Katherine East NT 0850
Located in Northern Territory, Katherine East sits 320 km from Darwin CBD, around 3 hours 25 minutes by car. The town has 3,061 residents, a median age of 30, and a median household income of $107,900 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the lower-middle tier nationally. The town fell 1.7% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,517. 4 schools sit within the town boundary, and walkability is low.
Is Katherine East a good town?
Katherine East scores a C (38/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on schools.
Above the state average
4 schools · Top 19% in NT
Some car dependence
Walkability 39/100 · 320.3 km · 204 min drive to Darwin
Median available
Median $385K
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 4/10 · median age 30 · 3,061 residents
Liveability Rating
38 / 100 · Ranked #66 in NTEach bar is Katherine East'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 Katherine East?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
38 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataKatherine East's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $385,000, roughly 19% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$385,000
Based on 85 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 57 sales $340K
- 4 bed 24 sales $492K
Units
$190,000
Based on 11 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
By bedrooms
- 1 bed 6 sales $174K
- 2 bed 5 sales $215K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Katherine East are currently listed at around $399,000 on average. Based on 7 houses listed in the past six months.
$399K
7 houses listed in the last 6 months.
8 of the suburb's 946 dwellings (0.8%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Katherine East rent for around $600 a week on average, based on 7 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$600/wk
7 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
7 rentals advertised against an estimated 598 rented homes (1.2%) in the last 6 months.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$600/week ($31,000 a year) on a $399,000 median
Based on a small sample (7 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 Katherine area
Crime recorded across the whole area over the 12 months to Aug 2026, not in Katherine East 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 | 2,626 | 233.0 |
| Assault | 1,009 | 89.5 |
| Domestic violence assault | 689 | 61.1 |
| Sexual offences | 58 | 5.1 |
| House burglary | 196 | 17.4 |
| Commercial burglary | 97 | 8.6 |
| Theft | 482 | 42.8 |
| Property damage | 619 | 54.9 |
| Robbery and extortion | 54 | 4.8 |
| Endangering people | 107 | 9.5 |
Rates use the Katherine area’s 11,269 residents. The latest month is preliminary and may be revised.
Schools
Four schools serve Katherine East, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 1,251 students across 4 schools (avg 313)
- • Sectors: 3 Government, 1 Catholic
- • ICSEA 665-991, median 886 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Katherine High School (468 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Walkability
Katherine East is car-dependent on foot — at 39/100, most errands require a car.
We hold no public transport timetable data for this area, so public transport is not rated here and the score is spread across the remaining components. It is not counted as zero.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Katherine East.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 100%
- Premises covered
- 1,511
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
Katherine: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this town alone — this town's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 8 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this town rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Katherine East is home to about 3,100 residents, and skews young, with a median age of 30 against the national 38. Median household income runs at $108,000 a year, with unemployment at 5.4%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
3,061
Median Age
30
Median Household Income
$107,900/yr
Census Median Rent
$350/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,517/mo
Avg Household Size
2.8
Median Personal Income
$56,108/yr
Unemployment Rate
5.4%
Unoccupied Dwellings
19.2%
Total Dwellings
946
Owner-Occupier Rate
36.8%
Houses
83.4%
Rental Stress
16.9%
Mortgage Stress
16.9%
Work From Home
3.6%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
142 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 5 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 563 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 69.1%
- English Spoken at Home
- 65.2%
- Employment Rate
- 61.9%
- Completed Year 12
- 34.3%
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.
148 residents (4.8%) 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.
14.9% of residents (416) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Darwin (158).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 2,788 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
1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (11 of 1,386).
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 $2,781 a year through Katherine based on 2025 figures.
Building Approvals: Katherine
In the year to August 2026, 31 new dwellings were approved across Katherine. Almost all of the pipeline is detached houses.
Climate & Setting
from Katherine Aviation Museum, 2.8 kmHigh rainfall — very hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 117 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Annual rainfall
- 1,002 mm
- 63 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 34.4°C
- 122 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 13.3°C
- 0 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the town 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
4 facilities within 5 km- 4.7 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Xylenes (individual or mixed isomers) · Cumene (1-methylethylbenzene)
- 4.8 km
- 4.9 kmFossil Fuel Electricity GenerationTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
- 4.9 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Cumene (1-methylethylbenzene) · Benzene
EV adoption
In postcode 0850, 8 of 6,060 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.2% (131 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.3%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 0850, 1,004 rooftop-solar systems totalling 9.6 MW have been installed since 2001, against 2,878 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 28 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 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 town's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Jo Hersey Country Liberal
Next state election: 26 August 2028.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Jo Hersey CLP | 62.2% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2023, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this town's voters. Results: Northern Territory Electoral Commission.
Looking at a specific address in Katherine East?
Every figure above is a town 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 3,061 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 Katherine East
Is Katherine East a safe place to live?
NT does not publish suburb-level crime statistics, so there is no crime figure for Katherine East.
Is Katherine East a good place to live?
Katherine East has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (38/100), 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 Katherine East?
Katherine East, NT had a population of 3,061 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Katherine East, NT?
The postcode for Katherine East, NT is 0850.
How far is Katherine East from Darwin?
Katherine East is 320 km from Darwin CBD by road, about 204 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Katherine East?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Katherine East was $107,900 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 Katherine East?
The median advertised rent in Katherine East is $600 a week for houses (7 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Katherine East?
The median age of residents in Katherine East was 30 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Katherine East?
There are 4 schools inside the Katherine East boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Katherine East walkable?
Katherine East scores 39/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it 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 Katherine East?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Katherine East, Katherine Aviation Museum (2.8 km away), summer days average 34.4°C, winter nights 13.3°C, 1,002 mm of rain a year over 63 rainy days, and 122 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Katherine East?
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 Katherine East belong to?
Katherine East sits within the Katherine local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Katherine East?
The average residential rates bill through Katherine is $2,781 a year (2025). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Katherine East?
Across Katherine, 31 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is Katherine East in?
Katherine East sits within the federal Division of Lingiari, currently held by Marion Scrymgour (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 2025–26
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- 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.