Tailem Bend, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Tailem Bend is a town in the Murraylands of South Australia, standing above the lower River Murray about 85 kilometres south-east of Adelaide, not far from where the river spills into Lake Alexandrina. It is on the Country of the Ngarrindjeri people, and its name comes from a Ngarrindjeri word said to describe the sharp bend the river makes here. The town began in 1884 as a railway camp known as Pine Camp, and was proclaimed Tailem Bend when the line opened in 1887; for decades it was a busy railway centre, with a large roundhouse servicing locomotives. Today it is a quiet river town better known for its cable ferry across the Murray, the pioneer buildings of Old Tailem Town, and The Bend Motorsport Park, which opened nearby in 2018.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Tailem Bend is more socio-economically advantaged than about 3% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 827, 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 Tailem Bend 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 Tailem Bend 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
3/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (3/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
69/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $225 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 69% 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.
Tailem Bend at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,705
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $905
- SEIFA score
- 827
- Local government area
- Coorong
- Coordinates
- -35.2811, 139.5364
Map of Tailem Bend
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Tailem Bend
What it costs to live in Tailem Bend and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $225
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $867
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 23%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Tailem Bend demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Tailem Bend demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Tailem Bend 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 28% and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 242 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 204 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 319 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 477 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 475 | 28% |
Share of the 1,717 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 283 | 41% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 223 | 32% |
| Rented | 157 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 652 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 31 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 693 occupied private dwellings in Tailem Bend.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,202
- Median weekly personal income
- $506
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 115 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 31 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 65 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 384 (27%)
- Labour-force participation
- 44.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.2%
- Employed full-time
- 292
- Employed part-time
- 262
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 Tailem Bend
Is Tailem Bend 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, Tailem Bend rates 25/100 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 Tailem Bend?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Tailem Bend was $225, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $867. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Tailem Bend?
Tailem Bend is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Coorong local government area.
What is the population of Tailem Bend?
At the 2021 Census, Tailem Bend had a population of about 1,705.
Is Tailem Bend an advantaged area?
Tailem Bend has an ABS SEIFA score of 827, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 3 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 3% of Australian suburbs.
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