Suburb Overview
Hawthorn is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 2,221, making it a boutique locality. Located 5 km from the Adelaide CBD, Hawthorn is a middle ring area in South Australia. The median household income is $123,240 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
5062
Postcode for Hawthorn, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
2,221
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$475/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA) (CC BY 4.0).
Median household income
$123,240
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
5 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
$2,050,000
Median house sale price — as at Q1 2026, Valuer-General (SA) (CC BY 4.0). Figure covers suburb (metro Adelaide).
Indicative gross yield
1.2%
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
$2,600/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
66% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why People Like Living in Hawthorn
- Close to Adelaide — roughly 5 km from the CBD, ideal for city workers.
- Established streets, local shops, and schools within the neighbourhood.
Who Hawthorn Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Short distance to the CBD makes commuting straightforward.
- Established infrastructure and existing community base.
Cons
- Median mortgage sits above the South Australia state median — entry costs are stretched.
- Transport options are limited — car dependency is likely.
- Fewer schools inside the suburb itself — verify catchments for neighbouring areas.
Investment Insight
Hawthorn is a smaller community of 2,221 — about 60% of the South Australia suburb median (3,699) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Median household income of $123,240/year runs 52% 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 $475/week (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)) covers about 79% of the $2,600/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census, leaving a gap of roughly $542/month on those figures — and since the mortgage baseline predates the post-2021 rate rises, the real gap on a new loan is likely wider. At 5 km from the Adelaide CBD, Hawthorn sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks.
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 12% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Hawthorn vs South Australia Median
How Hawthorn stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Hawthorn sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Hawthorn | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2,221 | 3,699 | -40% |
| Median household income | $123,240/yr | $80,964/yr | +52% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $295 | $320 | -8% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,600 | $1,616 | +61% |
| Distance to CBD | 5 km | 13 km | -62% |
| Separate houses | 66% | 73% | -7pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Hawthorn — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 2,221 residents — 60% of the SA suburb median (3,699).
- Purchasing power: median household income $123,240/year (+52% vs South Australia suburb median of $80,964).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $295/week rent (≈ $1,278/month) covered ~49% of the $2,600/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 5 km straight-line from Adelaide (state suburb median 13 km).
- Dwelling mix: 66% separate houses — mixed market (vs 73% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$260/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,600/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 12% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Strong buy-and-hold fundamentals: household incomes run 52% above the South Australia suburb median ($123,240 vs $80,964), and the 5 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.
Weak cash flow at the 2021 Census: $295/week rent covered only 49% of the $2,600/month median mortgage — a $1,322/month gap funded from other income. On the Census snapshot this reads as a capital-growth play, not a yield play; verify current rents before deciding.
With 66% houses in a 2,221-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 $2,600/month median mortgage in Hawthorn means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $260/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Premium-pricing risk: incomes 52% above the South Australia median ($123,240 vs $80,964) correlate with elevated purchase prices and compressed gross yields — enter only with a clear capital-growth thesis and a comfortable deposit.
- Liquidity risk: with 2,221 residents, Hawthorn has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Hawthorn regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Hawthorn 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 Hawthorn property
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Hawthorn enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 52% above the South Australia suburb median of $80,964 and a population of 2,221 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 ~49% of the typical mortgage ($1,278/month rent vs $2,600/month repayment), meaning investors will rely on capital growth rather than yield. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Hawthorn is constructive heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the South Australia median.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Hawthorn a good suburb for investment?
Whether Hawthorn suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 2,221, a median household income of $123,240/year and median weekly rent of $295. 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 Hawthorn?
The main demand drivers in Hawthorn are proximity to Adelaide (5 km), an above-state-median household income of $123,240/year, a dwelling mix that is 66% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Hawthorn?
Hawthorn has a usual resident population of approximately 2,221, 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 Hawthorn from the Adelaide CBD?
Hawthorn sits 5 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Adelaide employment nodes.
What is the median rent in Hawthorn?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $295 in Hawthorn, equating to approximately $15,340/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 Hawthorn?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Hawthorn is $2,600, or approximately $31,200/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 Hawthorn cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $295 works out to $1,278/month, covering 49% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,600/month. That leaves a $1,322/month shortfall (around $15,864/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 Hawthorn?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (2,221 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,600 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 Hawthorn profile
The population, postcode, median household income, and dwelling mix on this page are real figures from the ABS 2021 Census (income is the ABS median weekly household income annualised) and Australia Post. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage repayment are 2021 figures and are clearly 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 — it is dated on the page and is separate from the older Census rent. 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.