Wirrabara, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Wirrabara is a small town in the Southern Flinders Ranges of South Australia, set along the Rocky River on the Horrocks Highway about 235 kilometres north of Adelaide. Its name is said to come from Aboriginal language — variously traced to Kaurna words for gum trees and running water, or to Nukunu words describing gum trees with honey and water. Timber milling began in the area in the 1850s, and in 1877 the nearby Wirrabara forest became the site of the first government forest nursery in Australia. The town was surveyed in 1874 and later linked by the Wilmington railway. Today it is a farming and forestry community, known for its monthly producers' market and a striking painted grain silo by the artist Smug.
Less advantaged than the national average
Wirrabara is more socio-economically advantaged than about 28% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 947, 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 Wirrabara 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Wirrabara 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
28/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (28/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
89/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $150 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 89% 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.
Wirrabara at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 353
- Median age
- 60
- Median weekly household income
- $900
- SEIFA score
- 947
- Local government area
- Mount Remarkable
- Coordinates
- -33.0380, 138.2431
Map of Wirrabara
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Wirrabara
What it costs to live in Wirrabara and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $150
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $867
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 84%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 9%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Wirrabara demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Wirrabara demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Wirrabara 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 37% and 9% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 31 | 9% |
| Youth (15–24) | 24 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 38 | 10% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 134 | 37% |
| Seniors (65+) | 136 | 37% |
Share of the 363 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 102 | 56% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 51 | 28% |
| Rented | 16 | 9% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 173 | 98% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 177 occupied private dwellings in Wirrabara.
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,292
- Median weekly personal income
- $548
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 31 (9%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 3 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 17 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 112 (35%)
- Labour-force participation
- 50.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.6%
- Employed full-time
- 83
- Employed part-time
- 47
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.
Share your local knowledge of Wirrabara
Lived here or spent time in Wirrabara? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Wirrabara
Is Wirrabara 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, Wirrabara rates 48/100 overall (Below the national middle 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 Wirrabara?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Wirrabara was $150, 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 Wirrabara?
Wirrabara is a suburb of South Australia, Australia, in the Mount Remarkable local government area.
What is the population of Wirrabara?
At the 2021 Census, Wirrabara had a population of about 353.
Is Wirrabara an advantaged area?
Wirrabara has an ABS SEIFA score of 947, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 28 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 28% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in South Australia
More suburb guides in South Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.