Peterborough (SA), SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Peterborough is a town in the Mid North of South Australia, roughly 250 kilometres north of Adelaide. Settled in the 1870s, it was originally named Petersburg after an early German landholder, but anti-German feeling during the First World War saw it renamed Peterborough in 1917. The town grew into an important railway centre, a busy junction where three different rail gauges met; in 1970 it became a rare triple-gauge junction. The railway workshops and roundhouse employed much of the town, and that heritage survives today at the Steamtown rail museum. As rail work declined the population fell, but Peterborough endures as a service centre for the surrounding pastoral and farming district.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Peterborough (SA) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 1% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 769, 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 Peterborough (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.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Peterborough (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
1/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (1/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
85/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $160 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 85% 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.
Peterborough (SA) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,490
- Median age
- 55
- Median weekly household income
- $706
- SEIFA score
- 769
- Local government area
- Peterborough
- Coordinates
- -32.9694, 138.8535
Map of Peterborough (SA)
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Peterborough (SA)
What it costs to live in Peterborough (SA) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $160
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $569
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 72%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 23%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Peterborough (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.
Peterborough (SA) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Peterborough (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 32% and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 188 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 107 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 246 | 17% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 475 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 461 | 31% |
Share of the 1,477 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 330 | 50% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 148 | 22% |
| Rented | 152 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 634 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 22 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 667 occupied private dwellings in Peterborough (SA).
- Average household size
- 1.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $970
- Median weekly personal income
- $456
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 139 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 25 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 108 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 284 (22%)
- Labour-force participation
- 35.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 13.1%
- Employed full-time
- 181
- Employed part-time
- 180
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 Peterborough (SA)
Is Peterborough (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, Peterborough (SA) rates 29/100 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 Peterborough (SA)?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Peterborough (SA) was $160, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $569. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Peterborough (SA)?
Peterborough (SA) is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Peterborough local government area.
What is the population of Peterborough (SA)?
At the 2021 Census, Peterborough (SA) had a population of about 1,490.
Is Peterborough (SA) an advantaged area?
Peterborough (SA) has an ABS SEIFA score of 769, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 1 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 1% of Australian suburbs.
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