Adelaide River, NT
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Adelaide River is a small town in the Top End of the Northern Territory, on the Stuart Highway about 113 kilometres south of Darwin in the Coomalie Shire. The Kungarrakan and Awarai peoples are acknowledged as the traditional owners of the surrounding country. The town grew from the building of the Overland Telegraph Line and the railway, which reached it in 1888 after the discovery of gold at nearby Pine Creek drew people to the region. During the Second World War the district became a major staging area for the defence of northern Australia, and the Adelaide River War Cemetery, established in 1942, commemorates those who died in the campaign. A heritage steel railway bridge dating from 1888 still stands nearby.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Adelaide River is more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 884, 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.
Is Adelaide River a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Adelaide River from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
9/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (9/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
78/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $200 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 78% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Adelaide River at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 317
- Median age
- 52
- Median weekly household income
- $992
- SEIFA score
- 884
- Local government area
- Coomalie
- Coordinates
- -13.1661, 131.1674
Map of Adelaide River
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Adelaide River
What it costs to live in Adelaide River and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $200
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,333
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 60%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 25%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Adelaide River demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Adelaide River demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Adelaide River 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 32% and 15% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 52 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 21 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 62 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 104 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 85 | 26% |
Share of the 324 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 49 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 17 | 15% |
| Rented | 28 | 25% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 89 | 78% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 114 occupied private dwellings in Adelaide River.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,281
- Median weekly personal income
- $583
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 38 (15%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 7 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 83 (26%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 62 (24%)
- Labour-force participation
- 41.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.5%
- Employed full-time
- 56
- Employed part-time
- 35
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.
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Common questions about Adelaide River
Is Adelaide River a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Adelaide River rates 32/100 overall (Lower on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Adelaide River?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Adelaide River was $200, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,333. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Adelaide River?
Adelaide River is a suburb of Northern Territory, Australia, in the Coomalie local government area.
What is the population of Adelaide River?
At the 2021 Census, Adelaide River had a population of about 317.
Is Adelaide River an advantaged area?
Adelaide River has an ABS SEIFA score of 884, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 9 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Northern Territory
More suburb guides in Northern Territory
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.