ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Surrey Downs is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,358, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 18 km from the Adelaide CBD, Surrey Downs is a outer metro area in South Australia. The median household income is $87,048 per year.
Surrey Downs has a solid income profile that supports reliable occupancy rates.
Official Australia Post postcode for Surrey Downs. 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 Surrey Downs 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.
3,358 residents places Surrey Downs squarely in the middle of the South Australia suburb size distribution (state median 3,699), with market depth comparable to most SA localities. Households here earn $87,048/year on average — 8% above the SA suburb median of $80,964 — a modest premium that supports resilient owner-occupier demand. Median weekly rent of $330 equates to $1,430/month — about 97% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,473/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. 18 km from Adelaide places Surrey Downs in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs. Separate houses make up 92% of dwellings — 19 percentage points above the South Australia median of 73% — pointing to a family-oriented, land-rich market where value is concentrated in the underlying block.
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 20% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Surrey Downs stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Surrey Downs sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Surrey Downs | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,358 | 3,699 | -9% |
| Median household income | $87,048/yr | $80,964/yr | +8% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $330 | $320 | +3% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,473 | $1,616 | -9% |
| Distance to CBD | 18 km | 13 km | +38% |
| Separate houses | 92% | 73% | +19pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Surrey Downs — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Surrey Downs's 3,358-person market and $87,048 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage: $330/week (~$1,430/month) covers 97% of the $1,473/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $43/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
With 92% houses in a 3,358-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Run the numbers on a Surrey Downs property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Surrey Downs are modest for 2026 — incomes 8% above the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 3,358 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~97% of the typical mortgage ($1,430/month rent vs $1,473/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 62/100 places Surrey Downs in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
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Surrey Downs scores 62/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 3,358, median household income of $87,048/year and median weekly rent of $330. 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 Surrey Downs are proximity to Adelaide (18 km), an above-state-median household income of $87,048/year, a dwelling mix that is 92% 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.
Surrey Downs has a usual resident population of approximately 3,358, 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.
Surrey Downs sits 18 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $330 in Surrey Downs, equating to approximately $17,160/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 Surrey Downs is $1,473, or approximately $17,676/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 $330 works out to $1,430/month, covering 97% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,473/month. That leaves a $43/month shortfall (around $516/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 (3,358 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,473 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.