Belair, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Belair lies in the south-eastern foothills of Adelaide, at the base of the Mount Lofty Ranges about 10 kilometres from the city. Before European settlement the Kaurna people knew the area as piraldi, and the Kaurna and Peramangk peoples used the hills for seasonal hunting and gathering. The suburb is dominated by Belair National Park, proclaimed in 1891 as the first national park in South Australia and the second-oldest in the country. The park grew out of an early colonial Government Farm, where Old Government House was built between 1858 and 1860 as a summer residence for the colony's governors. A campaign by residents in the 1880s saved the land from subdivision and turned it into public parkland. Today Belair is a quiet, leafy suburb prized for its bushland setting and historic railway station.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Belair is more socio-economically advantaged than about 95% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1103, 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 Belair 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Belair 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
95/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (95/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
23/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $376 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 23% 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.
Belair at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 4,718
- Median age
- 47
- Median weekly household income
- $2,265
- SEIFA score
- 1103
- Local government area
- Mitcham
- Coordinates
- -35.0074, 138.6555
Map of Belair
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Belair
What it costs to live in Belair and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $376
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,100
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 84%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 8%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Belair demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Belair demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Belair 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 27% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 767 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 566 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 894 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,286 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,209 | 26% |
Share of the 4,722 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 694 | 41% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 736 | 43% |
| Rented | 135 | 8% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,508 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 162 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 9 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,701 occupied private dwellings in Belair.
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,791
- Median weekly personal income
- $977
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,047 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 340 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 26 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,754 (73%)
- Labour-force participation
- 61.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.8%
- Employed full-time
- 1,337
- Employed part-time
- 892
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 Belair
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Belair is January (average daytime high around 29.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 14.4°C). The area receives roughly 732 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.7°C | 17°C | 34 mm |
| Feb | 28.2°C | 16.4°C | 32 mm |
| Mar | 26°C | 15.4°C | 23 mm |
| Apr | 22.1°C | 13.5°C | 54 mm |
| May | 17.7°C | 11.2°C | 83 mm |
| Jun | 15.1°C | 9.3°C | 91 mm |
| Jul | 14.4°C | 8.5°C | 102 mm |
| Aug | 15.3°C | 8.4°C | 91 mm |
| Sep | 18°C | 9.7°C | 69 mm |
| Oct | 21.9°C | 11.5°C | 59 mm |
| Nov | 24.1°C | 13°C | 57 mm |
| Dec | 27.3°C | 15°C | 37 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Belair
Is Belair 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, Belair rates 71/100 overall (Strong 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 Belair?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Belair was $376, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,100. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Belair?
Belair is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Mitcham local government area.
What is the population of Belair?
At the 2021 Census, Belair had a population of about 4,718.
Is Belair an advantaged area?
Belair has an ABS SEIFA score of 1103, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 95 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 95% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Belair?
Belair has average daytime highs of about 21.7°C and overnight lows of about 12.4°C, with roughly 732 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Does Belair have high household incomes?
Belair has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in South Australia — the 21st-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($2,265 per week).
Where Belair ranks
Belair appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in South Australia
More suburb guides in South Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.