Hawker (SA), SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Hawker is a small town in the Flinders Ranges of South Australia, about 365 kilometres north of Adelaide and some 55 kilometres south of the great natural amphitheatre of Wilpena Pound. It was surveyed and proclaimed in 1880 and named after George Charles Hawker, a pastoralist and member of the South Australian parliament who had taken up sheep country in the district decades earlier. For its first seventy years Hawker thrived as a station on the old Central Australia Railway, until the line was rerouted to the west in the 1950s and the trains stopped coming. Surrounded by arid pastoral country, the town now lives largely on tourism, serving as a southern gateway for travellers heading into Wilpena Pound and the rugged northern Flinders Ranges.
Less advantaged than the national average
Hawker (SA) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 952, 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.
Hawker (SA) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 301
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $1,160
- SEIFA score
- 952
- Coordinates
- -31.8579, 138.4598
Hawker (SA) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Hawker (SA) 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 31%, 32% of homes are rented, and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 49 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 10 | 3% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 65 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 78 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 92 | 31% |
Share of the 294 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 51 | 41% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 24 | 19% |
| Rented | 40 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 109 | 88% |
| Townhouses & semis | 5 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 124 occupied private dwellings in Hawker (SA).
- Median weekly rent
- $144
- Median monthly mortgage
- $685
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,778
- Median weekly personal income
- $705
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 40 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 37 (14%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 48 (16%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 99 (41%)
- Labour-force participation
- 63.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.4%
- Employed full-time
- 92
- Employed part-time
- 49
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 Hawker (SA)
Where is Hawker (SA)?
Hawker (SA) is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Hawker (SA)?
At the 2021 Census, Hawker (SA) had a population of about 301.
Is Hawker (SA) an advantaged area?
Hawker (SA) has an ABS SEIFA score of 952, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 30 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of Australian suburbs.
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