Western River, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Around the national middle
Western River is more socio-economically advantaged than about 56% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 997, 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 Western River 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 1 component we can score for Western River 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
56/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (56/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 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.
- Housing affordabilityNot scored — no ABS Census median-rent figure for this suburb.
- 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.
Western River at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 16
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,624
- SEIFA score
- 997
- Local government area
- Kangaroo Island
- Coordinates
- -35.7160, 136.9419
Map of Western River
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Western River
What it costs to live in Western River and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median mortgage
- $997
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 0%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Western River demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Western River demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Western River 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 58% and 0% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 0 | 0% |
| Youth (15–24) | 0 | 0% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 7 | 58% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 0 | 0% |
| Seniors (65+) | 5 | 42% |
Share of the 12 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 8 | 73% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 0 | 0% |
| Rented | 0 | 0% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 10 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 10 occupied private dwellings in Western River.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,874
- Median weekly personal income
- $900
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 0 (0%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 0 (0%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 4 (25%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 10 (71%)
- Labour-force participation
- 87.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 28.6%
- Employed full-time
- 6
- Employed part-time
- 6
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 Western River
Is Western River a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage, Western River rates 56/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
Where is Western River?
Western River is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Kangaroo Island local government area.
What is the population of Western River?
At the 2021 Census, Western River had a population of about 16.
Is Western River an advantaged area?
Western River has an ABS SEIFA score of 997, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 56 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 56% of Australian suburbs.
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