Encounter Bay, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Less advantaged than the national average
Encounter Bay is more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 934, 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.
Encounter Bay at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 5,305
- Median age
- 66
- Median weekly household income
- $929
- SEIFA score
- 934
- Coordinates
- -35.5784, 138.5961
Encounter Bay demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Encounter Bay 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 53%, 18% of homes are rented, and 25% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 488 | 9% |
| Youth (15–24) | 292 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 571 | 11% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,143 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,807 | 53% |
Share of the 5,301 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,521 | 61% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 448 | 18% |
| Rented | 441 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,405 | 97% |
| Townhouses & semis | 58 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 9 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,478 occupied private dwellings in Encounter Bay.
- Median weekly rent
- $305
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,170
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,150
- Median weekly personal income
- $514
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,272 (25%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 202 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 49 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,878 (40%)
- Labour-force participation
- 31.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.3%
- Employed full-time
- 605
- Employed part-time
- 720
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.
Common questions about Encounter Bay
Where is Encounter Bay?
Encounter Bay is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Encounter Bay?
At the 2021 Census, Encounter Bay had a population of about 5,305.
Is Encounter Bay an advantaged area?
Encounter Bay has an ABS SEIFA score of 934, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 22 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of Australian suburbs.
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