Terowie, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Terowie sits in the Mid North of South Australia, about 220km north of Adelaide and 24km south-east of Peterborough. Its name comes from an Aboriginal word for a 'hidden waterhole', first applied to nearby Terowie Creek. Founded around 1875 and reached by rail in 1880, the town boomed as a busy break-of-gauge station, where broad-gauge trains from the south met the narrow-gauge line running north and goods had to be transhipped between them. A well-preserved streetscape of 1880s buildings has it listed as a historic town. In 1942 General Douglas MacArthur changed trains here and famously vowed 'I shall return'.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Terowie is more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 871, 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.
Terowie at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 135
- Median age
- 56
- Median weekly household income
- $589
- SEIFA score
- 871
- Coordinates
- -33.1525, 138.9276
Terowie demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Terowie 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 41%, 11% of homes are rented, and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 9 | 7% |
| Youth (15–24) | 9 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 22 | 17% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 53 | 41% |
| Seniors (65+) | 37 | 28% |
Share of the 130 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 30 | 53% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 17 | 30% |
| Rented | 6 | 11% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 51 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 51 occupied private dwellings in Terowie.
- Median weekly rent
- $135
- Median monthly mortgage
- $298
- Average household size
- 1.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $880
- Median weekly personal income
- $437
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 16 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 0 (0%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 10 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 32 (26%)
- Labour-force participation
- 33.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 9.8%
- Employed full-time
- 19
- Employed part-time
- 21
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 Terowie
Where is Terowie?
Terowie is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Terowie?
At the 2021 Census, Terowie had a population of about 135.
Is Terowie an advantaged area?
Terowie has an ABS SEIFA score of 871, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 7 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of Australian suburbs.
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