Port Adelaide, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Port Adelaide is the historic port district of South Australia's capital, about 14 km north-west of the city centre on the Port River. The Kaurna people, the traditional owners of the Adelaide Plains, knew the area as Yertabulti. When colonists established a landing here in the late 1830s the muddy, flood-prone site earned the unflattering nickname 'Port Misery', but it grew into the colony's main harbour, and its streets still hold one of Australia's best-preserved groups of nineteenth-century portside buildings. Today 'the Port' is known for its maritime, railway and aviation museums, weekend markets and a growing arts scene — and as the home of the Port Adelaide Football Club.
Less advantaged than the national average
Port Adelaide is more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 943, 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 Port Adelaide 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 Port Adelaide 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
26/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (26/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
48/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $293 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 48% 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.
Port Adelaide at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,338
- Median age
- 45
- Median weekly household income
- $1,230
- SEIFA score
- 943
- Local government area
- Port Adelaide Enfield
- Coordinates
- -34.8451, 138.5114
Map of Port Adelaide
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Port Adelaide
What it costs to live in Port Adelaide and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $293
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,672
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 43%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 54%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Port Adelaide demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Port Adelaide demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Port Adelaide 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 25% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 127 | 9% |
| Youth (15–24) | 159 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 379 | 28% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 431 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 244 | 18% |
Share of the 1,340 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 128 | 20% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 147 | 23% |
| Rented | 342 | 54% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 179 | 28% |
| Townhouses & semis | 372 | 59% |
| Flats & apartments | 63 | 10% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 635 occupied private dwellings in Port Adelaide.
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,860
- Median weekly personal income
- $754
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 317 (25%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 179 (14%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 52 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 608 (52%)
- Labour-force participation
- 60%
- Unemployment rate
- 9.5%
- Employed full-time
- 423
- Employed part-time
- 200
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 Port Adelaide
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Port Adelaide 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 Port Adelaide
Is Port Adelaide 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, Port Adelaide rates 33/100 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 Port Adelaide?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Port Adelaide was $293, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,672. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Port Adelaide?
Port Adelaide is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Port Adelaide Enfield local government area.
What is the population of Port Adelaide?
At the 2021 Census, Port Adelaide had a population of about 1,338.
Is Port Adelaide an advantaged area?
Port Adelaide has an ABS SEIFA score of 943, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 26 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Port Adelaide?
Port Adelaide 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).
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