Karoonda, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Karoonda is a town in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia, about 119 kilometres east of Adelaide and 60 kilometres north-east of Murray Bridge. Its name is said to come from an Aboriginal word meaning 'winter camp'. The railway reached the area between 1911 and 1914, the town was proclaimed in 1913, and it became the seat of its own district council in 1922. Wheat-growing and merino wool have long underpinned the surrounding farmland. Karoonda is known for its grain silos, painted with mural art by Heesco in 2019, and for the Karoonda Farm Fair. An obelisk in the town marks the fall of the Karoonda meteorite in 1930, recovered nearby and later studied by scientists.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Karoonda is more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 900, 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 Karoonda 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 Karoonda 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
12/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (12/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
84/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $170 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 84% 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.
Karoonda at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 517
- Median age
- 55
- Median weekly household income
- $822
- SEIFA score
- 900
- Local government area
- Karoonda East Murray
- Coordinates
- -35.1525, 139.9186
Map of Karoonda
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Karoonda
What it costs to live in Karoonda and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $170
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $551
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 76%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 16%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Karoonda demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Karoonda demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Karoonda 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 33% and 7% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 87 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 34 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 100 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 125 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 171 | 33% |
Share of the 517 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 105 | 49% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 59 | 27% |
| Rented | 35 | 16% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 207 | 97% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 214 occupied private dwellings in Karoonda.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,135
- Median weekly personal income
- $455
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 32 (7%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 12 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 15 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 137 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 5%
- Employed full-time
- 114
- Employed part-time
- 66
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 Karoonda
Is Karoonda 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, Karoonda rates 36/100 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 Karoonda?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Karoonda was $170, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $551. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Karoonda?
Karoonda is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Karoonda East Murray local government area.
What is the population of Karoonda?
At the 2021 Census, Karoonda had a population of about 517.
Is Karoonda an advantaged area?
Karoonda has an ABS SEIFA score of 900, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 12 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of Australian suburbs.
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