Wayville vs Unley

Wayville is the younger of the two, with a median age of 38 against 41 in Unley. In Wayville, about half of households rent and about half of homes are flats or apartments. In Unley, most households own their home. On these figures, Wayville tends to suit renters.

Which one suits you?

There is no overall winner — the suburb that suits a family with school-age kids is routinely the wrong one for someone commuting into the city. So each of these answers its own question, against a checklist you can see, using the same figures in the tables below.

Families with school-age kids

Unley

ahead on 4 of the 6 things we measure here

  • has more parks and reserves (5 vs 2)
  • has more childcare (6 vs 3)
  • has more separate houses rather than flats (52% vs 39%)

Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.

First-home buyers

Too close to call

Nothing among the 3 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.

Weighs house prices, unit prices, and mortgage stress.

Renters

Wayville

ahead on the one thing that separates them

  • has a bigger rental market to choose from (47% vs 36%)

Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.

Commuting to the city

Wayville

ahead on the one thing that separates them

  • gets more of its commuters onto trains and trams (9% vs 3%)

Weighs distance, drive time, rail access, and walkability.

Downsizers and retirees

Unley

ahead on 2 of the 5 things we measure here

  • has more GPs (4 vs 0)
  • carries lower crime risk (78/100 vs 93/100)
  • But Wayville has more units and townhouses to downsize into (61% vs 48%)

Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.

Investors

Unley

ahead on the one thing that separates them

  • returns a higher gross yield on units (5.7% vs 3.8%)

Weighs unit yield and population growth.

Where they sit

Wayville and Unley drawn to the same scale. Both outlines are shown together, so the map answers whether they share a border and how their areas compare.

Wayville Unley
Hides rows where both suburbs match

Bars start at zero. Scores, risks and rankings are drawn against their full 0–100 range; other rows are drawn in proportion to the larger of the two.

Side by side, out of 100

Risks are inverted — shown as safety and low exposure — so a longer bar always means better.

Wayville Unley
Walkability 89 / 92
Wayville — Walkability: 89/100 Unley — Walkability: 92/100
Safety 7 / 22
Wayville — Safety: 7/100 Unley — Safety: 22/100
Low fire risk 100 / 100
Wayville — Low fire risk: 100/100 Unley — Low fire risk: 100/100
Low flood risk 8 / 15
Wayville — Low flood risk: 8/100 Unley — Low flood risk: 15/100

Demographics

Unley has more residents (3,997 vs 1,922); Unley skews older (41 vs 38).

Wayville Unley
Population 1,922 3,997
+108% vs other
Population trend (2016 → 2021) +4.7% -0.2%
Median age 38 41
Median household income $105,820/yr $105,924/yr
Median weekly rent $350/wk $372/wk
+6% vs other

Age profile

Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.

Wayville Unley
0-4 4.8% / 4.1%
Wayville — 0-4: 4.8% Unley — 0-4: 4.1%
5-14 8.7% / 10.8%
Wayville — 5-14: 8.7% Unley — 5-14: 10.8%
15-19 4.8% / 4.6%
Wayville — 15-19: 4.8% Unley — 15-19: 4.6%
20-24 7.8% / 6.3%
Wayville — 20-24: 7.8% Unley — 20-24: 6.3%
25-34 18.4% / 14.8%
Wayville — 25-34: 18.4% Unley — 25-34: 14.8%
35-44 14.7% / 13.4%
Wayville — 35-44: 14.7% Unley — 35-44: 13.4%
45-54 11.2% / 13.9%
Wayville — 45-54: 11.2% Unley — 45-54: 13.9%
55-64 11.7% / 12.1%
Wayville — 55-64: 11.7% Unley — 55-64: 12.1%
65-74 8.2% / 11.5%
Wayville — 65-74: 8.2% Unley — 65-74: 11.5%
75-84 5.3% / 6.5%
Wayville — 75-84: 5.3% Unley — 75-84: 6.5%
85+ 4.5% / 1.9%
Wayville — 85+: 4.5% Unley — 85+: 1.9%

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (18.4%).

Who lives together

Household composition, 2021 Census.

Wayville 40.2% lone person
Wayville — Lone Person: 40.2% Wayville — Couple Families: 36.6% Wayville — One Parent Families: 11.4% Wayville — Group Household: 10.5% Wayville — Other Families: 1.3%
Unley 44.8% lone person
Unley — Lone Person: 44.8% Unley — Couple Families: 34.1% Unley — One Parent Families: 10.2% Unley — Group Household: 8.3% Unley — Other Families: 2.6%
Lone Person Couple Families One Parent Families Group Household Other Families

Who owns and who rents

Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.

Wayville 46.6% renting
Wayville — Owned Outright: 29.2% Wayville — Mortgage: 24.2% Wayville — Renting: 46.6%
Unley 36.5% renting
Unley — Owned Outright: 35.7% Unley — Mortgage: 27.8% Unley — Renting: 36.5%
Owned outright Mortgage Renting

Qualifications

Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.

Wayville Unley
Bachelor Degree 26.5% / 25.7%
Wayville — Bachelor Degree: 26.5% Unley — Bachelor Degree: 25.7%
Postgraduate Degree 12.2% / 12.5%
Wayville — Postgraduate Degree: 12.2% Unley — Postgraduate Degree: 12.5%
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 7.6% / 7.3%
Wayville — Advanced Diploma / Diploma: 7.6% Unley — Advanced Diploma / Diploma: 7.3%
Certificate III & IV 7.9% / 6.6%
Wayville — Certificate III & IV: 7.9% Unley — Certificate III & IV: 6.6%
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 3.7% / 4.1%
Wayville — Graduate Diploma / Certificate: 3.7% Unley — Graduate Diploma / Certificate: 4.1%

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (26.5%).

Where residents were born

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents, 2021 Census. A dash means that country is not among the suburb's own eight largest.

Wayville Unley
England 4.5% / 4.5%
Wayville — England: 4.5% Unley — England: 4.5%
China 2.3% / 3.3%
Wayville — China: 2.3% Unley — China: 3.3%
India 3.1% / 2.1%
Wayville — India: 3.1% Unley — India: 2.1%
Greece 0.9% / 2.0%
Wayville — Greece: 0.9% Unley — Greece: 2.0%
New Zealand 1.1% / 0.9%
Wayville — New Zealand: 1.1% Unley — New Zealand: 0.9%
Italy — / 1.9%
Wayville — Italy: not among its largest Unley — Italy: 1.9%
Philippines 1.3% / —
Wayville — Philippines: 1.3% Unley — Philippines: not among its largest

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (4.5%).

What people live in

Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.

Wayville 38.9% houses
Wayville — Houses: 38.9% Wayville — Flats / Apartments: 50.9% Wayville — Townhouses: 10.3%
Unley 52.0% houses
Unley — Houses: 52.0% Unley — Flats / Apartments: 27.8% Unley — Townhouses: 20.2%
Houses Flats / Apartments Townhouses

Property market

Wayville Unley
Median house price $1,930,000 $1,777,500
Median unit price $688,750 $641,250
Median land price — $1,593,900
Typical days to sell (houses) 22 days
from 6 sales
 18 days
from 26 sales

Unit price by bedroom count

Only bed counts both suburbs published enough sales for. Sale counts are shown because the buckets differ in depth.

Wayville Unley
2 bed $626K / $661K
Wayville — 2 bed: $626K (7 sales) Unley — 2 bed: $661K (28 sales)

7 vs 28 sales

3 bed $900K / $1.06M
Wayville — 3 bed: $900K (9 sales) Unley — 3 bed: $1.06M (7 sales)

9 vs 7 sales

Zoning mix

Wayville Unley
Residential 51% 82%
Parks and recreation 29% 0%
Commercial 16%
same for both
Industrial 4% 1%
Infrastructure and transport 0% 2%
Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the suburb around it. Zones as at 2026-09.

Development activity

Wayville Unley
New dwellings approved 273
across Unley
same for both
Approvals change year on year -67%
same for both

Gross rental yield

Gross — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. From median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.

Wayville Unley
Houses — 2.7%
$765/wk on $1.5M
Units 3.8%
$505/wk on $700K
 5.7%
$625/wk on $569K

Ranking within SA

Wayville Unley
House price Higher than 72% of SA Higher than 84% of SA
Income Higher than 83% of SA Higher than 84% of SA
Schools —
same for both
Walkability Higher than 98% of SA Higher than 99% of SA
Affordability Higher than 50% of SA Higher than 30% of SA
EV adoption Higher than 90% of SA Higher than 98% of SA
NBN connectivity Higher than 86% of SA Higher than 92% of SA
Rental yield (houses) — Higher than 9% of SA
Rental yield (units) Higher than 8% of SA Higher than 90% of SA

Liveability

Unley scores higher overall (70 vs 64).

Wayville Unley
Grade B A
Score 64/100 70/100
Socio-economic band very advantaged area
decile 10/10
same for both

Risk profile

Wayville carries more crime risk (93 vs 78).

Wayville Unley
Bushfire None
0/100
same for both
Crime High
93/100
 High
78/100
Flood High
92/100
 High
85/100
Coastal erosion None
0/100
same for both
Aircraft noise None
0/100
same for both
Industrial facilities nearby 7
within 5 km
 6
within 5 km

Schools

Wayville Unley
Inside the suburb 1
same for both
Rated above peers 0
same for both
Rated at peers 1
same for both
Rated below peers 0
same for both
Universities within 10 km 3
Adelaide University, Adelaide City Campus, 2.0 km
 3
Adelaide University, Adelaide City Campus, 2.2 km
Full-time students aged 15–24 4.5% 3.5%

Schools in Wayville

  • Annesley College Independent · Primary at peers

Schools in Unley

  • Saint Spyridon College Independent · Primary at peers

Amenities in the suburb

Wayville Unley
Supermarkets 1 2
Cafes & restaurants 5 18
Parks & reserves 2 5
Childcare 3 6
GPs 0 4
Pharmacies 1 2
Banks & Bank@Post 0 5
Fuel stations 1
same for both
Waterways 15 16

Mobility

Wayville Unley
Walkability score 89/100 92/100
Distance to Adelaide 2.9 km 3 km
+3% vs other
Drive time (normal traffic) 8 min 7 min
Public transport score 80/100
Rail · Tram · Bus
 79/100
Tram · Bus
Peak arrivals per hour 94.8
7-9am + 5-7pm
 88.0
7-9am + 5-7pm
Median peak wait 0 min
scheduled, not actual
 1 min
scheduled, not actual
Electric vehicle share 1.7%
postcode 5034
 2.6%
postcode 5061
Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings 51
postcode 5034
 53
postcode 5061

How people get to work

Method of travel on census day 2021 — which fell during COVID restrictions, so working from home is inflated and every travel mode understated.

Wayville Unley
Car (driver) 52.3% / 55.6%
Wayville — Car (driver): 52.3% Unley — Car (driver): 55.6%
Worked from Home 17.5% / 16.4%
Wayville — Worked from Home: 17.5% Unley — Worked from Home: 16.4%
Walked Only 6.9% / 8.4%
Wayville — Walked Only: 6.9% Unley — Walked Only: 8.4%
Bus 5.8% / 5.4%
Wayville — Bus: 5.8% Unley — Bus: 5.4%
Bicycle 4.2% / 6.3%
Wayville — Bicycle: 4.2% Unley — Bicycle: 6.3%
Tram / Light Rail 7.1% / 2.2%
Wayville — Tram / Light Rail: 7.1% Unley — Tram / Light Rail: 2.2%

Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (55.6%).

Setting

Wayville Unley
Elevation 39 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
 50 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
Distance to the ocean 7.9 km 9.1 km

NBN connectivity

Wayville Unley
Connectivity score 75/100 78/100
Most common technology Hybrid fibre-coaxial
same for both
Full-fibre (FTTP) share 4%
1,146 premises
 11%
2,511 premises

Climate

Wayville Unley
Annual rainfall 457 mm
same for both
Summer max (Jan) 29.1°C
same for both
Winter min (Jul) 8.5°C
same for both

Air quality (annual mean)

Wayville Unley
PM2.5 6.0 µg/m³
same for both
PM10 17.8 µg/m³
same for both
NO₂ 1.12 pphm
same for both

Council rates

Wayville Unley
Average residential rate $2,288/yr
same for both
Council Unley
same for both

Federal electorate

Wayville Unley
Division Adelaide
same for both
Member Steve Georganas
same for both
Party Australian Labor Party
same for both

First Home Owner Grant

Wayville Unley
Grant amount $15,000
same for both
Property price cap —
same for both
Eligibility New
same for both

Tags

Wayville

Apartments Inner Parks Professionals River Trams Transport Hub

Unley

Cafe Culture Inner Parks Premium Professionals River Townhouses Trams

More comparisons

Other comparisons with Wayville

Wayville vs Adelaide Wayville vs Goodwood Wayville vs Forestville Wayville vs Keswick

Other comparisons with Unley

Unley vs Adelaide Unley vs Parkside Unley vs Fullarton Unley vs Goodwood Unley vs Malvern Unley vs Hyde Park
Full data on Wayville Full data on Unley
Unlock full address-level data — $29/month

Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.

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