Tennant Creek, NT
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Tennant Creek lies on the Stuart Highway in the Barkly region of the Northern Territory, roughly 1,000 kilometres south of Darwin and 500 kilometres north of Alice Springs. The Warumungu people have lived across the surrounding country for thousands of years and know the area as Jurnkkurakurr. The town grew out of one of Australia's last gold rushes in the 1930s and remains a hub for cattle stations spread across the Barkly. Visitors can trace that history at the Battery Hill Mining Centre, learn Warumungu culture at the Nyinkka Nyunyu art and culture centre, and detour to the granite boulders of Karlu Karlu, the Devils Marbles, just to the south.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Tennant Creek is more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 867, 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.
Tennant Creek at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 3,080
- Median age
- 33
- Median weekly household income
- $1,677
- SEIFA score
- 867
- Coordinates
- -19.6591, 134.1912
Tennant Creek demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Tennant Creek 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 young adults (25–44) at 32%, 59% of homes are rented, and 16% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 671 | 22% |
| Youth (15–24) | 352 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 978 | 32% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 801 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 283 | 9% |
Share of the 3,085 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 104 | 11% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 116 | 12% |
| Rented | 557 | 59% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 758 | 80% |
| Townhouses & semis | 108 | 11% |
| Flats & apartments | 53 | 6% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 944 occupied private dwellings in Tennant Creek.
- Median weekly rent
- $180
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,114
- Average household size
- 2.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,433
- Median weekly personal income
- $671
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 461 (16%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,079 (40%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 1,707 (55%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 814 (35%)
- Labour-force participation
- 51.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.8%
- Employed full-time
- 853
- Employed part-time
- 190
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.
Common questions about Tennant Creek
Where is Tennant Creek?
Tennant Creek is a suburb of Northern Territory, Australia.
What is the population of Tennant Creek?
At the 2021 Census, Tennant Creek had a population of about 3,080.
Is Tennant Creek an advantaged area?
Tennant Creek has an ABS SEIFA score of 867, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 6 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of Australian suburbs.
How big is Tennant Creek?
Tennant Creek is one of the most populous suburbs in Northern Territory — the 21st-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 3,080 usual residents).
Where Tennant Creek ranks
Tennant Creek appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Northern Territory
More suburb guides in Northern Territory
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.