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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Tonsley is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Adelaide, Australia, with a population of approximately 743, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 9 km from the Adelaide CBD, Tonsley is a middle ring area in South Australia. The median household income is $76,440 per year.
Tonsley has a solid income profile that supports reliable occupancy rates. The short commute to the city centre is a key demand driver.
Official Australia Post postcode for Tonsley. 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 Tonsley 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.
Tonsley is a smaller community of 743 — about 20% of the South Australia suburb median (3,699) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Household income of $76,440/year is 6% below the South Australia median of $80,964, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Median weekly rent of $330 equates to $1,430/month — about 95% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,500/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. At 9 km from the Adelaide CBD, Tonsley sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 44% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 73% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
How Tonsley stacks up against the median of all South Australia suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Tonsley sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Tonsley | SA median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 743 | 3,699 | -80% |
| Median household income | $76,440/yr | $80,964/yr | -6% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $330 | $320 | +3% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,500 | $1,616 | -7% |
| Distance to CBD | 9 km | 13 km | -31% |
| Separate houses | 44% | 73% | -29pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Tonsley — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 743 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider South Australia market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage: $330/week (~$1,430/month) covers 95% of the $1,500/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $70/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 44% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 73% SA median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Tonsley property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Tonsley are modest for 2026 — incomes 6% below the SA median of $80,964 and a population of 743 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~95% of the typical mortgage ($1,430/month rent vs $1,500/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 56/100 places Tonsley in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
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Tonsley scores 56/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 743, median household income of $76,440/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 Tonsley are proximity to Adelaide (9 km), a median household income of $76,440/year, a dwelling mix that is 44% 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.
Tonsley has a usual resident population of approximately 743, 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.
Tonsley sits 9 km straight-line from the Adelaide CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Adelaide employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $330 in Tonsley, 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 Tonsley is $1,500, or approximately $18,000/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 95% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,500/month. That leaves a $70/month shortfall (around $840/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 (743 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,500 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.