Northern Territory suburbs people moved to from the city

Desert Springs tops the ranking: 15.3% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Adelaide. The Gap and Katherine East follow.

This page ranks Northern Territory suburbs by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify.

These are the places people from the capitals moved to between 2016 and 2021, and each row names the capital most of them came from. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it, so a suburb near the top is not necessarily growing. Not every move is a sea change or a tree change: mining towns and Defence bases rank high because jobs bring people there. The Central Coast is part of Greater Sydney in the ABS geography; we count it as a place of its own, so moves from the Central Coast are not moves from Sydney. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder.

Northern Territory suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Ranked by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census, among suburbs outside the capitals with at least 1,000 residents. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it.

Desert Springs

NT 0870 · 1,536 residents

15.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Adelaide · 217 residents

B 100.0

The Gap

NT 0870 · 1,945 residents

15.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 272 residents

C 92.9

Katherine East

NT 0850 · 3,061 residents

14.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 416 residents

C 85.7

East Side

NT 0870 · 3,098 residents

13.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 397 residents

B 78.6

Katherine

NT 0850 · 1,254 residents

13.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 164 residents

C 71.4

Katherine South

NT 0850 · 1,507 residents

12.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 180 residents

C 64.3

Nhulunbuy

NT 0880 · 3,350 residents

12.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 391 residents

B 57.1

Gillen

NT 0870 · 4,466 residents

11.4% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 474 residents

B 50.0

Sadadeen

NT 0870 · 2,307 residents

10.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 224 residents

C 42.9

Araluen

NT 0870 · 2,673 residents

10.5% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 257 residents

B 35.7

Tennant Creek

NT 0860 · 3,080 residents

9.5% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 268 residents

C 28.6

Braitling

NT 0870 · 3,160 residents

8.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 260 residents

C 21.4

Larapinta

NT 0875 · 2,368 residents

7.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 153 residents

D 14.3

Cossack

NT 0850 · 1,293 residents

4.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 50 residents

C 7.1

Wadeye

NT 0822 · 1,924 residents

3.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Darwin · 65 residents

D 0.0

Ranked from 15 qualifying suburbs.

How we ranked these

100% share of residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census, percentile-ranked within Northern Territory's candidate pool. Suburbs that touch a capital's statistical area are not ranked, because the count for their own area includes people who never moved. The Central Coast counts as a place of its own, not as Sydney. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify, and the larger number of arrivals breaks ties. It counts arrivals, not net migration. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder; the ABS adjusts small counts slightly to protect privacy. See how we calculate for the full methodology.

Common questions about this ranking

What are the northern Territory suburbs people moved to from the city?

Desert Springs tops the ranking: 15.3% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Adelaide. The Gap and Katherine East follow.

How is this ranking put together?

Each Northern Territory suburb is ranked by the share of its residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are included.

Does this show where people are leaving?

No. It counts people who arrived from a capital, not people who left the suburb. A place near the top can have lost as many residents as it gained, so it is not a measure of growth.

Why are some suburbs near a capital missing?

A suburb that touches a capital's statistical area is left out: the Census count for its own area includes people who never moved, so a share would overstate the arrivals.

How current is it?

It covers moves between August 2016 and August 2021, from the 2021 Census, the most recent available until results from the August 2026 Census are released in 2027.

Same list in other states

Rankings last computed 28 September 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.

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Northern Territory suburbs people moved to from the city

Northern Territory suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Common questions about this ranking

Same list in other states

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