Wilmington, SA
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Wilmington sits in the Mid North of South Australia, on the edge of the southern Flinders Ranges, about 220 kilometres north of Adelaide and 43 kilometres south-east of Port Augusta. The town was originally called 'Beautiful Valley' and was formally established in April 1876 as a staging point for grain and wool hauled by horse and cart between Port Augusta and Adelaide. Sheep and wheat farming still anchor the local economy, more recently joined by olive groves. Today Wilmington is best known as a base for exploring the Flinders Ranges: it borders the Mount Remarkable National Park, Alligator Gorge is barely ten minutes away, and Wilpena Pound lies further north. About 470 people live there.
Less advantaged than the national average
Wilmington is more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 943, 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.
Wilmington at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 667
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $1,260
- SEIFA score
- 943
- Coordinates
- -32.6509, 138.1584
Wilmington demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Wilmington 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 31%, 12% of homes are rented, and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 114 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 63 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 118 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 205 | 31% |
| Seniors (65+) | 166 | 25% |
Share of the 666 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 138 | 57% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 66 | 27% |
| Rented | 30 | 12% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 230 | 96% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 239 occupied private dwellings in Wilmington.
- Median weekly rent
- $200
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,083
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,455
- Median weekly personal income
- $630
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 46 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 11 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 25 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 180 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.8%
- Employed full-time
- 167
- Employed part-time
- 93
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 Wilmington
Where is Wilmington?
Wilmington is a suburb of South Australia, Australia.
What is the population of Wilmington?
At the 2021 Census, Wilmington had a population of about 667.
Is Wilmington an advantaged area?
Wilmington has an ABS SEIFA score of 943, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 26 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of Australian suburbs.
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