Cowell, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cowell is a coastal town on the eastern shore of Franklin Harbor, on the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, about 209km north-west of Adelaide and 92km south-west of Whyalla. It was named after John Clayton Cowell, a British soldier and Governor of Windsor Castle. Surveyed and proclaimed in 1880, the town soon gained a jetty in 1881, with a larger one following in 1913 to serve coastal shipping. Today wheat and sheep farming, commercial fishing and oyster aquaculture sustain the town. Cowell is also known for the jade discovered in the nearby Minbrie Ranges in 1965, a find that gave rise to the so-called 'Cowell Jade Province' and a small local jade industry.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Cowell is more socio-economically advantaged than about 14% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 911, 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 Cowell 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Cowell 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
14/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (14/100) 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.
Cowell at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,124
- Median age
- 53
- Median weekly household income
- $1,161
- SEIFA score
- 911
- Local government area
- Franklin Harbour
- Coordinates
- -33.7465, 136.8168
Map of Cowell
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Cowell
What it costs to live in Cowell and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $200
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,040
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 71%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 23%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Cowell demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Cowell demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cowell 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 seniors (65+) at 32% and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 161 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 76 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 211 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 330 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 359 | 32% |
Share of the 1,137 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 201 | 46% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 107 | 25% |
| Rented | 99 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 353 | 81% |
| Townhouses & semis | 67 | 15% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 436 occupied private dwellings in Cowell.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,449
- Median weekly personal income
- $669
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 79 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 14 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 29 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 292 (31%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.3%
- Employed full-time
- 245
- Employed part-time
- 172
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 Cowell
Is Cowell 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, Cowell rates 35/100 overall (Below the national middle 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 Cowell?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Cowell was $200, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,040. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Cowell?
Cowell is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Franklin Harbour local government area.
What is the population of Cowell?
At the 2021 Census, Cowell had a population of about 1,124.
Is Cowell an advantaged area?
Cowell has an ABS SEIFA score of 911, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 14 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 14% of Australian suburbs.
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