Ardrossan, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Ardrossan stands on the east coast of South Australia's Yorke Peninsula, in the Yorke Peninsula Council area, about 150 kilometres from Adelaide, on the traditional country of the Narungga people. Governor Fergusson named it after Ardrossan in Scotland — the name roughly meaning a height above a prominent headland, fitting for a town perched on cliffs of red clay above a deep-water port. Proclaimed in 1873, it grew as a grain port and, from the 1950s, around a dolomite mine. Ardrossan also holds a place in farming history: Clarence Smith manufactured the stump-jump plough here from 1880, an implement credited with helping open Australia's scrub country to cultivation. About 1,200 people live there.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Ardrossan is more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 890, 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.
Ardrossan at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,269
- Median age
- 61
- Median weekly household income
- $844
- SEIFA score
- 890
- Coordinates
- -34.4324, 137.9081
Ardrossan demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Ardrossan 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 seniors (65+) at 44%, 25% of homes are rented, and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 138 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 70 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 185 | 15% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 314 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 554 | 44% |
Share of the 1,261 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 299 | 51% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 115 | 20% |
| Rented | 145 | 25% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 492 | 83% |
| Townhouses & semis | 38 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 596 occupied private dwellings in Ardrossan.
- Median weekly rent
- $228
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,083
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,259
- Median weekly personal income
- $495
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 138 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 25 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 22 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 322 (29%)
- Labour-force participation
- 37.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.3%
- Employed full-time
- 209
- Employed part-time
- 154
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 Ardrossan
Where is Ardrossan?
Ardrossan is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Ardrossan?
At the 2021 Census, Ardrossan had a population of about 1,269.
Is Ardrossan an advantaged area?
Ardrossan has an ABS SEIFA score of 890, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 10 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of Australian suburbs.
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