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.
Mallala at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,042
- Median age
- 37
- Median weekly household income
- $1,537
- SEIFA score
- 906
- Coordinates
- -34.4448, 138.5025
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%, 23% of homes are rented, 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.
- Median weekly rent
- $278
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,192
- 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.
Common questions about Mallala
Where is Mallala?
Mallala is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
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.
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