Katherine, NT
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Katherine lies on the Katherine River about 320 kilometres south-east of Darwin, at the meeting point of the tropical Top End and the dry inland. The country around the town takes in the traditional lands of the Jawoyn, Dagoman, and Wardaman peoples, and the spectacular gorge system nearby is known as Nitmiluk. Growing from an 1870s telegraph station, Katherine became a service centre for cattle stations, gold, and, later, the RAAF base at Tindal. Its name was given by the explorer John McDouall Stuart in 1862, said to honour a daughter of one of his backers. Most visitors come for Nitmiluk National Park, where the Katherine River carves a chain of sandstone gorges, and for the town's thermal hot springs.
Around the national middle
Katherine is more socio-economically advantaged than about 48% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 984, 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.
Katherine at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,254
- Median age
- 34
- Median weekly household income
- $2,053
- SEIFA score
- 984
- Coordinates
- -14.4509, 132.2677
Katherine demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Katherine 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 young adults (25–44) at 36%, 49% of homes are rented, and 26% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 194 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 139 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 451 | 36% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 306 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 156 | 13% |
Share of the 1,246 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 60 | 15% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 112 | 28% |
| Rented | 195 | 49% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 291 | 74% |
| Townhouses & semis | 77 | 20% |
| Flats & apartments | 11 | 3% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 393 occupied private dwellings in Katherine.
- Median weekly rent
- $360
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,408
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,508
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,141
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 274 (26%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 238 (23%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 270 (22%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 474 (46%)
- Labour-force participation
- 63.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.3%
- Employed full-time
- 505
- Employed part-time
- 109
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 Katherine
Where is Katherine?
Katherine is a suburb of Northern Territory, Australia.
What is the population of Katherine?
At the 2021 Census, Katherine had a population of about 1,254.
Is Katherine an advantaged area?
Katherine has an ABS SEIFA score of 984, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 48 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 48% of Australian suburbs.
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