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Penguin regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Penguin with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
Run the numbers on a Penguin property
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Start your journey near Penguin →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Penguin are modest for 2026 — incomes 9% below the TAS median of $73,944 and a population of 4,132 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~87% of the typical mortgage ($1,127/month rent vs $1,300/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Penguin is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Tasmania median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Penguin a good suburb for investment?
Whether Penguin suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 4,132, a median household income of $67,652/year and median weekly rent of $260. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Penguin?
The main demand drivers in Penguin are a median household income of $67,652/year, a dwelling mix that is 84% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Penguin?
Penguin has a usual resident population of approximately 4,132, compared with a Tasmania suburb median of 3,902 — placing it in the upper half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
How far is Penguin from the Hobart CBD?
Penguin sits 221 km straight-line from the Hobart CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
What is the median rent in Penguin?
The median weekly rent in Penguin is $450 (as at May 2025 – Apr 2026, Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds), equating to approximately $23,400/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Penguin?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Penguin is $1,300, or approximately $15,600/year (vs $1,378/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
Is Penguin cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $260 works out to $1,127/month, covering 87% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,300/month. That leaves a $173/month shortfall (around $2,076/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
What are the main risks of investing in Penguin?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (4,132 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,300 median mortgage, the broader Tasmania market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Penguin profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Department of Justice (Tasmania) rental bonds (May 2025 – Apr 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.