Seacliff, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Seacliff is a coastal suburb at the southern end of Adelaide's metropolitan beaches, within the City of Holdfast Bay and bordering Marino and Kingston Park. The land belongs to the Kaurna people, the traditional owners of the Adelaide plains, who knew the coast by names tied to the peppermint gums and reedy ground near the shore. European settlement followed Colonel William Light's arrival in 1836, when he sheltered in the bay he named Holdfast Bay. The suburb is known today for its swimming, surfing and snorkelling, with the offshore Seacliff Reef a favourite spot for divers seeking leafy seadragons and other marine life. The historic Brighton and Seacliff Yacht Club, founded in 1919, still sits on the Esplanade, and protected dunes shelter the threatened hooded plover.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Seacliff is more socio-economically advantaged than about 88% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1064, 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 Seacliff 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Seacliff 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
88/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (88/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
32/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $350 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 32% 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.
Seacliff at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,117
- Median age
- 46
- Median weekly household income
- $1,931
- SEIFA score
- 1064
- Local government area
- Holdfast Bay
- Coordinates
- -35.0317, 138.5206
Map of Seacliff
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Seacliff
What it costs to live in Seacliff and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $350
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,950
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 75%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 24%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Seacliff demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Seacliff demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Seacliff 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 29% and 24% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 336 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 206 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 483 | 23% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 614 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 478 | 23% |
Share of the 2,117 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 351 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 280 | 33% |
| Rented | 200 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 556 | 66% |
| Townhouses & semis | 167 | 20% |
| Flats & apartments | 113 | 13% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 843 occupied private dwellings in Seacliff.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,364
- Median weekly personal income
- $948
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 485 (24%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 166 (8%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 12 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,180 (69%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%
- Employed full-time
- 597
- Employed part-time
- 402
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 Seacliff
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Seacliff is January (average daytime high around 27.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 14°C). The area receives roughly 711 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27.9°C | 17.5°C | 29 mm |
| Feb | 26.5°C | 17°C | 29 mm |
| Mar | 24.7°C | 16°C | 20 mm |
| Apr | 21.4°C | 14°C | 51 mm |
| May | 17.3°C | 11.7°C | 86 mm |
| Jun | 14.8°C | 9.6°C | 100 mm |
| Jul | 14°C | 8.9°C | 104 mm |
| Aug | 14.7°C | 8.8°C | 95 mm |
| Sep | 17.2°C | 10.2°C | 62 mm |
| Oct | 20.5°C | 11.9°C | 52 mm |
| Nov | 22.7°C | 13.6°C | 52 mm |
| Dec | 25.6°C | 15.6°C | 31 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Seacliff
Is Seacliff 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, Seacliff rates 69/100 overall (Strong 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 Seacliff?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Seacliff was $350, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,950. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Seacliff?
Seacliff is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Holdfast Bay local government area.
What is the population of Seacliff?
At the 2021 Census, Seacliff had a population of about 2,117.
Is Seacliff an advantaged area?
Seacliff has an ABS SEIFA score of 1064, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 88 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 88% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Seacliff?
Seacliff has average daytime highs of about 20.6°C and overnight lows of about 12.9°C, with roughly 711 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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