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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Palmerston City is a regional centre in Northern Territory, Australia, with a population of approximately 194, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 15 km from the Darwin CBD, Palmerston City is a regional area in Northern Territory. The median household income is $76,856 per year.
Palmerston City has a solid income profile that supports reliable occupancy rates. The short commute to the city centre is a key demand driver.
Official Australia Post postcode for Palmerston City. 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 Palmerston City 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.
Palmerston City is a smaller community of 194 — about 6% of the Northern Territory suburb median (3,057) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Palmerston City's median household income of $76,856/year is 32% below the Northern Territory suburb median ($113,308) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. The median weekly rent of $259 translates to approximately $13,468/year in gross rental income, setting the upper bound on yield before vacancy, rates, insurance and maintenance. 15 km from Darwin places Palmerston City in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.
How Palmerston City stacks up against the median of all Northern Territory suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Palmerston City sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Palmerston City | NT median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 194 | 3,057 | -94% |
| Median household income | $76,856/yr | $113,308/yr | -32% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $259 | $360 | -28% |
| Distance to CBD | 15 km | 15 km | 0% |
Pre-inspection briefing for Palmerston City — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 194 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Northern Territory market over full cycles.
Gross rent of $259/week (~$13,468/year) sets the yield ceiling. Cross-check against your purchase price to confirm whether this suburb hits the 4–5% gross yield most Australian investors target.
With a population of 194, the resale market in Palmerston City may not reliably reward cosmetic renovations — a longer hold is typically a better strategy at this scale, letting land-value appreciation do the work instead.
Run the numbers on a Palmerston City property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Palmerston City are modest for 2026 — incomes 32% below the NT median of $113,308 and a population of 194 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rents sit around $259/week, setting the baseline gross rental income at roughly $13,468/year — refine this against current listings before running your numbers. The EquitySight investment score of 44/100 places Palmerston City 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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Palmerston City scores 44/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 194, median household income of $76,856/year and median weekly rent of $259. 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 Palmerston City are proximity to Darwin (15 km), a median household income of $76,856/year, 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.
Palmerston City has a usual resident population of approximately 194, compared with a Northern Territory suburb median of 3,057 — 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.
Palmerston City sits 15 km straight-line from the Darwin CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $259 in Palmerston City, equating to approximately $13,468/year in gross rental income (state median $360/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
A reliable median mortgage figure was not captured for Palmerston City. Use our loan serviceability calculator to estimate a realistic monthly repayment for your target purchase price and deposit.
Census data was not complete enough in Palmerston City to compute a clean rent-to-mortgage coverage. Use current listings to benchmark weekly rent, then plug your expected purchase price into our rental yield calculator to see whether the investment runs cash-flow positive or negative.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (194 residents), interest-rate sensitivity, below-median household incomes ($76,856 vs $113,308 state median), the broader Northern 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.