EquitySight.app
Free full calculator →
EquitySight.app
Free full calculator →
ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Emu Bay is a regional centre in South Australia, Australia, with a population of approximately 95, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 122 km from the Adelaide CBD, Emu Bay is a regional area in South Australia. The median household income is $69,316 per year.
Emu Bay's income profile suggests a value-oriented market with competitive purchase prices. Regional positioning means lower entry costs but potentially longer hold periods for capital gains.
Official Australia Post postcode for Emu Bay. 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 Emu Bay 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.
Emu Bay is a smaller community of 95 — about 3% 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 $69,316/year is 14% below the South Australia median of $80,964, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Median rent of $220/week (~$953/month) covers only 68% of the median mortgage of $1,400/month — the remaining $447/month must be funded from other income, so this suburb tilts toward capital growth rather than yield. Emu Bay is 122 km from Adelaide, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 49% 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.
How Emu Bay stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Emu Bay sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Emu Bay | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 95 | 3,699 | -97% |
| Median household income | $69,316/yr | $80,964/yr | -14% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $220 | $320 | -31% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,400 | $1,616 | -13% |
| Distance to CBD | 122 km | 13 km | +838% |
| Separate houses | 49% | 73% | -24pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Emu Bay — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 95 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider South Australia market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $220/week covers 68% of a $1,400/month mortgage, leaving a $447/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 49% 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.
Run the numbers on a Emu Bay property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Emu Bay are modest for 2026 — incomes 14% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 95 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~68% of the typical mortgage ($953/month rent vs $1,400/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 33/100 places Emu Bay in the lower tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
Lived in Emu Bay? Help other investors with an honest 100-word review. Sign-in required; all reviews are manually moderated before they appear.
Emu Bay scores 33/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 95, median household income of $69,316/year and median weekly rent of $220. 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 Emu Bay are a median household income of $69,316/year, a dwelling mix that is 49% 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.
Emu Bay has a usual resident population of approximately 95, 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.
Emu Bay sits 122 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.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $220 in Emu Bay, equating to approximately $11,440/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 Emu Bay is $1,400, or approximately $16,800/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 $220 works out to $953/month, covering 68% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,400/month. That leaves a $447/month shortfall (around $5,364/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 (95 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,400 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.
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.