Mawson Lakes, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Mawson Lakes is a planned northern suburb of Adelaide, about twelve kilometres from the city, built from the late 1990s on the site of a nineteenth-century sheep-breeding run known as 'The Levels'. This is Kaurna country, part of the Adelaide Plains across which the Kaurna people moved their camps with the seasons. The suburb was laid out around two man-made lakes and named after Sir Douglas Mawson, the geologist and Antarctic explorer; the seven-hectare Sir Douglas Mawson Lake is its centrepiece. From 1998 a partnership between the developer Delfin, the State Government and the City of Salisbury shaped a self-contained, mixed-use community of housing, shops and schools, wrapped around a University of South Australia campus and Technology Park Adelaide — opened in 1982 as Australia's first science park.
More advantaged than the national average
Mawson Lakes is more socio-economically advantaged than about 73% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1029, 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 Mawson Lakes 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Mawson Lakes 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
73/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (73/100) 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.
Mawson Lakes at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 13,794
- Median age
- 33
- Median weekly household income
- $1,940
- SEIFA score
- 1029
- Local government area
- Salisbury
- Coordinates
- -34.8103, 138.6125
Map of Mawson Lakes
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Mawson Lakes
What it costs to live in Mawson Lakes and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $360
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,659
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 59%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 39%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Mawson Lakes demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Mawson Lakes demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Mawson Lakes 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 43% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,569 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 2,155 | 16% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 4,998 | 36% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,949 | 21% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,125 | 8% |
Share of the 13,796 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 877 | 17% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 2,102 | 42% |
| Rented | 1,954 | 39% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3,362 | 67% |
| Townhouses & semis | 905 | 18% |
| Flats & apartments | 755 | 15% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 5,051 occupied private dwellings in Mawson Lakes.
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,220
- Median weekly personal income
- $915
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 5,865 (43%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 5,788 (43%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 152 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 7,771 (72%)
- Labour-force participation
- 73.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.4%
- Employed full-time
- 4,838
- Employed part-time
- 2,605
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 Mawson Lakes
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Mawson Lakes is January (average daytime high around 28.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 14.6°C). The area receives roughly 542 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28.7°C | 17.4°C | 32 mm |
| Feb | 27.6°C | 17°C | 23 mm |
| Mar | 25.6°C | 15.8°C | 18 mm |
| Apr | 22.4°C | 13.5°C | 48 mm |
| May | 18.1°C | 11°C | 63 mm |
| Jun | 15.4°C | 8.8°C | 67 mm |
| Jul | 14.6°C | 8°C | 64 mm |
| Aug | 15.3°C | 8.1°C | 69 mm |
| Sep | 17.9°C | 9.6°C | 49 mm |
| Oct | 21.6°C | 11.7°C | 42 mm |
| Nov | 23.9°C | 13.4°C | 41 mm |
| Dec | 26.7°C | 15.4°C | 26 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Mawson Lakes
Is Mawson Lakes 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, Mawson Lakes rates 58/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Mawson Lakes?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Mawson Lakes was $360, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,659. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Mawson Lakes?
Mawson Lakes is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Salisbury local government area.
What is the population of Mawson Lakes?
At the 2021 Census, Mawson Lakes had a population of about 13,794.
Is Mawson Lakes an advantaged area?
Mawson Lakes has an ABS SEIFA score of 1029, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 73 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 73% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Mawson Lakes?
Mawson Lakes has average daytime highs of about 21.5°C and overnight lows of about 12.5°C, with roughly 542 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Mawson Lakes?
Mawson Lakes is one of the most populous suburbs in South Australia — the 10th-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 13,794 usual residents).
Where Mawson Lakes ranks
Mawson Lakes appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in South Australia#10 of 25
Nearby suburbs in South Australia
More suburb guides in South Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.