Andamooka, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Andamooka is a remote opal-mining town in the Far North of South Australia, roughly 600 kilometres north of Adelaide. It lies on the traditional lands of the Kokatha people, and the name is thought to come from an Aboriginal word for a nearby salt lake, though its meaning is uncertain. Europeans knew the country from the 1860s, but the town owes its existence to the discovery of opal in 1930, which opened the Andamooka Opal Field. The Andamooka Opal, presented to Queen Elizabeth II in 1954, came from these diggings. Miners sheltered from the heat in dugout homes cut into the rock, several of which survive as heritage-listed reminders of the early field. Opal, fossils and desert skies still draw visitors today.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Andamooka is more socio-economically advantaged than about 2% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 817, 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 Andamooka 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 Andamooka 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
2/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (2/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
89/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $150 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 89% 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.
Andamooka at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 262
- Median age
- 57
- Median weekly household income
- $703
- SEIFA score
- 817
- Local government area
- Unincorporated SA
- Coordinates
- -30.4537, 137.1650
Map of Andamooka
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Andamooka
What it costs to live in Andamooka and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $150
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $867
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 82%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 18%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Andamooka demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Andamooka demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Andamooka 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 37% and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 30 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 17 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 39 | 14% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 102 | 37% |
| Seniors (65+) | 86 | 31% |
Share of the 274 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 74 | 61% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 26 | 21% |
| Rented | 22 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 115 | 86% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 133 occupied private dwellings in Andamooka.
- Average household size
- 1.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,213
- Median weekly personal income
- $461
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 47 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 12 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 12 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 89 (38%)
- Labour-force participation
- 48.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.6%
- Employed full-time
- 56
- Employed part-time
- 41
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 Andamooka
Is Andamooka 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, Andamooka rates 31/100 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 Andamooka?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Andamooka was $150, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $867. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Andamooka?
Andamooka is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Unincorporated SA local government area.
What is the population of Andamooka?
At the 2021 Census, Andamooka had a population of about 262.
Is Andamooka an advantaged area?
Andamooka has an ABS SEIFA score of 817, 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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