Karama NT 0812
Karama sits 14 km from Darwin CBD in Northern Territory, around 17 minutes by car. Census data records 4,803 residents with a median age of 35 and a median household income of $92,716 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the lower-middle tier nationally. Population fell 2.9% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $293 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,950. 4 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is high.
Is Karama a good suburb?
Karama scores a C (51/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on schools and transit.
Above the state average
4 schools · Top 25% in NT
Walkable and central
Walkability 75/100 · 14.4 km · 17 min drive to Darwin
Median available
Median $620K
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 3/10 · median age 35 · 4,803 residents
Liveability Rating
51 / 100 · Ranked #53 in NTEach bar is Karama's rank among NT suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no safety data, so the other factors carry its weight.
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.
How do you rate the liveability in Karama?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
51 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataKarama's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $620,000, roughly 15% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$620,000
10% below its 4 neighbours (median $690,000)
Based on 103 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 23 days — median across 23 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 8 sales $516K
- 3 bed 61 sales $605K
- 4 bed 27 sales $672K
Units
$362,500
16% below its 4 neighbours (median $433,125)
Based on 64 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 41 days — median across 7 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 58 sales $365K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Karama are currently listed at around $699,000 on average. Based on 21 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$699K
21 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$420K
3 units listed in the last 6 months.
24 of the suburb's 1,554 dwellings (1.5%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Karama rent for around $750 a week on average, based on 25 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$750/wk
25 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$590/wk
9 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
34 rentals advertised against an estimated 605 rented homes (5.6%) in the last 6 months.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$750/week ($39,000 a year) on a $699,000 median
$590/week ($31,000 a year) on a $420,000 median
Based on a small sample (3 listings) — indicative only.
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 Darwin area
Crime recorded across the whole area over the 12 months to Aug 2026, not in Karama 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 | 8,760 | 95.3 |
| Assault | 2,362 | 25.7 |
| Domestic violence assault | 1,301 | 14.1 |
| Sexual offences | 217 | 2.4 |
| House burglary | 441 | 4.8 |
| Commercial burglary | 154 | 1.7 |
| Theft | 2,937 | 31.9 |
| Property damage | 2,208 | 24.0 |
| Robbery and extortion | 152 | 1.7 |
| Endangering people | 286 | 3.1 |
Rates use the Darwin area’s 91,946 residents. The latest month is preliminary and may be revised.
Schools
Four schools serve Karama, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 1,209 students across 4 schools (avg 302)
- • Sectors: 2 Catholic, 2 Government
- • ICSEA 769-1025, median 880 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: O'Loughlin Catholic College (599 students)
Primary
Secondary
Universities nearby
1.1% of residents here are full-time university students aged 15–24.
Distance is measured to the suburb centre. A campus nearby does not by itself mean a student rental market — most suburbs within a few kilometres of one have a student share close to the national norm, and the figure above is what tells them apart.
Walkability
Karama is very walkable on foot — at 75/100, most daily errands can be done on foot.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Karama.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 51.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 28.2 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 20.6 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 16.1 hours
- Direct to CBD (peak)
- 1.5 min wait
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 Karama.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 99%
- Premises covered
- 1,823
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
Darwin: 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 12 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 4 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Karama is home to about 4,800 residents, with a median age of 35, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $93,000 a year, with unemployment at 7.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
4,803
Median Age
35
Median Household Income
$92,716/yr
Census Median Rent
$293/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,950/mo
Avg Household Size
2.9
Median Personal Income
$43,576/yr
Unemployment Rate
7.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.2%
Total Dwellings
1,554
Owner-Occupier Rate
61.1%
Houses
77.2%
Rental Stress
16.4%
Mortgage Stress
25.2%
Work From Home
3.6%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
227 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 8 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 583 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 61.3%
- English Spoken at Home
- 58.0%
- Employment Rate
- 59.2%
- Completed Year 12
- 37.5%
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.
285 residents (5.9%) 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.
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 4,465 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
34% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (738 of 2,197).
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 601 people work here; 2,197 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.3 jobs per working resident. At least 73% 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
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,870 a year through Darwin based on 2026 figures.
Building Approvals: Darwin
In the year to August 2026, 171 new dwellings were approved across Darwin. That mix is 107 houses and 64 units. Approvals are up 47.1% on the same period a year earlier.
Climate & Setting
from Darwin Airport, 3.7 kmHigh rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 36 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 6.3 km
- Annual rainfall
- 1,836 mm
- 98 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 32.5°C
- 27 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 19.8°C
- 0 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
6 facilities within 5 km- 1.6 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 1.6 kmOther Electricity GenerationTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- 3.9 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Xylenes (individual or mixed isomers) · Toluene (methylbenzene)
- 4.1 km
- 4.3 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Ammonia (total) · Total Phosphorus
EV adoption
In postcode 0812, 55 of 11,951 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.3% (391 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.7%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 0812, 2,406 rooftop-solar systems totalling 16.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 6,621 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 100 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$50,000 for new homes.
Administered as the HomeGrown Territory Grant. Established-home buyers may also be eligible for the separate BuildBonus Grant.
Mortgage repayments
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
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 Luke John Gosling Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Luke John Gosling | 51.3% | 48.7% | -7.1 |
| 2022 | Luke Gosling | 59.4% | 40.6% | -6.3 |
| 2019 | Luke John Gosling | 53.1% | 46.9% | +3.0 |
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 Brian O'Gallagher Country Liberal
Next state election: 26 August 2028.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Brian O'Gallagher CLP | 61.3% |
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 Karama?
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 4,803 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.
Featured in
- #2 in Best Darwin suburbs for good public primary schools
- #3 in Darwin suburbs with the fastest EV adoption growth
- #3 in Best Darwin suburbs for first-home buyers (houses)
- #3 in Highest-yielding Darwin suburbs (houses)
- #3 in Darwin suburbs with the most rooftop solar
- #4 in Darwin suburbs with the highest EV adoption today
- #5 in Darwin suburbs with the best public transport
- #6 in Darwin suburbs where the most Greek is spoken at home
- #7 in Where the Greek community lives in Darwin
- #7 in Most walkable suburbs in Darwin
- #9 in Darwin suburbs where the most Mandarin is spoken at home
- #10 in Darwin suburbs where young families live
- #11 in Best Darwin suburbs to rent in
- #12 in Darwin suburbs where the most homes are owned outright
- #13 in Darwin's most owner-occupied suburbs
- #14 in Darwin suburbs where seniors live
Nearby suburbs
Compare Karama to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other NT suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about Karama
Is Karama a safe place to live?
NT does not publish suburb-level crime statistics, so there is no crime figure for Karama.
Is Karama a good place to live?
Karama has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (51/100), 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 Karama?
Karama, NT had a population of 4,803 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Karama, NT?
The postcode for Karama, NT is 0812.
How far is Karama from Darwin?
Karama is 14 km from Darwin CBD by road, about 17 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Karama?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Karama was $92,716 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 Karama?
The median advertised rent in Karama is $750 a week for houses (25 listings) and $590 a week for units (9 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Karama?
The median age of residents in Karama was 35 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Karama?
There are 4 schools inside the Karama boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Karama walkable?
Karama scores 75/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very 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 Karama?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Karama, Darwin Airport (3.7 km away), summer days average 32.5°C, winter nights 19.8°C, 1,836 mm of rain a year over 98 rainy days, and 27 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Karama?
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 Karama belong to?
Karama sits within the Darwin local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Karama?
The average residential rates bill through Darwin is $1,870 a year (2026). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Karama?
Across Darwin, 171 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 47.1% 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 Karama in?
Karama sits within the federal Division of Solomon, currently held by Luke John Gosling (Australian Labor Party).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2026–27
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- State electorate · 2024
- 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.