Blanchetown, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Blanchetown is a small township on the west bank of the Murray River in South Australia, about 130 kilometres north-east of Adelaide, and is widely regarded as the gateway to the Riverland. It was named after Lady Blanche MacDonnell, wife of Governor Sir Richard MacDonnell, and was first surveyed in October 1855 as 'Blanche Town'. A river ferry began operating in 1869, and the railway to Morgan in 1878 bypassed the town and slowed its growth. Its best-known landmark is Lock 1, completed in 1922 as the first and westernmost of the locks built along the Murray. The surrounding country, north of Goyder's Line, supports sheep grazing and irrigated citrus, while the river itself draws boating visitors today.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Blanchetown is more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 870, 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 Blanchetown 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 Blanchetown 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
7/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (7/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
86/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $156 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 86% 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.
Blanchetown at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 305
- Median age
- 58
- Median weekly household income
- $844
- SEIFA score
- 870
- Local government area
- Mid Murray
- Coordinates
- -34.3181, 139.5416
Map of Blanchetown
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Blanchetown
What it costs to live in Blanchetown and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $156
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $763
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 66%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 16%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Blanchetown demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Blanchetown demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Blanchetown 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 17% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 32 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 7 | 2% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 41 | 14% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 109 | 37% |
| Seniors (65+) | 107 | 36% |
Share of the 296 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 53 | 38% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 38 | 28% |
| Rented | 22 | 16% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 133 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 133 occupied private dwellings in Blanchetown.
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,325
- Median weekly personal income
- $504
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 46 (17%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 3 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 13 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 65 (25%)
- Labour-force participation
- 39.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.6%
- Employed full-time
- 53
- Employed part-time
- 44
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 Blanchetown
Is Blanchetown 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, Blanchetown rates 33/100 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 Blanchetown?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Blanchetown was $156, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $763. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Blanchetown?
Blanchetown is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Mid Murray local government area.
What is the population of Blanchetown?
At the 2021 Census, Blanchetown had a population of about 305.
Is Blanchetown an advantaged area?
Blanchetown has an ABS SEIFA score of 870, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 7 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of Australian suburbs.
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