Suburb overview
Port Augusta West is a regional centre in South Australia, Australia, with a population of approximately 4,046, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 272 km from the Adelaide CBD, Port Augusta West is a regional area in South Australia. The median household income is $72,592 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
5700
Postcode for Port Augusta West, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
4,046
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$370/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
272 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,279/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
69% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Port Augusta West
- Regional location about 272 km from Adelaide.
- Country-town feel with lower density and slower pace of life.
Who Port Augusta West suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Mortgage costs are lower than the South Australia median, improving cash-flow margins.
- Lower purchase prices and more land for the money.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (272 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment insight
4,046 residents places Port Augusta West squarely in the middle of the South Australia suburb size distribution (state median 3,699), with market depth comparable to most SA localities. Household income of $72,592/year is 10% 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 $370/week (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)) equates to roughly $1,603/month — about 125% of the $1,279/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. Port Augusta West is 272 km from Adelaide, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment tip
Regional property can deliver strong cash-flow yields but liquidity is tighter — plan for longer hold periods and verify local employment stability. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 15% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Port Augusta West vs South Australia median
How Port Augusta West stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Port Augusta West sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Port Augusta West | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,046 | 3,699 | +9% |
| Median household income | $72,592/yr | $80,964/yr | -10% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $213 | $320 | -33% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,279 | $1,616 | -21% |
| Distance to CBD | 272 km | 13 km | +1992% |
| Separate houses | 69% | 73% | -4pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Port Augusta West — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 4,046 residents — 109% of the SA suburb median (3,699).
- Purchasing power: median household income $72,592/year (-10% vs South Australia suburb median of $80,964).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $213/week rent (≈ $923/month) covered ~72% of the $1,279/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 272 km straight-line from Adelaide (state suburb median 13 km).
- Dwelling mix: 69% separate houses — mixed market (vs 73% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$128/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,279/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 15% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Port Augusta West's 4,046-person market and $72,592 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Moderate rental coverage at the 2021 Census: rent of $213/week covered 72% of a $1,279/month mortgage, a $356/month gap bridged with equity, depreciation and tax benefits. Re-check with current rents and rates before committing.
With 69% houses in a 4,046-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 $1,279/month median mortgage in Port Augusta West means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $128/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Liquidity risk: with 4,046 residents, Port Augusta West 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.
- Commute distance: at 272 km from the nearest CBD, Port Augusta West depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Port Augusta West regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Port Augusta West 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 Port Augusta West property
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Start your journey near Port Augusta West →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Port Augusta West are modest for 2026 — incomes 10% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 4,046 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~72% of the typical mortgage ($923/month rent vs $1,279/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Port Augusta West is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the South Australia median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Port Augusta West a good suburb for investment?
Whether Port Augusta West suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 4,046, a median household income of $72,592/year and median weekly rent of $213. 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 Port Augusta West?
The main demand drivers in Port Augusta West are a median household income of $72,592/year, a dwelling mix that is 69% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Port Augusta West?
Port Augusta West has a usual resident population of approximately 4,046, 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.
How far is Port Augusta West from the Adelaide CBD?
Port Augusta West sits 272 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 Port Augusta West?
The median weekly rent in Port Augusta West is $370 (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)), equating to approximately $19,240/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Port Augusta West?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Port Augusta West is $1,279, or approximately $15,348/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 Port Augusta West cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $213 works out to $923/month, covering 72% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,279/month. That leaves a $356/month shortfall (around $4,272/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 Port Augusta West?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (4,046 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,279 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 Port Augusta West profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are 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 and dated on the page. 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.