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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Tennant Creek is a regional centre in Northern Territory, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,080, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 876 km from the Darwin CBD, Tennant Creek is a regional area in Northern Territory. The median household income is $87,204 per year.
Household incomes in Tennant Creek sit in a comfortable mid-range for the Northern Territory market. Distance from major centres is a consideration, though regional markets can offer higher rental yields.
Official Australia Post postcode for Tennant Creek. 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 Tennant Creek 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.
3,080 residents places Tennant Creek squarely in the middle of the Northern Territory suburb size distribution (state median 3,057), with market depth comparable to most NT localities. Tennant Creek's median household income of $87,204/year is 23% 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. Rent of $180/week (70% coverage of the $1,114/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $334/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Tennant Creek is 876 km from Darwin, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Regional property can deliver strong cash-flow yields but liquidity is tighter — plan for longer hold periods and verify local employment stability. Local rents consume roughly 11% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Tennant Creek stacks up against the median of all Northern Territory suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Tennant Creek sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Tennant Creek | NT median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,080 | 3,057 | +1% |
| Median household income | $87,204/yr | $113,308/yr | -23% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $180 | $360 | -50% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,114 | $1,950 | -43% |
| Distance to CBD | 876 km | 15 km | +5740% |
| Separate houses | 67% | 68% | -1pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Tennant Creek — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 23% below the NT median ($87,204 vs $113,308) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Northern Territory market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $180/week covers 70% of a $1,114/month mortgage, leaving a $334/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
With 67% houses in a 3,080-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Run the numbers on a Tennant Creek property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Tennant Creek are modest for 2026 — incomes 23% below the NT median of $113,308 and a population of 3,080 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~70% of the typical mortgage ($780/month rent vs $1,114/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 43/100 places Tennant Creek 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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Tennant Creek scores 43/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 3,080, median household income of $87,204/year and median weekly rent of $180. 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 Tennant Creek are a median household income of $87,204/year, a dwelling mix that is 67% 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.
Tennant Creek has a usual resident population of approximately 3,080, compared with a Northern Territory suburb median of 3,057 — placing it in the upper 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.
Tennant Creek sits 876 km straight-line from the Darwin CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $180 in Tennant Creek, equating to approximately $9,360/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.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Tennant Creek is $1,114, or approximately $13,368/year (vs $1,950/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 $180 works out to $780/month, covering 70% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,114/month. That leaves a $334/month shortfall (around $4,008/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. 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 (3,080 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,114 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($87,204 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.