Parafield Gardens, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Parafield Gardens is a largely residential suburb of Adelaide, with a small pocket of industrial land in its south-west corner and a couple of modest shopping centres. It began as a colonial subdivision in the Hundred of Yatala, on land south of the Little Para River. A government plan to place a general cemetery here in the 1880s was abandoned, and the land was instead worked as an experimental farm and then, from 1911, as a poultry enterprise known as Parafield Farm. Residential blocks were first offered in 1958, and from the 1970s the South Australian Housing Trust built widely across the area, with the name Parafield Gardens formally adopted over the following decades and the Pine Lakes Estate added in the early 2000s. The suburb is well supplied with schools — six in all, among them Parafield Gardens High School, which opened in 1976 — and sits within easy reach of the Salisbury Highway.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Parafield Gardens is more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 884, 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.
Parafield Gardens at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 18,467
- Median age
- 36
- Median weekly household income
- $1,384
- SEIFA score
- 884
- Coordinates
- -34.7836, 138.6131
Parafield Gardens demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Parafield Gardens 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 young adults (25–44) at 29%, 28% of homes are rented, and 42% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 3,827 | 21% |
| Youth (15–24) | 2,401 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 5,298 | 29% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 4,221 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,718 | 15% |
Share of the 18,465 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,691 | 28% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 2,461 | 40% |
| Rented | 1,723 | 28% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 5,483 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 513 | 8% |
| Flats & apartments | 130 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 6,139 occupied private dwellings in Parafield Gardens.
- Median weekly rent
- $300
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,382
- Average household size
- 2.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,512
- Median weekly personal income
- $585
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 7,546 (42%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 8,195 (46%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 445 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 7,046 (51%)
- Labour-force participation
- 57.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.2%
- Employed full-time
- 4,358
- Employed part-time
- 2,915
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.
Weather and climate in Parafield Gardens
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Parafield Gardens is January (average daytime high around 28.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 14.6°C). The area receives roughly 542 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28.7°C | 17.4°C | 32 mm |
| Feb | 27.6°C | 17°C | 23 mm |
| Mar | 25.6°C | 15.8°C | 18 mm |
| Apr | 22.4°C | 13.5°C | 48 mm |
| May | 18.1°C | 11°C | 63 mm |
| Jun | 15.4°C | 8.8°C | 67 mm |
| Jul | 14.6°C | 8°C | 64 mm |
| Aug | 15.3°C | 8.1°C | 69 mm |
| Sep | 17.9°C | 9.6°C | 49 mm |
| Oct | 21.6°C | 11.7°C | 42 mm |
| Nov | 23.9°C | 13.4°C | 41 mm |
| Dec | 26.7°C | 15.4°C | 26 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Parafield Gardens
Where is Parafield Gardens?
Parafield Gardens is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Parafield Gardens?
At the 2021 Census, Parafield Gardens had a population of about 18,467.
Is Parafield Gardens an advantaged area?
Parafield Gardens has an ABS SEIFA score of 884, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 9 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Parafield Gardens?
Parafield Gardens has average daytime highs of about 21.5°C and overnight lows of about 12.5°C, with roughly 542 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Parafield Gardens?
Parafield Gardens is one of the most populous suburbs in South Australia — the 3rd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 18,467 usual residents).
Where Parafield Gardens ranks
Parafield Gardens appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in South Australia
More suburb guides in South Australia
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.