East Side NT 0870

East Side sits 1,500 km from Darwin CBD in Northern Territory, around 15 hours 55 minutes by car. Census data records 3,098 residents with a median age of 34 and a median household income of $115,700 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 20% nationally. The suburb grew 6.1% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $393 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,742. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.

Is East Side a good suburb?

East Side scores a B (64/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit and community.

Schools

Mixed results

1 school

Transit

Very walkable

Walkability 62/100 · 1500.1 km · 953 min drive to Darwin

Prices

Median available

Median $545K

Community

Very advantaged

SEIFA decile 9/10 · median age 34 · 3,098 residents

B

Liveability Rating

64 / 100 · Ranked #32 in NT

Each bar is East Side's rank among NT suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 3 of 5 factors: no school or safety data, so the other factors carry its weight.

Schools quality no data
too few schools to rate
Safety no data

No bushfire or crime or flood data is published for Northern Territory — a blank here means we hold no data, not that there is no risk.

Socio-economic
78
Very advantaged
Walkability
72
Walkable
CBD access
16
1500.1 km · 953 min drive to Darwin
How it's calculated: Socio-economic rank 78 × 25% + Walkability rank 72 × 15% + CBD access rank 16 × 10% = 64 / 100. Missing components rebalance the remaining weights.

How do you rate the liveability in East Side?

Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.

Our score

64 / 100

From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.

Residents say

…

AwfulPoorAverageGoodGreat
What applies here? (optional)

One rating per person. You can change yours at any time.

Median House Price

Public listings data

East Side's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $545,000, roughly 12% above where it sat a year earlier.

Houses

$545,000

last 6 quarters
↑ +11.9% year-on-year

Based on 69 recorded sales in the last 24 months.

Typically sold in 57 days — median across 31 sales that recorded a listing period

By bedrooms

  • 3 bed 32 sales $475K
  • 4 bed 24 sales $572K
  • 5 bed 6 sales $750K

Units

$352,500

last 5 quarters

4% below its 3 neighbours (median $369,000)

↑ +36.4% year-on-year

Based on 33 recorded sales in the last 24 months.

Typically sold in 110 days — median across 15 sales that recorded a listing period

By bedrooms

  • 2 bed 22 sales $332K
  • 3 bed 7 sales $495K

Currently for Sale

Last 6 months

Houses in East Side are currently listed at around $592,000 on average. Based on 26 houses listed in the past six months.

Houses

$592K

last 3 months
↓ −2.6% vs previous 6 months from $608K
Since 2022: $662K → $591K (-11%)

26 houses listed in the last 6 months.

Units

$369K

↑ +3.9% vs previous 6 months from $355K

7 units listed in the last 6 months — typical time on market 5 days.

33 of the suburb's 1,107 dwellings (3.0%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.

Rental Market

Advertised rents · last 6 months

Houses in East Side rent for around $862 a week on average, based on 12 houses listed for rent in the past six months.

$862/wk

last 2 months
↑ +14.9% vs previous 6 months from $750/wk
Since 2021: $552/wk → $647/wk (+17%)

12 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.

14 rentals advertised against an estimated 467 rented homes (3.0%) in the last 6 months.

Gross rental yield

Indicative
House
7.6% well above the typical range
Top 4% in NT

$862/week ($45,000 a year) on a $592,000 median

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

Crime in the Alice Springs area

Crime recorded across the whole area over the 12 months to Aug 2026, not in East Side alone. NT Police publish by town and district, not by suburb, and recent months can take several months to settle.

Type Count Per 1,000 residents
All offences 5,811 188.2
Assault 1,898 61.5
Domestic violence assault 1,304 42.2
Sexual offences 105 3.4
House burglary 493 16.0
Commercial burglary 135 4.4
Theft 1,229 39.8
Property damage 1,645 53.3
Robbery and extortion 68 2.2
Endangering people 236 7.6

Rates use the Alice Springs area’s 30,875 residents. The latest month is preliminary and may be revised.

Schools

One school serve East Side, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.

50
out of 100
Average
1 school in this suburb
1 at similar
  • • 413 students in one school (avg 413)

Primary

Government · T-6 · 413 students
ICSEA 1040 (higher than 64% of Australian schools) · 33% top-SEA students
At similar

Walkability

East Side is somewhat walkable on foot — at 62/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car. Within the suburb there are 1 supermarket, 5 parks and 3 cafes to anchor that walking radius.

62
out of 100
Somewhat Walkable
Top 11% in NT
Public Transport within 1 km 54
Schools within 1.5 km 100
Parks within 800 m 100
Supermarkets within 1 km 60
GPs within 1 km 0
Pharmacies within 1 km 0
Childcare within 1 km 100
Hospitals within 5 km 80

Public transport

Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside East Side.

28
out of 100
Bottom 20% in NT
Bus
Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
6.8 arrivals/hr
Off-peak weekday
3.0 arrivals/hr
Saturday
2.2 arrivals/hr
Median peak wait
1 min
Span of service
10.6 hours

Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.

NBN connectivity

The internet access technology available across NBN premises in East Side.

67
connectivity score / 100
Most common
Fibre to the node
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
40%
Premises covered
1,351
Technology mix
Fibre to the node (FTTN) 60%
Fibre to the premises (FTTP) 40%

NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.

Amenities

Supermarkets
1 in suburb
Shopping Centres
None
Cafes & Restaurants
3 in suburb
Parks & Reserves
5 in suburb
Sport & Recreation
None
Beaches
None
Waterways
None
Childcare
5 in suburb
GPs
None
Pharmacies
None
Hospitals
None
Police Stations
None
Banks & Bank@Post
None
Fuel Stations
None
EV Chargers
None
Pubs & Bars
None
Arts & Culture
1 in suburb
Places of Worship
2 in suburb

Alice Springs: council population

The whole council area, not just East Side · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
30,875
+1.3% in a year
Change
+388
people since 2024
Density
94
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
+175
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
-365
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+578
arrivals minus departures

The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.

Socio-economic profile

ABS SEIFA · ranked against every suburb in Australia, and within the state
2021 census
Advantage and disadvantage
9/10
9/10 within NT
income, education, jobs and housing together
Economic resources
3/10
8/10 within NT
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
9/10
10/10 within NT
qualifications and job type, income excluded
How evenly that is spread

The ABS scores 9 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.

East Side is home to about 3,100 residents, with a median age of 34, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $116,000 a year, with unemployment at 2.9%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

3,098

6.1% since 2016

Median Age

34

5.6% since 2016

Median Household Income

$115,700/yr

12.4% since 2016
Top 23% in NT

Census Median Rent

$393/wk

12.3% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

$1,742/mo

10.7% since 2016

Avg Household Size

2.5

4.2% since 2016

Median Personal Income

$63,804/yr

15.2% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

2.9%

9.4% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

12.6%

18.2% since 2016

Total Dwellings

1,107

8.3% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

57.8%

1.9% since 2016

Houses

64.2%

4.6% since 2016

Rental Stress

17.7%

no change since 2016

Mortgage Stress

18.1%

20.3% since 2016

Work From Home

5.4%

100.0% since 2016

Dwelling Types

Houses 711 (64.2%)
Townhouses 343 (31.0%)
Flats / Apartments 53 (4.8%)

Property Ownership

Renting 443 (42.2%)
Mortgage 395 (37.6%)
Owned Outright 213 (20.3%)
Of those rentals, social housing 57 (12.9%)

53 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 4 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 443 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.

Demographics

Born in Australia
69.8%
English Spoken at Home
77.0%
Employment Rate
71.1%
3.6% since 2016
Completed Year 12
51.8%

Occupations

Professionals 598 (33.4%)
Community & Personal Service 293 (16.4%)
Managers 238 (13.3%)
Clerical & Administrative 189 (10.6%)
Technicians & Trades 186 (10.4%)
Labourers 100 (5.6%)
Sales 98 (5.5%)
Machinery Operators & Drivers 36 (2.0%)

Religion

No Religion 1,672 (54.0%)
Christianity 981 (31.7%)
Hinduism 75 (2.4%)
Buddhism 40 (1.3%)
Other Religions 29 (0.9%)
Islam 24 (0.8%)
Sikhism 22 (0.7%)
Judaism 17 (0.5%)

Country of Birth (overseas)

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.

England 110 (3.6%)
New Zealand 83 (2.7%)
Nepal 63 (2.0%)
India 42 (1.4%)
Philippines 32 (1.0%)
China 30 (1.0%)
South Africa 22 (0.7%)
Germany 19 (0.6%)

When They Arrived

Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.

2016-2021 273 (8.8%)
2011-2015 100 (3.2%)
2001-2010 151 (4.9%)
1991-2000 59 (1.9%)
1981-1990 49 (1.6%)
Before 1981 121 (3.9%)

273 residents (8.8%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.

Where New Residents Came From

Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.

13.7% of residents (397) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (142).

Overseas 274 (9.5%)
Melbourne - Inner 56 (1.9%)
Darwin 42 (1.4%)

Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 2,899 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.

Languages Spoken at Home

Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.

Mandarin 19 (0.6%)
French 14 (0.5%)
Punjabi 13 (0.4%)
German 13 (0.4%)
Spanish 12 (0.4%)
Italian 11 (0.4%)
Arabic 7 (0.2%)
Cantonese 5 (0.2%)

Age Distribution

0-4 199 (6.4%)
5-14 384 (12.4%)
15-19 149 (4.8%)
20-24 132 (4.3%)
25-34 685 (22.1%)
35-44 471 (15.2%)
45-54 381 (12.3%)
55-64 371 (12.0%)
65-74 232 (7.5%)
75-84 76 (2.5%)
85+ 15 (0.5%)

Family & Household Composition

Lone Person 316 (37.0%)
Couple Families 296 (34.7%)
One Parent Families 135 (15.8%)
Group Household 91 (10.7%)
Other Families 15 (1.8%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 1,060 (68.0%)
Bicycle 169 (10.8%)
Car (passenger) 112 (7.2%)
Walked Only 109 (7.0%)
Worked from Home 84 (5.4%)
Bus 25 (1.6%)

1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (11 of 1,789).

City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.

Local Jobs

People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.

About 358 people work here; 1,789 employed residents live here.

Mostly a place people commute from: 0.2 jobs per working resident. At least 80% of employed residents must work outside the suburb.

Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.

Education

Bachelor Degree 591 (19.1%)
Certificate III & IV 340 (11.0%)
Postgraduate Degree 309 (10.0%)
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 206 (6.6%)
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 127 (4.1%)

Cars per Dwelling

0 cars 73 (6.7%)
1 car 451 (41.2%)
2 cars 371 (33.9%)
3 cars 144 (13.2%)
4+ cars 54 (4.9%)

Council Rates

Alice Springs
FY 2026-27

Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,106 a year through Alice Springs based on 2026 figures.

Avg residential rate
$2,106/yr
Valuation basis
Unimproved Value
land only

Building Approvals: Alice Springs

The whole council area, not just East Side · new residential dwellings
to 2026-08

In the year to August 2026, 30 new dwellings were approved across Alice Springs. That mix is 16 houses and 14 units. Approvals are up 25.0% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
30dwellings
+25.0% YoY
Houses
16
detached dwellings
Units
14
townhouses + apartments

Climate & Setting

from Alice Springs Airport, 11.7 km

Dry climate — very hot summers, cold winters with occasional frost.

Elevation
592 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
Annual rainfall
285 mm
28 rainy days
Summer max (Jan)
36.6°C
111 days ≥ 35°C
Winter min (Jul)
4.5°C
15 frost days ≤ 0°C

Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.

Industrial Emissions Nearby

5 facilities within 5 km

EV adoption

0.4%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.08% in 2021
+0.1 points this year

In postcode 0870, 68 of 15,434 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.8% (431 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.2%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.08%
2022
0.10%
2023
0.14%
2024
0.29%
2025
0.44%

Rooftop solar

40
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 7.3 kW each

In postcode 0870, 3,140 rooftop-solar systems totalling 22.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 7,941 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 75 went up in the last year.

Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.

Systems installed, year by year
2019
232
2020
251
2021
217
2022
114
2023
105
2024
78
2025
69
2026
42

2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.

First Home Owner Grant

FY2026-27

$50,000 for new homes.

Administered as the HomeGrown Territory Grant. Established-home buyers may also be eligible for the separate BuildBonus Grant.

Verify eligibility with Territory Revenue Office

Mortgage repayments

I'm looking for
Deposit
$
%
Monthly repayment
$2,842
Loan amount
$436,000
Total interest over 30 years
$587,262

3 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 870.

Deposit
$109,000
Stamp duty
$26,978
Cash needed at settlement
$135,978

Stamp duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with Territory Revenue Office

Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.

Federal Electorate

Division of Lingiari

Currently held by Marion Scrymgour Australian Labor Party

Year Winner 2PP ALP 2PP LNP Swing
2025 Marion Scrymgour 58.1% 41.9% +6.5
2022 Marion Scrymgour 51.0% 49.0% +4.5
2019 Warren Snowdon 55.5% 44.5% +2.7

Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.

State Electorate

Division of Braitling

Currently held by Joshua Burgoyne Country Liberal

Next state election: 26 August 2028.

Year Winner Won with
2024 Joshua Burgoyne CLP 53.9%

Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2023, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Northern Territory Electoral Commission.

Looking at a specific address in East Side?

Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.

Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.

Featured in

Nearby suburbs

Compare East Side to another suburb

Side-by-side stats for any other NT suburb — type a name and pick one.

Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:

Common questions about East Side

Is East Side a safe place to live?

NT does not publish suburb-level crime statistics, so there is no crime figure for East Side.

Is East Side a good place to live?

East Side has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (64/100), ranked against other NT suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.

What is the population of East Side?

East Side, NT had a population of 3,098 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for East Side, NT?

The postcode for East Side, NT is 0870.

How far is East Side from Darwin?

East Side is 1,500 km from Darwin CBD by road, about 953 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in East Side?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in East Side was $115,700 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.

What is the median weekly rent in East Side?

The median advertised rent in East Side is $862 a week for houses (12 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.

What is the median age in East Side?

The median age of residents in East Side was 34 at the 2021 ABS Census.

How are the schools in East Side?

There is 1 school inside the East Side boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).

Is East Side walkable?

East Side scores 62/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it somewhat walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.

What is the weather like in East Side?

At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to East Side, Alice Springs Airport (11.7 km away), summer days average 36.6°C, winter nights 4.5°C, 285 mm of rain a year over 28 rainy days, and 111 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in East Side?

First-home buyers in NT may be eligible for $50,000 towards new homes. The grant is administered by Territory Revenue Office; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.

What council does East Side belong to?

East Side sits within the Alice Springs local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in East Side?

The average residential rates bill through Alice Springs is $2,106 a year (2026). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near East Side?

Across Alice Springs, 30 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 25.0% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.

Which federal electorate is East Side in?

East Side sits within the federal Division of Lingiari, currently held by Marion Scrymgour (Australian Labor Party).

Search another suburb or address

Data freshness

Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.

Was the information on this page useful to you?

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.

Save this page for later

We'll email you a link to this page so you can finish reading it on any device. We use your address once to send it and don't keep it.

or