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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Symonston is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Canberra, Australia, with a population of approximately 655, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 8 km from the Canberra CBD, Symonston is a middle ring area in Australian Capital Territory. The median household income is $43,732 per year.
Household earnings in Symonston are below the state average, which may affect long-term capital growth. The short commute to the city centre is a key demand driver.
Official Australia Post postcode for Symonston. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Symonston on My School →Estimated 1 park and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Symonston is a smaller community of 655 — about 17% of the Australian Capital Territory suburb median (3,808) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Symonston's median household income of $43,732/year is 65% below the Australian Capital Territory suburb median ($123,916) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Median weekly rent of $275 equates to $1,192/month — about 199% of the median mortgage repayment of $599/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. At 8 km from the Canberra CBD, Symonston sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 33% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 71% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
How Symonston stacks up against the median of all Australian Capital Territory suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Symonston sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Symonston | ACT median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 655 | 3,808 | -83% |
| Median household income | $43,732/yr | $123,916/yr | -65% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $275 | $450 | -39% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $599 | $2,144 | -72% |
| Distance to CBD | 8 km | 10 km | -20% |
| Separate houses | 33% | 71% | -38pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Symonston — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 655 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Australian Capital Territory market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage: $275/week (~$1,192/month) covers 199% of the $599/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $0/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 33% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 71% ACT median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Symonston property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Symonston are modest for 2026 — incomes 65% below the ACT median of $123,916 and a population of 655 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~199% of the typical mortgage ($1,192/month rent vs $599/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 45/100 places Symonston in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Symonston scores 45/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 655, median household income of $43,732/year and median weekly rent of $275. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Symonston are proximity to Canberra (8 km), a median household income of $43,732/year, a dwelling mix that is 33% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 1 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Symonston has a usual resident population of approximately 655, compared with a Australian Capital Territory suburb median of 3,808 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Symonston sits 8 km straight-line from the Canberra CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Canberra employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $275 in Symonston, equating to approximately $14,300/year in gross rental income (state median $450/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Symonston is $599, or approximately $7,188/year (vs $2,144/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $275 works out to $1,192/month, covering 199% of the median mortgage repayment of $599/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $593/month, so on these numbers Symonston leans cash-flow-positive before accounting for strata, council rates, insurance and maintenance. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (655 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $599 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($43,732 vs $123,916 state median), a unit-heavy dwelling mix (33% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader Australian Capital Territory market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.