Kingscote SA 5223
Located in South Australia, Kingscote sits 187 km from Adelaide CBD, around 3 hours 25 minutes by car. The town has 1,962 residents, a median age of 51, and a median household income of $57,356 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the lower-middle tier nationally. The town grew 7.4% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $214 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,083. Kingscote is characterised by no recorded bushfire exposure. 2 schools sit within the town boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is Kingscote a good town?
Kingscote scores a B (50/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit.
Mixed results
2 schools
Very walkable
Walkability 65/100 · 186.7 km · 203 min drive to Adelaide
Median available
Median $465K
Moderate flood risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 37/100 · Flood 40/100
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 3/10 · median age 51 · 1,962 residents
Liveability Rating
50 / 100 · Ranked #266 in SAEach bar is Kingscote'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 Kingscote?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
50 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataKingscote's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $465,000, roughly 17% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$465,000
Based on 77 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 61 days — median across 39 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 10 sales $382K
- 3 bed 43 sales $460K
- 4 bed 18 sales $635K
Land
$162,000
Based on 30 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 71 days — median across 9 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Kingscote are currently listed at around $708,000 on average. Based on 28 houses listed in the past six months.
$708K
28 houses listed in the last 6 months.
29 of the suburb's 819 dwellings (3.5%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Kingscote rent for around $445 a week on average, based on 10 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$445/wk
10 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
11 rentals advertised against an estimated 258 rented homes (4.3%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Apr–Jun 2026- All rentals
- $490/wk
- 10 bonds
- +46% 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 2025123 Acceptable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 24% of its income on the median rent in postcode 5223.
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$445/week ($23,000 a year) on a $708,000 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 Kingscote safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Kingscote sits in the low band, with 36 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 58% on the prior year.
36 offences
57.6% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20252 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the town 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
- 369 m
- Rate
- -0.05 m/yr
- Net Movement
- -9.8 m
- Certainty
- good
Data Quality
Schools
Two schools serve Kingscote, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 710 students in one school (avg 710)
- • Largest: Kangaroo Island Community Education (710 students)
Combined
Walkability
Kingscote is somewhat walkable on foot — at 65/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car. Within the town there are 1 supermarket, 2 parks and 8 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Kingscote.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 3.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 1.1 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 1.5 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 13.2 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 Kingscote.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 0%
- Premises covered
- 1,192
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
Kangaroo Island: 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 6 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the town closely.
Kingscote is home to about 2,000 residents, with a median age of 51 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $57,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.3%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,962
Median Age
51
Median Household Income
$57,356/yr
Census Median Rent
$214/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,083/mo
Avg Household Size
2.1
Median Personal Income
$34,996/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.3%
Unoccupied Dwellings
25.0%
Total Dwellings
819
Owner-Occupier Rate
68.5%
Houses
91.2%
Rental Stress
19.4%
Mortgage Stress
22.7%
Work From Home
6.9%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
45 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 19 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 244 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 77.4%
- English Spoken at Home
- 87.3%
- Employment Rate
- 52.5%
- Completed Year 12
- 33.8%
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.
30 residents (1.5%) 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.
8.3% of residents (156) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Adelaide (127).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,872 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 879).
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 $1,908 a year through Kangaroo Island based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 68%
- Residential 10%
- Industrial 8%
- Environmental 6%
- Other and special use 5%
- Commercial 1%
- Parks and recreation 1%
Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the town around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Kangaroo Island
In the year to August 2026, 48 new dwellings were approved across Kangaroo Island. That mix is 46 houses and 2 units. Approvals are down 12.5% on the same period a year earlier.
Climate & Setting
from Kingscote, 0.1 kmDry climate.
- Elevation
- 17 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 179 m
- 2.7 km to a named beach
- Annual rainfall
- 412 mm
- 62 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- —
- Winter min (Jul)
- —
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- 0.4 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · n-Hexane · Toluene (methylbenzene)
- 0.4 km
- 1.0 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · n-Hexane · Toluene (methylbenzene)
- 3.2 kmFossil Fuel Electricity GenerationTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 5223, 16 of 4,245 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 0.9% (40 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 1.3%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 5223, 1,101 rooftop-solar systems totalling 7.7 MW have been installed since 2001, against 2,056 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 86 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
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 2026-10-28 — 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 town's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Jenni Mitton Australian Labor Party
Next state election: 16 March 2030.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Jenni Mitton ALP | 56.6% |
| 2022 | Leon Bignell ALP | 63.8% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2024, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this town's voters. Results: Electoral Commission of South Australia.
Looking at a specific address in Kingscote?
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 1,962 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.
Nearby suburbs
Compare Kingscote to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other SA suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Kingscote
Is Kingscote a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Kingscote is low (37/100, ranked against other SA suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Kingscote?
Kingscote has no recorded bushfire history. Flood overlays cover a moderate share of it (40/100). These are town-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Kingscote a good place to live?
Kingscote has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (50/100), 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 Kingscote?
Kingscote, SA had a population of 1,962 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Kingscote, SA?
The postcode for Kingscote, SA is 5223.
How far is Kingscote from Adelaide?
Kingscote is 187 km from Adelaide CBD by road, about 203 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Kingscote?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Kingscote was $57,356 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 Kingscote?
The median advertised rent in Kingscote is $445 a week for houses (10 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Kingscote?
The median age of residents in Kingscote was 51 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Kingscote?
There are 2 schools inside the Kingscote boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Kingscote walkable?
Kingscote scores 65/100 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 Kingscote?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Kingscote, Kingscote (0.1 km away), 412 mm of rain a year over 62 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Kingscote?
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 Kingscote belong to?
Kingscote sits within the Kangaroo Island local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Kingscote?
The average residential rates bill through Kangaroo Island is $1,908 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Kingscote?
Across Kangaroo Island, 48 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 12.5% 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 Kingscote in?
Kingscote 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.