Andamooka, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Andamooka is a remote opal-mining town in the Far North of South Australia, roughly 600 kilometres north of Adelaide. It lies on the traditional lands of the Kokatha people, and the name is thought to come from an Aboriginal word for a nearby salt lake, though its meaning is uncertain. Europeans knew the country from the 1860s, but the town owes its existence to the discovery of opal in 1930, which opened the Andamooka Opal Field. The Andamooka Opal, presented to Queen Elizabeth II in 1954, came from these diggings. Miners sheltered from the heat in dugout homes cut into the rock, several of which survive as heritage-listed reminders of the early field. Opal, fossils and desert skies still draw visitors today.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Andamooka is more socio-economically advantaged than about 2% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 817, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Andamooka at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 262
- Median age
- 57
- Median weekly household income
- $703
- SEIFA score
- 817
- Coordinates
- -30.4537, 137.1650
Andamooka demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Andamooka using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is mid-life (45–64) at 37%, 18% of homes are rented, and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 30 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 17 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 39 | 14% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 102 | 37% |
| Seniors (65+) | 86 | 31% |
Share of the 274 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 74 | 61% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 26 | 21% |
| Rented | 22 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 115 | 86% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 133 occupied private dwellings in Andamooka.
- Median weekly rent
- $150
- Median monthly mortgage
- $867
- Average household size
- 1.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,213
- Median weekly personal income
- $461
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 47 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 12 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 12 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 89 (38%)
- Labour-force participation
- 48.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.6%
- Employed full-time
- 56
- Employed part-time
- 41
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Common questions about Andamooka
Where is Andamooka?
Andamooka is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Andamooka?
At the 2021 Census, Andamooka had a population of about 262.
Is Andamooka an advantaged area?
Andamooka has an ABS SEIFA score of 817, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 2 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 2% of Australian suburbs.
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