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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Cowandilla is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 1,455, making it a boutique locality. Located 4 km from the Adelaide CBD, Cowandilla is a middle ring area in South Australia. The median household income is $68,120 per year.
Lower income levels in Cowandilla typically translate to more affordable entry points for investors. Its proximity to the CBD adds a strong location premium.
Official Australia Post postcode for Cowandilla. 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 Cowandilla 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.
Cowandilla is a smaller community of 1,455 — about 39% of the South Australia suburb median (3,699) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Household income of $68,120/year is 16% below the South Australia median of $80,964, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Rent of $300/week (75% coverage of the $1,733/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $433/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. At 4 km from the Adelaide CBD, Cowandilla sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks.
How Cowandilla stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Cowandilla sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Cowandilla | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,455 | 3,699 | -61% |
| Median household income | $68,120/yr | $80,964/yr | -16% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $300 | $320 | -6% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,733 | $1,616 | +7% |
| Distance to CBD | 4 km | 13 km | -69% |
| Separate houses | 69% | 73% | -4pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Cowandilla — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 1,455 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider South Australia market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $300/week covers 75% of a $1,733/month mortgage, leaving a $433/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
With 69% houses in a 1,455-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 Cowandilla property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Cowandilla are modest for 2026 — incomes 16% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 1,455 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~75% of the typical mortgage ($1,300/month rent vs $1,733/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 52/100 places Cowandilla in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
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Cowandilla scores 52/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 1,455, median household income of $68,120/year and median weekly rent of $300. 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 Cowandilla are proximity to Adelaide (4 km), a median household income of $68,120/year, a dwelling mix that is 69% 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.
Cowandilla has a usual resident population of approximately 1,455, 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.
Cowandilla sits 4 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Adelaide employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $300 in Cowandilla, equating to approximately $15,600/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.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Cowandilla 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.
A median weekly rent of $300 works out to $1,300/month, covering 75% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,733/month. That leaves a $433/month shortfall (around $5,196/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 (1,455 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,733 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($68,120 vs $80,964 state median), 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.
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.