Wayville, SA

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 1 June 2026

Wayville is a small, well-kept suburb on the inner-southern edge of Adelaide, tucked between the city's South Parklands and the leafy streets of Unley. It is best known as the home of the Adelaide Showground, where the Royal Adelaide Show draws great crowds each spring, and where a popular farmers market trades every Sunday. The land was a humble milk run in the 1860s before being subdivided in 1881; first called Goodwood, it was renamed in 1899 after the Reverend James Way. Keswick Creek threads through its southern streets, and the historic Glenelg tram line still rattles along the suburb's edge, carrying passengers between the city and the sea. Among its quirks is an octagonal, reinforced-concrete house in Young Street, built in 1914 by the noted Adelaide builder Walter Torode for his own family.

93/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Wayville is more socio-economically advantaged than about 93% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1087, 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.

Wayville at a glance

Population (2021): 1,922
Median age: 38
Median weekly household income: $2,035
SEIFA score: 1087
Coordinates: -34.9448, 138.5914

Wayville demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Wayville 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 33%, 45% of homes are rented, and 29% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	259	13%
Youth (15–24)	241	13%
Young adults (25–44)	636	33%
Mid-life (45–64)	439	23%
Seniors (65+)	346	18%

Share of the 1,921 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	211	28%
Owned with a mortgage	175	24%
Rented	337	45%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	288	39%
Townhouses & semis	76	10%
Flats & apartments	374	51%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 738 occupied private dwellings in Wayville.

Median weekly rent: $350
Median monthly mortgage: $2,123
Average household size: 2.3 people
Median weekly family income: $2,639
Median weekly personal income: $979

Community and culture

Born overseas: 540 (29%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 423 (23%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 14 (1%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 1,250 (78%)
Labour-force participation: 67.8%
Unemployment rate: 4.6%
Employed full-time: 626
Employed part-time: 390

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 Wayville

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Wayville is January (average daytime high around 27.9°C) and the coolest is July (around 14°C). The area receives roughly 711 mm of rain across the year.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain
Jan	27.9°C	17.5°C	29 mm
Feb	26.5°C	17°C	29 mm
Mar	24.7°C	16°C	20 mm
Apr	21.4°C	14°C	51 mm
May	17.3°C	11.7°C	86 mm
Jun	14.8°C	9.6°C	100 mm
Jul	14°C	8.9°C	104 mm
Aug	14.7°C	8.8°C	95 mm
Sep	17.2°C	10.2°C	62 mm
Oct	20.5°C	11.9°C	52 mm
Nov	22.7°C	13.6°C	52 mm
Dec	25.6°C	15.6°C	31 mm

Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).

Common questions about Wayville

Where is Wayville?

Wayville is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.

What is the population of Wayville?

At the 2021 Census, Wayville had a population of about 1,922.

Is Wayville an advantaged area?

Wayville has an ABS SEIFA score of 1087, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 93 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 93% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Wayville?

Wayville has average daytime highs of about 20.6°C and overnight lows of about 12.9°C, with roughly 711 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).