Suburb overview
Athelstone is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 9,601, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 11 km from the Adelaide CBD, Athelstone is a middle ring area in South Australia. The median household income is $100,932 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
5076
Postcode for Athelstone, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
9,601
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$658/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
11 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Sale prices & yield
Median house price
$1,092,500
Median house sale price — as at Q1 2026, Valuer-General (SA) (CC BY 4.0). Figure covers suburb (metro Adelaide).
Indicative gross yield
3.1%
Estimated as current median rent × 52 ÷ current median house price. A guide only — not a guaranteed return; excludes costs, vacancy and buying expenses.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,733/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
81% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Athelstone
- Middle-ring location about 11 km from Adelaide — balance of commute and affordability.
- Predominantly separate houses (81%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Established streets, local shops, and schools within the neighbourhood.
Who Athelstone suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Established middle-ring position between the CBD and the urban fringe.
- Established infrastructure and existing community base.
Cons
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
- Prices may rise further as demand continues.
Investment insight
With 9,601 residents, Athelstone is one of South Australia's more populous suburbs — roughly 2.6× the state median of 3,699 — giving it a deep buyer and tenant pool that typically supports higher transaction volumes and shorter average days on market. Median household income of $100,932/year runs 25% above the South Australia suburb median of $80,964, indicating strong purchasing power and the type of demographic profile that tends to sustain premium property prices through market cycles. Median rent of $658/week (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)) equates to roughly $2,851/month — about 165% of the $1,733/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. 11 km from Adelaide places Athelstone in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.
Investment tip
This suburb suits long-term investors looking for a balance of rental yield and capital growth. Schools and transport underpin family demand. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 19% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Athelstone vs South Australia median
How Athelstone stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Athelstone sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Athelstone | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 9,601 | 3,699 | +160% |
| Median household income | $100,932/yr | $80,964/yr | +25% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $360 | $320 | +13% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,733 | $1,616 | +7% |
| Distance to CBD | 11 km | 13 km | -15% |
| Separate houses | 81% | 73% | +8pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Athelstone — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 9,601 residents — 260% of the SA suburb median (3,699).
- Purchasing power: median household income $100,932/year (+25% vs South Australia suburb median of $80,964).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $360/week rent (≈ $1,560/month) covered ~90% of the $1,733/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 11 km straight-line from Adelaide (state suburb median 13 km).
- Dwelling mix: 81% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 73% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$173/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,733/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 19% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Strong buy-and-hold fundamentals: household incomes run 25% above the South Australia suburb median ($100,932 vs $80,964), and the 11 km CBD distance keeps this suburb in the primary demand zone. In South Australia, suburbs with this profile have historically clustered in the upper tercile of 10-year capital growth.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $360/week (~$1,560/month) covered 90% of the $1,733/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $173/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 81% houses in a 9,601-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,733/month median mortgage in Athelstone means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $173/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Athelstone regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Athelstone with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
Run the numbers on a Athelstone property
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Start your journey near Athelstone →2026 outlook
Athelstone enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 25% above the South Australia suburb median of $80,964 and a population of 9,601 give it the depth and purchasing power to outperform the wider SA market over the next 12–18 months. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~90% of the typical mortgage ($1,560/month rent vs $1,733/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Athelstone is constructive heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the South Australia median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Athelstone a good suburb for investment?
Whether Athelstone suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 9,601, a median household income of $100,932/year and median weekly rent of $360. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Athelstone?
The main demand drivers in Athelstone are proximity to Adelaide (11 km), an above-state-median household income of $100,932/year, a dwelling mix that is 81% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Athelstone?
Athelstone has a usual resident population of approximately 9,601, compared with a South Australia suburb median of 3,699 — 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.
How far is Athelstone from the Adelaide CBD?
Athelstone sits 11 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
What is the median rent in Athelstone?
The median weekly rent in Athelstone is $658 (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)), equating to approximately $34,216/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Athelstone?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Athelstone is $1,733, or approximately $20,796/year (vs $1,616/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.
Is Athelstone cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $360 works out to $1,560/month, covering 90% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,733/month. That leaves a $173/month shortfall (around $2,076/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.
What are the main risks of investing in Athelstone?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,733 median mortgage, the broader South Australia market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Athelstone profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Consumer & Business Services (SA) (Jan–Mar 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. The median sale price shown comes from Valuer-General (SA) (Q1 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.