Malvern (SA), SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Malvern is an established inner-southern suburb of Adelaide, part of the City of Unley, bordered by Unley and Parkside to the north, Highgate to the east, Kingswood to the south and Unley Park to the west. Many of its streets are shaded by jacaranda trees and lined with the single-storey colonial villas that give the suburb its gracious, settled character. A number of those streets carry the names of places in the United Kingdom, among them Dover, Sheffield and Cambridge. Malvern is best known as the birthplace of Howard Florey, later Baron Florey, who was born here in 1898 and went on to share the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 for his part in the discovery of penicillin. The operatic baritone Arnold Matters was also born in the suburb.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Malvern (SA) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1129, 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 Malvern (SA) 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Malvern (SA) 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
98/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (98/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
23/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $380 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 23% 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.
Malvern (SA) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,713
- Median age
- 46
- Median weekly household income
- $2,655
- SEIFA score
- 1129
- Local government area
- Unley
- Coordinates
- -34.9591, 138.6127
Map of Malvern (SA)
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Malvern (SA)
What it costs to live in Malvern (SA) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $380
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,800
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 80%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 19%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Malvern (SA) demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Malvern (SA) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Malvern (SA) 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 mid-life (45–64) at 29% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 440 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 352 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 497 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 779 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 653 | 24% |
Share of the 2,721 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 478 | 49% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 303 | 31% |
| Rented | 187 | 19% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 784 | 80% |
| Townhouses & semis | 125 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 72 | 7% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 981 occupied private dwellings in Malvern (SA).
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,311
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,117
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 619 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 493 (18%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 12 (0%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,700 (79%)
- Labour-force participation
- 63%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.8%
- Employed full-time
- 782
- Employed part-time
- 543
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.
Weather and climate in Malvern (SA)
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Malvern (SA) is January (average daytime high around 27.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 14°C). The area receives roughly 711 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27.9°C | 17.5°C | 29 mm |
| Feb | 26.5°C | 17°C | 29 mm |
| Mar | 24.7°C | 16°C | 20 mm |
| Apr | 21.4°C | 14°C | 51 mm |
| May | 17.3°C | 11.7°C | 86 mm |
| Jun | 14.8°C | 9.6°C | 100 mm |
| Jul | 14°C | 8.9°C | 104 mm |
| Aug | 14.7°C | 8.8°C | 95 mm |
| Sep | 17.2°C | 10.2°C | 62 mm |
| Oct | 20.5°C | 11.9°C | 52 mm |
| Nov | 22.7°C | 13.6°C | 52 mm |
| Dec | 25.6°C | 15.6°C | 31 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Malvern (SA)
Is Malvern (SA) 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, Malvern (SA) rates 73/100 overall (Strong 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 Malvern (SA)?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Malvern (SA) was $380, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,800. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Malvern (SA)?
Malvern (SA) is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Unley local government area.
What is the population of Malvern (SA)?
At the 2021 Census, Malvern (SA) had a population of about 2,713.
Is Malvern (SA) an advantaged area?
Malvern (SA) has an ABS SEIFA score of 1129, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 98 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Malvern (SA)?
Malvern (SA) has average daytime highs of about 20.6°C and overnight lows of about 12.9°C, with roughly 711 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Does Malvern (SA) have high household incomes?
Malvern (SA) has one of the highest median weekly household incomes in South Australia — the 6th-highest among suburbs with at least 1,000 residents at the 2021 Census ($2,655 per week).
Where Malvern (SA) ranks
Malvern (SA) appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
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