ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Gawler East is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 5,689, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 39 km from the Adelaide CBD, Gawler East is a outer metro area in South Australia. The median household income is $81,588 per year.
Household incomes in Gawler East sit in a comfortable mid-range for the South Australia market. The outer location offers affordability but may see slower price appreciation.
Official Australia Post postcode for Gawler East. 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 Gawler East on My School →Estimated 2 parks 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.
Gawler East's population of 5,689 sits 54% above the South Australia suburb median of 3,699, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average SA locality. At $81,588/year, household income in Gawler East is within 1% of the South Australia median ($80,964), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Rent of $300/week (86% coverage of the $1,508/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $208/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. At 39 km from Adelaide, Gawler East is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price.
This suburb suits long-term investors due to steady population growth and affordable entry prices. Look for established streets close to schools and shops rather than raw new-estate land. Local rents consume roughly 19% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Gawler East stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Gawler East sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Gawler East | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 5,689 | 3,699 | +54% |
| Median household income | $81,588/yr | $80,964/yr | +1% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $300 | $320 | -6% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,508 | $1,616 | -7% |
| Distance to CBD | 39 km | 13 km | +200% |
| Separate houses | 85% | 73% | +12pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Gawler East — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 5,689 and household income close to the SA median ($81,588 vs $80,964) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Strong rental coverage: $300/week (~$1,300/month) covers 86% of the $1,508/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $208/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
A dwelling mix skewed to houses (85% vs 73% SA median) combined with a population of 5,689 creates a deeper market for value-add renovations — older stock, separate titles and stronger buyer competition are the usual pattern here.
Run the numbers on a Gawler East property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Property values in Gawler East should track the wider South Australia market through 2026, with the $81,588/year median household income (close to the $80,964 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. Rental coverage runs at ~86% of the typical mortgage ($1,300/month rent vs $1,508/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 56/100 places Gawler East 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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Gawler East scores 56/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 5,689, median household income of $81,588/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 Gawler East are an above-state-median household income of $81,588/year, a dwelling mix that is 85% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 2 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.
Gawler East has a usual resident population of approximately 5,689, 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.
Gawler East sits 39 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is an outer-metro location; local employment and infrastructure announcements tend to move prices more than CBD connectivity alone.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $300 in Gawler East, 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 Gawler East is $1,508, or approximately $18,096/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 86% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,508/month. That leaves a $208/month shortfall (around $2,496/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 interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,508 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.