Mallala, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Mallala is a town on the Adelaide Plains of South Australia, about 60 kilometres north of Adelaide, in Kaurna country. Its name is thought to come from a Kaurna word, 'madlala', generally taken to mean 'place of the ground frog'. The first pastoral land was taken up in 1851, and the town grew as a service centre for the surrounding wheat farms; the local East Brothers works once built farm machinery sold across Australia. Mallala has two strong links to twentieth-century aviation and motorsport: the RAAF operated a wartime air base here from 1939 until 1960, and part of that site became the Mallala Motor Sport Park, a racing circuit that hosted the Australian Grand Prix in 1961. Grain farming still surrounds the town.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Mallala is more socio-economically advantaged than about 13% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 906, 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 Mallala 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.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Mallala 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
13/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (13/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
52/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $278 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 52% 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.
Mallala at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,042
- Median age
- 37
- Median weekly household income
- $1,537
- SEIFA score
- 906
- Local government area
- Adelaide Plains
- Coordinates
- -34.4448, 138.5025
Map of Mallala
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Mallala
What it costs to live in Mallala and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $278
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,192
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 23%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Mallala demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Mallala demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Mallala 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 30% and 15% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 199 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 110 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 308 | 30% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 251 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 164 | 16% |
Share of the 1,032 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 123 | 33% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 147 | 40% |
| Rented | 86 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 318 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 9 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 359 occupied private dwellings in Mallala.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,789
- Median weekly personal income
- $704
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 143 (15%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 102 (11%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 18 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 272 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.1%
- Employed full-time
- 279
- Employed part-time
- 193
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 Mallala
Is Mallala 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, Mallala rates 26/100 overall (Lower 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 Mallala?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Mallala was $278, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,192. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Mallala?
Mallala is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Adelaide Plains local government area.
What is the population of Mallala?
At the 2021 Census, Mallala had a population of about 1,042.
Is Mallala an advantaged area?
Mallala has an ABS SEIFA score of 906, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 13 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 13% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in South Australia
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