Encounter Bay SA 5211
Encounter Bay is a suburb in South Australia, 87 km from Adelaide CBD, around 1 hour 15 minutes by car. Population is 5,305; the median age is 66 and the median household income is $48,308 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the lower-middle tier nationally. Population grew 8.2% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $305 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,170. The area shows high coastal erosion risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. Walkability is low.
Is Encounter Bay a good suburb?
Encounter Bay scores a C (46/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on transit.
Car-dependent
Walkability 23/100 · 87.3 km · 76 min drive to Adelaide
Median available
Median $760K
Moderate flood risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 23/100 · Flood 42/100
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 3/10 · median age 66 · 5,305 residents
Liveability Rating
46 / 100 · Ranked #312 in SAEach bar is Encounter Bay's rank among SA suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
How do you rate the liveability in Encounter Bay?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
46 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataEncounter Bay's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $760,000, roughly 15% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$760,000
Based on 227 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 24 days — median across 110 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 14 sales $648K
- 3 bed 124 sales $735K
- 4 bed 68 sales $850K
- 5 bed 14 sales $888K
Land
$355,000
Based on 27 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 38 days — median across 13 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Encounter Bay are currently listed at around $850,000 on average. Based on 82 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$850K
82 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$550K
6 units listed in the last 6 months.
88 of the suburb's 2,484 dwellings (3.5%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Encounter Bay rent for around $600 a week on average, based on 43 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$600/wk
43 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
45 rentals advertised against an estimated 455 rented homes (9.9%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Apr–Jun 2026- 3-bed houses
- $570/wk
- 15 bonds
- +60% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies. Change since 2021 compares the median of the first four quarters with the last four. Asking rents above come from advertised listings.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202593 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 32% of its income on the median rent in postcode 5211.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$600/week ($31,000 a year) on a $850,000 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.
Is Encounter Bay safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Encounter Bay sits in the low band, with 65 incidents recorded in 2026 — up roughly 81% on the prior year.
65 offences
80.6% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20251 crash
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the suburb carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. This state’s crash data does not name the road.
Coastal Erosion
Shoreline Change Summary
1988–2025Nearest Eroding Coastline
- Distance
- 530 m
- Rate
- -0.11 m/yr
- Net Movement
- -0.1 m
- Certainty
- good
Data Quality
Schools
Walkability
Encounter Bay is very car-dependent on foot — at 23/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Encounter Bay.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 2.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 0.7 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.4 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 7 min
- Span of service
- 12.5 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 Encounter Bay.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 97%
- Premises covered
- 4,094
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
Victor Harbor: council population
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
The ABS scores 8 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
Encounter Bay is home to about 5,300 residents, with a median age of 66 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $48,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
5,305
Median Age
66
Median Household Income
$48,308/yr
Census Median Rent
$305/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,170/mo
Avg Household Size
2.0
Median Personal Income
$26,728/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
37.2%
Total Dwellings
2,484
Owner-Occupier Rate
81.7%
Houses
96.8%
Rental Stress
32.8%
Mortgage Stress
29.1%
Work From Home
12.1%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
5 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 16 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 441 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 71.5%
- English Spoken at Home
- 92.4%
- Employment Rate
- 29.5%
- Completed Year 12
- 35.4%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
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.
46 residents (0.9%) 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.
15.1% of residents (782) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Adelaide (605).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 5,173 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.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
4% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (51 of 1,419).
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.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,533 a year through Victor Harbor based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 94%
- Parks and recreation 3%
- Industrial 1%
- Zones under 1% 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 — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Victor Harbor
In the year to August 2026, 347 new dwellings were approved across Victor Harbor. That mix is 308 houses and 39 units. Approvals are down 26.2% on the same period a year earlier.
Climate & Setting
from Myponga, 23.9 kmModerate rainfall.
- Elevation
- 15 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 352 m
- 3.0 km to a named beach
- Annual rainfall
- 786 mm
- 112 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- —
- Winter min (Jul)
- —
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
1 facility within 5 km- 3.3 kmOther Construction Material MiningTop reported: Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide
EV adoption
In postcode 5211, 102 of 15,235 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.4% (361 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.0%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 5211, 6,891 rooftop-solar systems totalling 38.1 MW have been installed since 2001, against 9,865 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 379 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.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$15,000 for new homes.
No purchase-price cap. Stamp duty is fully exempted for eligible first-home buyers as a separate concession.
Mortgage repayments
3 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 5211.
Conveyance 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 RevenueSA
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
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 2026-10-26 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Rebekha Sharkie Centre Alliance
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Rebekha Sharkie | 55.0% | 45.0% | +3.4 |
| 2022 | Rebekha Sharkie | 51.6% | 48.4% | -4.1 |
| 2019 | Rebekha Sharkie | 47.5% | 52.5% | -0.7 |
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
Currently held by Lou Nicholson Independent
Next state election: 16 March 2030.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Lou Nicholson IND | 55.2% |
| 2022 | David Basham LP | 50.7% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2024, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Electoral Commission of South Australia.
Looking at a specific address in Encounter Bay?
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.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 5,305 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
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Common questions about Encounter Bay
Is Encounter Bay a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Encounter Bay is low (23/100, ranked against other SA suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Encounter Bay?
Encounter Bay has no recorded bushfire history. Flood overlays cover a moderate share of it (42/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Encounter Bay a good place to live?
Encounter Bay has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (46/100), ranked against other SA 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 Encounter Bay?
Encounter Bay, SA had a population of 5,305 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Encounter Bay, SA?
The postcode for Encounter Bay, SA is 5211.
How far is Encounter Bay from Adelaide?
Encounter Bay is 87 km from Adelaide CBD by road, about 76 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Encounter Bay?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Encounter Bay was $48,308 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 Encounter Bay?
The median advertised rent in Encounter Bay is $600 a week for houses (43 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Encounter Bay?
The median age of residents in Encounter Bay was 66 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Encounter Bay walkable?
Encounter Bay scores 23/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very car-dependent. 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 Encounter Bay?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Encounter Bay, Myponga (23.9 km away), 786 mm of rain a year over 112 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Encounter Bay?
First-home buyers in SA may be eligible for $15,000 towards new homes. The grant is administered by RevenueSA; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does Encounter Bay belong to?
Encounter Bay sits within the Victor Harbor local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Encounter Bay?
The average residential rates bill through Victor Harbor is $2,533 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Encounter Bay?
Across Victor Harbor, 347 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 26.2% 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 Encounter Bay in?
Encounter Bay sits within the federal Division of Mayo, currently held by Rebekha Sharkie (Centre Alliance).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2024–25
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2026
- Road crashes · 2021–2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- State electorate · 2026
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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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.