EquitySight.app
Free full calculator →
EquitySight.app
Free full calculator →
ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Tarpeena is a regional centre in South Australia, Australia, with a population of approximately 392, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 360 km from the Adelaide CBD, Tarpeena is a regional area in South Australia. The median household income is $49,920 per year.
Household earnings in Tarpeena are below the state average, which may affect long-term capital growth. Regional positioning means lower entry costs but potentially longer hold periods for capital gains.
Official Australia Post postcode for Tarpeena. 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 Tarpeena 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.
Tarpeena is a smaller community of 392 — about 11% of the South Australia suburb median (3,699) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Tarpeena's median household income of $49,920/year is 38% 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. Rent of $150/week (82% coverage of the $793/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $143/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Tarpeena is 360 km from Adelaide, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
How Tarpeena stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Tarpeena sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Tarpeena | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 392 | 3,699 | -89% |
| Median household income | $49,920/yr | $80,964/yr | -38% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $150 | $320 | -53% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $793 | $1,616 | -51% |
| Distance to CBD | 360 km | 13 km | +2669% |
| Separate houses | 84% | 73% | +11pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Tarpeena — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 392 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider South Australia market over full cycles.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $150/week covers 82% of a $793/month mortgage, leaving a $143/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
With 84% houses in a 392-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 Tarpeena property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Tarpeena are modest for 2026 — incomes 38% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 392 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~82% of the typical mortgage ($650/month rent vs $793/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 22/100 places Tarpeena in the lower tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
Lived in Tarpeena? Help other investors with an honest 100-word review. Sign-in required; all reviews are manually moderated before they appear.
Tarpeena scores 22/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 392, median household income of $49,920/year and median weekly rent of $150. 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 Tarpeena are a median household income of $49,920/year, a dwelling mix that is 84% 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.
Tarpeena has a usual resident population of approximately 392, 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.
Tarpeena sits 360 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.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $150 in Tarpeena, equating to approximately $7,800/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 Tarpeena is $793, or approximately $9,516/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 $150 works out to $650/month, covering 82% of the median mortgage repayment of $793/month. That leaves a $143/month shortfall (around $1,716/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 (392 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $793 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($49,920 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.
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.