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Suburb Insights · SA 5291

Carpenter Rocks, SA 5291 Property Profile

ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026

Suburb Overview

Carpenter Rocks is a regional centre in South Australia, Australia, with a population of approximately 87, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 367 km from the Adelaide CBD, Carpenter Rocks is a regional area in South Australia. The median household income is $80,132 per year.

Investment Score

35 / 100 Weak

Household incomes in Carpenter Rocks sit in a comfortable mid-range for the South Australia market. As a regional location, growth prospects depend on local economic conditions and infrastructure investment.

Location

Adelaide
Carpenter Rocks
South Australia · 5291
367 km from Adelaide CBD
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Key Indicators

Postcode
5291

Official Australia Post postcode for Carpenter Rocks. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.

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Population
87

Usual resident population at the most recent census.

Median weekly rent
$100/wk

Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.

Median household income
$80,132/yr

Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.

Distance to CBD
367 km

Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.

Lifestyle & Amenities

Schools nearby
1

Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.

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Parks & green spaces
1

Estimated 1 park and green spaces near this suburb.

Median monthly mortgage
$1,509/mo

Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.

Home type
42% houses

Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.

Investment Insight

Carpenter Rocks is a smaller community of 87 — about 2% of the South Australia suburb median (3,699) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. At $80,132/year, household income in Carpenter Rocks is within 1% of the South Australia median ($80,964), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Weekly rent of $100 covers just 29% of the median $1,509/month mortgage repayment, leaving a $1,076/month gap — investors should only pursue this suburb with a clear capital-growth thesis and sufficient external income to fund the shortfall. Carpenter Rocks is 367 km from Adelaide, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 42% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 73% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.

Carpenter Rocks vs South Australia Median

How Carpenter Rocks stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Carpenter Rocks sits above the state median; negative means below.

MetricCarpenter RocksSA medianΔ vs state
Population873,699-98%
Median household income$80,132/yr$80,964/yr-1%
Median rent (weekly)$100$320-69%
Median mortgage (monthly)$1,509$1,616-7%
Distance to CBD367 km13 km+2723%
Separate houses42%73%-31pp

Investor Checklist

Pre-inspection briefing for Carpenter Rocks — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.

Investment Strategy

Buy & Hold

Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 87 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider South Australia market over full cycles.

Rental Yield

Weak cash flow: $100/week rent covers only 29% of the $1,509/month median mortgage — a $1,076/month gap that must be funded from other income. This suburb is a capital-growth play, not a yield play.

Renovation / Flip

Only 42% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 73% SA median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.

Risk Factors

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30-year projections for Carpenter Rocks

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2026 Outlook

Growth: Low Rental Demand: Low Investor Sentiment: Low

Capital-growth expectations for Carpenter Rocks are modest for 2026 — incomes close to the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 87 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~29% of the typical mortgage ($433/month rent vs $1,509/month repayment), meaning investors will rely on capital growth rather than yield. The EquitySight investment score of 35/100 places Carpenter Rocks in the lower tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Is Carpenter Rocks a good suburb for investment?

Carpenter Rocks scores 35/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 87, median household income of $80,132/year and median weekly rent of $100. 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.

What drives property demand in Carpenter Rocks?

The main demand drivers in Carpenter Rocks are a median household income of $80,132/year, a dwelling mix that is 42% 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.

What is the population of Carpenter Rocks?

Carpenter Rocks has a usual resident population of approximately 87, compared with a South Australia suburb median of 3,699 — 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.

How far is Carpenter Rocks from the Adelaide CBD?

Carpenter Rocks sits 367 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.

What is the median rent in Carpenter Rocks?

The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $100 in Carpenter Rocks, equating to approximately $5,200/year in gross rental income (state median $320/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.

What is the typical mortgage repayment in Carpenter Rocks?

The median monthly mortgage repayment in Carpenter Rocks is $1,509, or approximately $18,108/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 Carpenter Rocks cash-flow positive for investors?

A median weekly rent of $100 works out to $433/month, covering 29% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,509/month. That leaves a $1,076/month shortfall (around $12,912/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 Carpenter Rocks?

The main risks are a thin buyer pool (87 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,509 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 Carpenter Rocks profile

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.

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