Suburb overview
Port Pirie South is a regional centre in South Australia, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,878, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 198 km from the Adelaide CBD, Port Pirie South is a regional area in South Australia. The median household income is $59,540 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
5540
Postcode for Port Pirie South, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
3,878
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$340/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
198 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$975/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
79% 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 Pirie South
- Regional location about 198 km from Adelaide.
- Predominantly separate houses (79%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Country-town feel with lower density and slower pace of life.
Who Port Pirie South 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 (198 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment insight
3,878 residents places Port Pirie South squarely in the middle of the South Australia suburb size distribution (state median 3,699), with market depth comparable to most SA localities. Port Pirie South's median household income of $59,540/year is 26% below the South Australia suburb median ($80,964) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Median rent of $340/week (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)) equates to roughly $1,473/month — about 151% of the $975/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 Pirie South is 198 km from Adelaide, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment tip
This suburb suits yield-focused investors who are comfortable with lower liquidity. Employment concentration and local population trends matter more here than in metro markets. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 17% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Port Pirie South vs South Australia median
How Port Pirie South stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Port Pirie South sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Port Pirie South | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,878 | 3,699 | +5% |
| Median household income | $59,540/yr | $80,964/yr | -26% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $200 | $320 | -37% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $975 | $1,616 | -40% |
| Distance to CBD | 198 km | 13 km | +1423% |
| Separate houses | 79% | 73% | +6pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Port Pirie South — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 3,878 residents — 105% of the SA suburb median (3,699).
- Purchasing power: median household income $59,540/year (-26% vs South Australia suburb median of $80,964).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $200/week rent (≈ $867/month) covered ~89% of the $975/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 198 km straight-line from Adelaide (state suburb median 13 km).
- Dwelling mix: 79% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 73% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$98/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $975/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 17% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: household incomes 26% below the SA median ($59,540 vs $80,964) means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider South Australia market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $200/week (~$867/month) covered 89% of the $975/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $108/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 79% houses in a 3,878-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 $975/month median mortgage in Port Pirie South means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $98/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Income vulnerability: household incomes in Port Pirie South are 26% below the South Australia median ($59,540 vs $80,964), which tends to compress rent growth and increases exposure to local unemployment shocks.
- Liquidity risk: with 3,878 residents, Port Pirie South 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 198 km from the nearest CBD, Port Pirie South 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 Pirie South regardless of local market conditions.
Run the numbers on a Port Pirie South property
Walk the journey to a place like Port Pirie South
Seven guided stops — government schemes compared for your exact numbers, a real budget, suburb shortlisting and every contract deadline tracked. Free, no signup to start.
Start your journey near Port Pirie South →2026 outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Port Pirie South are modest for 2026 — incomes 26% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 3,878 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~89% of the typical mortgage ($867/month rent vs $975/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Port Pirie South 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 Pirie South a good suburb for investment?
Whether Port Pirie South suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 3,878, a median household income of $59,540/year and median weekly rent of $200. 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 Pirie South?
The main demand drivers in Port Pirie South are a median household income of $59,540/year, a dwelling mix that is 79% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Port Pirie South?
Port Pirie South has a usual resident population of approximately 3,878, 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 Pirie South from the Adelaide CBD?
Port Pirie South sits 198 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 Pirie South?
The median weekly rent in Port Pirie South is $340 (as at Jan–Mar 2026, Consumer & Business Services (SA)), equating to approximately $17,680/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 Pirie South?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Port Pirie South is $975, or approximately $11,700/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 Pirie South cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $200 works out to $867/month, covering 89% of the median mortgage repayment of $975/month. That leaves a $108/month shortfall (around $1,296/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 Pirie South?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (3,878 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $975 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($59,540 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.
How we built this Port Pirie South 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.