Jamestown, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Jamestown sits in the Mid North of South Australia, on Belalie Creek about 200 kilometres north of Adelaide. It was surveyed in 1871 and named after Sir James Fergusson, the colony's governor at the time, with its streets honouring Scottish towns in a nod to his heritage. Grain, legumes, wool and timber have long underpinned the district, and just to the south lies Bundaleer Forest, planted from 1876 and often described as the world's first plantation forest. The town remembers the bushman and bootmaker R. M. Williams with a monument, and a short distance away the Hornsdale Power Reserve, a giant battery built with Tesla in 2017, feeds the state's electricity grid. The Crystal Brook to Broken Hill railway still runs through town.
Less advantaged than the national average
Jamestown is more socio-economically advantaged than about 35% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 962, 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.
Jamestown at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,549
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $1,214
- SEIFA score
- 962
- Coordinates
- -33.1667, 138.5876
Jamestown demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Jamestown 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 27%, 19% of homes are rented, and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 261 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 143 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 308 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 419 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 423 | 27% |
Share of the 1,554 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 303 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 216 | 32% |
| Rented | 129 | 19% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 648 | 97% |
| Townhouses & semis | 18 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 670 occupied private dwellings in Jamestown.
- Median weekly rent
- $215
- Median monthly mortgage
- $982
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,680
- Median weekly personal income
- $730
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 93 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 30 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 37 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 534 (43%)
- Labour-force participation
- 59.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 1.8%
- Employed full-time
- 442
- Employed part-time
- 267
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 Jamestown
Where is Jamestown?
Jamestown is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Jamestown?
At the 2021 Census, Jamestown had a population of about 1,549.
Is Jamestown an advantaged area?
Jamestown has an ABS SEIFA score of 962, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 35 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 35% of Australian suburbs.
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