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.
Is Katherine 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 Katherine 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
48/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (48/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
27/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $360 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 27% 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.
Katherine at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,254
- Median age
- 34
- Median weekly household income
- $2,053
- SEIFA score
- 984
- Local government area
- Katherine
- Coordinates
- -14.4509, 132.2677
Map of Katherine
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Katherine
What it costs to live in Katherine and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $360
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,408
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 43%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 49%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Katherine demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
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% 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.
- 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.
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Common questions about Katherine
Is Katherine 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, Katherine rates 41/100 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 Katherine?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Katherine was $360, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,408. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Katherine?
Katherine is a suburb of Northern Territory, Australia, in the Katherine local government area.
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.
Nearby suburbs in Northern Territory
More suburb guides in Northern Territory
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.