Athelstone, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Athelstone is a suburb on the north-eastern edge of Adelaide, about 10 km from the city centre in the City of Campbelltown, where the plains meet the foothills of the Adelaide Hills. The River Torrens borders the suburb, and Gorge Road runs west to east through it before climbing towards Kangaroo Creek Dam. The first Europeans known to have passed through were the explorers John Hill and George Imlay, who camped beside the Torrens in 1838 on their way to the Murray. Drawn by the fertile alluvial soils, settlers soon took up farming, and the suburb's name comes from Athelstone house and mill, built by Charles Dinham in the mid-1840s; a later owner converted the mill for grape crushing in 1855. Long a district of orchards and market gardens, Athelstone was largely absorbed into suburban Adelaide only in the second half of the twentieth century, and it remains bordered by the bushland of Black Hill Conservation Park.
More advantaged than the national average
Athelstone is more socio-economically advantaged than about 77% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1037, 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 Athelstone 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Athelstone 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
77/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (77/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
27/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $360 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 27% 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.
Athelstone at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 9,601
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,941
- SEIFA score
- 1037
- Local government area
- Campbelltown (SA)
- Coordinates
- -34.8719, 138.7071
Map of Athelstone
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Athelstone
What it costs to live in Athelstone and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $360
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,733
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 85%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 13%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Athelstone demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Athelstone demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Athelstone 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 28% and 29% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,555 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,124 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,322 | 24% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,672 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,927 | 20% |
Share of the 9,600 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,558 | 44% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,456 | 41% |
| Rented | 453 | 13% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,994 | 85% |
| Townhouses & semis | 461 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 79 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 3,538 occupied private dwellings in Athelstone.
- Average household size
- 2.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,267
- Median weekly personal income
- $829
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,693 (29%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 2,344 (25%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 60 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 4,963 (65%)
- Labour-force participation
- 66.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.3%
- Employed full-time
- 2,961
- Employed part-time
- 1,955
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.
Weather and climate in Athelstone
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Athelstone is January (average daytime high around 28.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 13°C). The area receives roughly 850 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28.9°C | 16.1°C | 31 mm |
| Feb | 27.5°C | 15.4°C | 28 mm |
| Mar | 25.2°C | 14.3°C | 23 mm |
| Apr | 21.2°C | 12°C | 55 mm |
| May | 16.4°C | 9.4°C | 90 mm |
| Jun | 13.7°C | 7.3°C | 112 mm |
| Jul | 13°C | 6.4°C | 132 mm |
| Aug | 13.8°C | 6.6°C | 141 mm |
| Sep | 16.6°C | 8°C | 87 mm |
| Oct | 20.6°C | 10.1°C | 63 mm |
| Nov | 23°C | 11.7°C | 58 mm |
| Dec | 26.5°C | 13.9°C | 30 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Athelstone
Is Athelstone 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, Athelstone rates 60/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Athelstone?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Athelstone was $360, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Athelstone?
Athelstone is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Campbelltown (SA) local government area.
What is the population of Athelstone?
At the 2021 Census, Athelstone had a population of about 9,601.
Is Athelstone an advantaged area?
Athelstone has an ABS SEIFA score of 1037, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 77 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 77% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Athelstone?
Athelstone has average daytime highs of about 20.5°C and overnight lows of about 10.9°C, with roughly 850 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Athelstone?
Athelstone is one of the most populous suburbs in South Australia — the 23rd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 9,601 usual residents).
Where Athelstone ranks
Athelstone appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in South Australia#23 of 25
Nearby suburbs in South Australia
More suburb guides in South Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.