Port Elliot, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Port Elliot is a seaside town on the Fleurieu Peninsula in South Australia, set on Horseshoe Bay between Victor Harbor and Goolwa. It was laid out in 1852 as a sea port for the Murray River trade and named after Charles Elliot, a British naval officer and colonial administrator. To carry goods between the river wharves at Goolwa and the anchorage here, South Australia built one of the colony's first public railways, a horse-drawn line that survives today as the heritage Cockle Train. Rough seas and a string of shipwrecks eventually pushed the main harbour along the coast to Victor Harbor, and Port Elliot settled into life as a holiday town, its bay, beaches and clifftop walks still drawing summer crowds.
Less advantaged than the national average
Port Elliot is more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 951, 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 Elliot 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Port Elliot 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
30/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (30/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
52/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $280 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 52% 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 Elliot at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,251
- Median age
- 61
- Median weekly household income
- $1,073
- SEIFA score
- 951
- Local government area
- Alexandrina
- Coordinates
- -35.5085, 138.6754
Map of Port Elliot
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Port Elliot
What it costs to live in Port Elliot and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $280
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,210
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 66%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 22%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Port Elliot 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 Elliot demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Port Elliot 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 seniors (65+) at 44% and 21% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 272 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 140 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 319 | 14% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 529 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 992 | 44% |
Share of the 2,252 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 414 | 43% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 218 | 23% |
| Rented | 209 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 879 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 29 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 41 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 957 occupied private dwellings in Port Elliot.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,306
- Median weekly personal income
- $592
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 451 (21%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 69 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 31 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 916 (47%)
- Labour-force participation
- 40.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%
- Employed full-time
- 331
- Employed part-time
- 368
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 Elliot
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Port Elliot is January (average daytime high around 25.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 14.6°C). The area receives roughly 443 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25.9°C | 16.3°C | 34 mm |
| Feb | 24.7°C | 15.8°C | 25 mm |
| Mar | 23.4°C | 14.8°C | 18 mm |
| Apr | 21.2°C | 12.9°C | 34 mm |
| May | 17.5°C | 10.9°C | 43 mm |
| Jun | 15.2°C | 8.9°C | 37 mm |
| Jul | 14.6°C | 8.3°C | 48 mm |
| Aug | 15.2°C | 8.3°C | 46 mm |
| Sep | 17.7°C | 9.4°C | 42 mm |
| Oct | 20.7°C | 11.1°C | 38 mm |
| Nov | 22.2°C | 12.9°C | 41 mm |
| Dec | 24.4°C | 14.6°C | 37 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Port Elliot
Is Port Elliot 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 Elliot rates 37/100 overall (Below the national middle 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 Elliot?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Port Elliot was $280, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,210. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Port Elliot?
Port Elliot is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Alexandrina local government area.
What is the population of Port Elliot?
At the 2021 Census, Port Elliot had a population of about 2,251.
Is Port Elliot an advantaged area?
Port Elliot has an ABS SEIFA score of 951, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 30 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 30% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Port Elliot?
Port Elliot has average daytime highs of about 20.2°C and overnight lows of about 12°C, with roughly 443 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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