Coober Pedy, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Coober Pedy lies deep in the arid far-north of South Australia, more than 800 kilometres north-west of Adelaide on the long road to Alice Springs. Billing itself the opal capital of the world, the town is famous for the way its residents live: many homes, churches and even hotels are dug as cool 'dugouts' into the hillsides to escape the searing desert heat. Its lunar surrounds have stood in for other planets in films such as Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. The name is thought to come from the Kokatha words kupa piti, often translated as 'white man in a hole'. The area is the Country of the Kokatha, Yankunytjatjara and Antakirinja peoples.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Coober Pedy is more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 868, 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.
Coober Pedy at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,566
- Median age
- 50
- Median weekly household income
- $764
- SEIFA score
- 868
- Coordinates
- -28.8966, 134.8014
Coober Pedy demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Coober Pedy 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 28%, 32% of homes are rented, and 33% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 189 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 121 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 384 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 426 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 446 | 28% |
Share of the 1,566 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 279 | 41% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 93 | 14% |
| Rented | 221 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 592 | 88% |
| Townhouses & semis | 13 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 41 | 6% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 672 occupied private dwellings in Coober Pedy.
- Median weekly rent
- $163
- Median monthly mortgage
- $630
- Average household size
- 1.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,380
- Median weekly personal income
- $498
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 412 (33%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 347 (28%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 236 (15%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 461 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 43.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 11.7%
- Employed full-time
- 316
- Employed part-time
- 157
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 Coober Pedy
Where is Coober Pedy?
Coober Pedy is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Coober Pedy?
At the 2021 Census, Coober Pedy had a population of about 1,566.
Is Coober Pedy an advantaged area?
Coober Pedy has an ABS SEIFA score of 868, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 6 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of Australian suburbs.
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