Saddleworth, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Saddleworth is a small town in the Mid North of South Australia, on the Gilbert River about 103km north of Adelaide. It shares the Gilbert Valley with Riverton, Rhynie and Tarlee, and grew in the mid-1800s as a stop on the busy road carting ore and supplies between Adelaide and the Burra copper mines. The town took its name from Saddleworth Lodge, an early pastoral station named in turn after Saddleworth in the Pennines of Yorkshire, England. A publican's licence was granted for the lodge in 1846, and the Burra railway served the town from 1870. Visitors can follow a heritage walking trail past the old hotel, churches, war memorial and Literary Institute, with a local-history museum housed in a former store.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Saddleworth is more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 886, 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 Saddleworth 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 Saddleworth 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
9/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (9/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
73/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $207 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 73% 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.
Saddleworth at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 483
- Median age
- 55
- Median weekly household income
- $894
- SEIFA score
- 886
- Local government area
- Clare and Gilbert Valleys
- Coordinates
- -34.0839, 138.7839
Map of Saddleworth
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Saddleworth
What it costs to live in Saddleworth and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $207
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $789
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 76%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 18%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Saddleworth demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Saddleworth demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Saddleworth 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 13% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 58 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 41 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 82 | 17% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 157 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 148 | 30% |
Share of the 486 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 101 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 69 | 31% |
| Rented | 41 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 208 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 7 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 220 occupied private dwellings in Saddleworth.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,104
- Median weekly personal income
- $515
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 56 (13%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 13 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 16 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 139 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 48.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.4%
- Employed full-time
- 103
- Employed part-time
- 73
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 Saddleworth
Is Saddleworth 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, Saddleworth rates 30/100 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 Saddleworth?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Saddleworth was $207, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $789. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Saddleworth?
Saddleworth is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Clare and Gilbert Valleys local government area.
What is the population of Saddleworth?
At the 2021 Census, Saddleworth had a population of about 483.
Is Saddleworth an advantaged area?
Saddleworth has an ABS SEIFA score of 886, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 9 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of Australian suburbs.
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