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Suburb profile ·Northern Areas LGA · SA ·5491

Jamestown SA 5491

Jamestown is in Northern Areas LGA, SA, postcode 5491, with population 1,549.

The read

Affordability-first

The page has enough signal to be useful, but the story is mixed rather than decisive. Use compare mode to pressure-test it against stronger nearby options, then use the calculator if it still makes the shortlist.

$400/wk
Falling
-1.8% YoY
Mar 2025 → Mar 2026 · 5 periods
SA private rent report · suburb grain · Mar 2026
$450
$295
Mar 2025Mar 2026
Median house
No local house series
Median rent
$400/wk
Income-stretched rent market
1.8%YoY D9 vs AU
Gross yield
Need rent + price
Population
1,549
2K local footprint
D8 vs AU
Schools
2
Matched school context
D8 vs AU
Drive to city
2h 55m
231 km to Adelaide CBD · free-flow
Solar
608
22 added 12mo · 4MW

Price history

No price history available

Price series isn't recorded for this suburb. Census housing data is shown instead.

Median mortgage · mth$982
Median rent · wk$215
Investor profile

Who invests in Jamestown

Owner-occupied 80%Rented 20%
Investor activityATO
Negatively geared6%
69 of 134 landlords
Avg rental loss$5,923/yr
Landlords (rental income)134
Reported capital gains158
The read

Owner-occupier stronghold

76% of homes here are owner-occupied and 19% rented, with 6% of landlords negatively geared.

Why it fits

76% owner-occupied — owner-occupiers hold longer and absorb rate shocks, supporting price stability.

ABS Census 2021 tenure (G37), ATO postcode rental statistics, and QuickProperty's investor-exposure index. Owner-occupied = owned outright + with a mortgage.

Affordability

33%
median weekly rent as a share of gross household income (the 30% rule)
Stretched

Owners with a mortgage repay a median of $982/mo, while renters pay about $1,733/mo — renting runs $751/mo higher on these medians.

Household income · yr
$63K
Median rent · wk
$400
Owner mortgage · mo
$982

Household income

$63K household · yr-16.2% vs SA suburb median
Personal
$38K
Family
$87K
Household
$63K
Household income distribution (ABS Census 2021 · weekly)
Under $300
29
$300-649
111
$650-999
120
$1,000-1,499
111
$1,500-1,999
75
$2,000-2,999
98
$3,000-3,999
42
$4,000+
25

At the median asking rent, about 54% of households here would spend more than 30% of income on rent (rent stress line: $1,333/wk income).

Median taxable income trend (ATO, 2018-19 – 2022-23)$40K → $52K

Housing stock and tenure

Tenure (679 households)2.7% social housing
Owned outright
45%
Owned with mortgage
32%
Rented
19%
Dwelling structure14.6% of dwellings unoccupied on census night
Separate house
95%
Townhouse / semi
3%
Flat / apartment
0%

Getting to work: 83% drive, 0% public transport, 6% walk or cycle, 7% worked from home (2021 Census, taken during COVID-era work-from-home arrangements).

Schools

Total2
Avg ICSEA1014
Students324
Catholic1
Government1
  • Jamestown Community SchoolCombined · Government · ICSEA 998
  • St James SchoolPrimary · Catholic · ICSEA 1029

Livability

57/ 100 livability index

Top 43% most liveable of 4,565Australian suburbs.

Peer distributionstronger than 57% of Australian suburbs
WeakerTypicalStronger
Everyday access62
Public transport0
Schools & hospitals71

Bar = this suburb's percentile · tick = typical (median) peer

Suburb-level access-density index (not an address-level walk-time score), normalised within Australian suburbs. Method based on the Urban Liveability Index (Higgs et al. 2019) and Walk Score — three equal-weighted domains combined with an imbalance penalty.

Crime 2024-25
27
1,743 per 100k
D2 vs AU

Crime

Rate · per 100k1,743
Total incidents27· 2024-25
  • Assault964%
  • Break And Enter17%
  • Drug Offences00%
  • Fraud429%

Population outlook

4,701 people · 20224,560 by 2032 (-3.0%)

ABS population projection (2022 base) for the Jamestown SA2 statistical area — the finest official projection grain available; suburb-level projections do not exist.

Full data detail Census · ATO · ABS · state datasets
Jamestown SA — Property Data and Demographics

Located in South Australia within the Northern Areas local government area, Jamestown is a small locality (postcode 5491). With a population of 1,549, the suburb has an older-leaning population with a median age of 49. Households earn a median income of $63K per year, with an average household size of 2.1 people. Recent annual estimates show population movement staying broadly stable across the broader catchment, with population growth running at +0.2% year-on-year at the LGA level. SA employment has moved +2.1% year-on-year in the official ABS Labour Force trend series, which provides the broader jobs backdrop for this suburb. SA also had 21 Commonwealth-backed major projects under construction, 7 underway, and 7 in planning as at 2025-09-01, which is useful as a broader delivery backdrop rather than a suburb-specific project count. The most common occupations are managers, professionals, technicians & trades. Employment in the area leans toward agriculture and healthcare. The top ancestries reported are Australian, English, Irish.

The current median weekly rent is $400. The median monthly mortgage repayment is $982.

Jamestown is served by 2 schools, including 1 primary, 1 combined. The average ICSEA score is 1014, which is around the national average of 1,000. Healthcare facilities include 1 public hospital. The crime rate in the Northern Areas LGA is low at 1,743 incidents per 100,000 population.

From an investment perspective, Population growth of +0.2% year-on-year points to stable demand fundamentals. Building approvals have changed +0% year-on-year, indicating steady development activity.

Market & money
Investment signalsHeuristics
Pop. Growth+0.2%· Stable
Development+0%· Steady
InvestmentSA
Mortgage · mth$982
Rent · wk(Census)$215
Market rent · wk(Q1 2026)$400
Population growth · Northern Areas LGAABS ERP
Population (2025)4,688
5-year growth+0.3% CAGR
YoY change+0.2%
20012025
Development · Northern Areas LGAABS Approvals
Approvals (2026)13
Houses13
YoY change+0%
Employment · Northern Areas LGASALM
Unemployment (Dec-25)4.9%
YoY change+1.4pp
Dec-10Dec-25
Property investors · Postcode 5491ATO
Negatively geared6%
69 of filers
Avg rental loss$5,923/yr
Landlords (rental income)134
Reported capital gains158
People & prosperity
DemographicsCensus 21
Population1,549
Median age49
Household size2.1
HH income · wk$1,214
Personal income · wk$730
Persons / bedroom0.7
IncomeATO 22-23
Median income$52,371
Mean income$66,899
Earners2,828
YoY change+1.8%
SEIFA indexABS
Advantage (IRSAD)4/10
Education (IEO)4/10
Economic (IER)3/10
Disadvantage (IRSD)4/10
Income momentumCensus 16→21
HH income · wk$1,143 → $1,214
Change+6.2%
vs SA median-12.6 pp
Median rent+13.2%
softeningvs SA 2016–21
Area & amenity
Local amenitiesOSM
Supermarkets1
Pharmacies1
GP / clinics1
Fuel stations3
Cafes & dining2
Hospitals · Northern Areas LGAAIHW
Public2
Private0
Jamestown Hospital and Health Servicepublic · in suburb
Laura and District Hospitalpublic
Aged care · Northern Areas LGAGEN
Facilities3
Residential places66
Belalie Lodge41 places · in suburb
Jamestown Hospital and Health Service13 places · in suburb
Laura Multi-Purpose Service12 places
Childcare · Northern Areas LGAACECQA
Services5
Approved places181
Exceeding NQS4
Jamestown Community Children's Centre56 places · in suburb
Jamestown Community Children's Centre (Child Care) Inc56 places · in suburb
Laura Preschool Centre29 places
Gladstone Kindergarten25 places
Happy Haven OSHC Jamestown15 places · in suburb
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Current status
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Sources & freshness
Strong evidence

Jamestown carries enough direct local evidence for a first-pass decision.

QuickProperty mixes release files, Census baselines, and matched local services on this page. Read the status panel before treating every metric as equally fresh.

PRICE POSTURE
Prices come from release-based suburb series.

Official quarterly house sales workbooks; units remain on ABS fallback coverage

RENT POSTURE
Rent is using a state market dataset when available.

Use current rent as a starting signal, not as a fixed underwriting truth.

SERVICE POSTURE
Service coverage is matched locally, not inferred nationally.

Schools, transport, and hospitals are useful as presence signals, but they still have different source cadences.

Data status
Property prices
SA metropolitan median house sales · Official quarterly house sales workbooks; units remain on ABS fallback coverage
stable source · automated · every update · quarterly
Missing
Market rent
SA Housing Authority / CBS · Q1 2026 · State market dataset
medium stability · automated · every update · quarterly
Available
Crime
State crime dataset · 2024-25 · Area-level release dataset
Available
Schools
ACARA 2025 · 2 schools matched
stable source · automated · every update · annual
Available
Hospitals
AIHW · 1 hospitals matched
medium stability · manual file · snapshot · mixed
Available
Transport
GTFS feeds · No matched local transport stops
medium stability · manual file · snapshot · mixed
Missing
Population growth
ABS ERP · 2025 · Annual estimate series
stable source · automated · every update · annual
Available
Building approvals
ABS Building Approvals · 2026 · Annual release series
stable source · automated · every update · monthly
Available
Available means a direct local dataset is linked. Verify means coverage exists but freshness or precision is weaker, such as ABS price fallback, Census rent fallback, or low-confidence hospital matching.

Jamestown FAQ

Common questions
  1. What LGA is Jamestown in?

    Jamestown is in the Northern Areas Local Government Area, SA, postcode 5491. Council-level context for Northern Areas LGA (suburb mix, population, rent, and price coverage) is available on the QuickProperty LGA page.

  2. What is the typical weekly rent in Jamestown?

    The median weekly rent in Jamestown is $400/wk, based on the current market rent dataset. The current rent signal is income-stretched rent market.

  3. What does the rent signal say about Jamestown?

    Income-stretched rent market: Weekly rent screens at about 40% of annual income. Use this as a suburb screening signal before comparing candidates or modelling a purchase; the matching rent ranking can provide broader market context.

  4. Is Jamestown a good investment?

    QuickProperty's investment signals for Jamestown show: Stable, Steady. These are computed from price, rent, income, and population data — not an opaque score.

  5. Where does QuickProperty get its data for Jamestown?

    Property prices come from state Valuers General offices and ABS Data by Region. Demographics are from ABS Census 2021. School ICSEA scores are from ACARA. Crime statistics are from state police agencies. Transport data is sourced from GTFS feeds.

  6. How often is the Jamestown data updated?

    Property prices update quarterly. RBA macro indicators update with each deploy. Demographics are from Census 2021. School ICSEA scores are from ACARA 2025.