Macclesfield SA 5153

Macclesfield is a town in South Australia, 46 km from Adelaide CBD, around 45 minutes by car. Population is 1,413; the median age is 47 and the median household income is $83,460 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 40% nationally. Population grew 4.5% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $308 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,500. 1 school sits within the town boundary, and walkability is low.

Is Macclesfield a good town?

Macclesfield scores a B (63/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on prices, safety, and community, weaker on transit.

Schools

Mixed results

1 school

Transit

Car-dependent

Walkability 28/100 · 46.4 km · 45 min drive to Adelaide

Prices

More affordable than most

Median $987K · More affordable than 96% of SA

Safety

Low all-round risk

Fire 16/100 · Crime 11/100

Community

Advantaged

SEIFA decile 7/10 · median age 47 · 1,413 residents

B

Liveability Rating

63 / 100 · Ranked #133 in SA

Each bar is Macclesfield'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.

Schools quality no data
too few schools to rate
Safety
98
Bushfire Low · Crime Low
Socio-economic
68
Advantaged
Walkability
17
Car-dependent
CBD access
30
46.4 km · 45 min drive to Adelaide
How it's calculated: Safety rank 98 × 25% + Socio-economic rank 68 × 25% + Walkability rank 17 × 15% + CBD access rank 30 × 10% = 63 / 100. Missing components rebalance the remaining weights.

How do you rate the liveability in Macclesfield?

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

Our score

63 / 100

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

Residents say

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Median House Price

Public listings data

Macclesfield's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $987,000, about 2% below where it sat a year earlier.

Houses

$987,000

last 4 quarters
Cheaper than 98% of SA
↓ −1.9% year-on-year

Based on 27 recorded sales in the last 24 months.

Typically sold in 48 days — median across 15 sales that recorded a listing period

By bedrooms

  • 2 bed 5 sales $772K
  • 3 bed 8 sales $900K
  • 4 bed 9 sales $1.08M

Land

$360,000

Based on only 3 sales — small sample, take as indicative.

Is Macclesfield safe? Crime statistics

2026

Crime in Macclesfield sits in the low band, with 6 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 75% on the prior year.

6 offences

75.0% since 2025
Property Damage 2 (33.3%)
Theft 2 (33.3%)
Assault 1 (16.7%)
Break & Enter 1 (16.7%)

Crime Trend

Serious Road Crashes

2021–2025

4 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.

Schools

One school serve Macclesfield, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.

38
out of 100
Weak
1 school in this town
1 below similar
  • • 79 students in one school (avg 79)

Primary

Government · R-6 · 79 students
ICSEA 1053 (higher than 69% of Australian schools) · 20% top-SEA students
Below similar

Walkability

Macclesfield is car-dependent on foot — at 28/100, most errands require a car.

28
out of 100
Car-Dependent
Top 25% in SA
Public Transport within 1 km 47
Schools within 1.5 km 60
Parks within 800 m 0
Supermarkets within 1 km 0
GPs within 1 km 0
Pharmacies within 1 km 0
Childcare within 1 km 60
Hospitals within 5 km 0

NBN connectivity

The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Macclesfield.

83
connectivity score / 100
Top 6% in SA
Most common
Fibre to the premises
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
77%
Premises covered
650
Technology mix
Fibre to the premises (FTTP) 77%
Fixed wireless (WIRELESS) 22%
Satellite (Sky Muster) (SATELLITE) 2%

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

Mount Barker: council population

The whole council area, not just Macclesfield · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
45,111
+3.2% in a year
Change
+1,400
people since 2024
Density
76
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
+245
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
+963
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+192
arrivals minus departures

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

ABS SEIFA · ranked against every suburb in Australia, and within the state
2021 census
Advantage and disadvantage
7/10
8/10 within SA
income, education, jobs and housing together
Economic resources
8/10
8/10 within SA
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
8/10
8/10 within SA
qualifications and job type, income excluded
How evenly that is spread

The ABS scores 4 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.

Macclesfield is home to about 1,400 residents, with a median age of 47, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $83,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.7%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

1,413

4.5% since 2016

Median Age

47

4.4% since 2016

Median Household Income

$83,460/yr

13.8% since 2016

Census Median Rent

$308/wk

23.2% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

$1,500/mo

1.8% since 2016

Avg Household Size

2.4

4.0% since 2016

Median Personal Income

$41,132/yr

17.9% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

3.7%

15.9% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

8.2%

5.1% since 2016

Total Dwellings

550

7.4% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

93.0%

3.6% since 2016

Houses

99.3%

1.6% since 2016

Rental Stress

19.2%

8.5% since 2016

Mortgage Stress

21.6%

10.4% since 2016

Work From Home

13.5%

33.7% since 2016

Dwelling Types

Houses 546 (99.3%)
Townhouses 3 (0.5%)
Flats / Apartments 1 (0.2%)

Property Ownership

Mortgage 287 (53.1%)
Owned Outright 215 (39.8%)
Renting 38 (7.0%)

Demographics

Born in Australia
81.7%
English Spoken at Home
91.9%
Employment Rate
62%
2.4% since 2016
Completed Year 12
45.4%

Occupations

Professionals 160 (21.5%)
Managers 121 (16.3%)
Technicians & Trades 112 (15.1%)
Community & Personal Service 93 (12.5%)
Labourers 82 (11.0%)
Clerical & Administrative 81 (10.9%)
Machinery Operators & Drivers 46 (6.2%)
Sales 39 (5.2%)

Religion

No Religion 865 (61.2%)
Christianity 407 (28.8%)
Buddhism 12 (0.8%)
Other Religions 5 (0.4%)

Country of Birth (overseas)

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.

England 108 (7.6%)
Germany 15 (1.1%)
Scotland 10 (0.7%)
Netherlands 8 (0.6%)
Iran 7 (0.5%)
Philippines 5 (0.4%)
South Africa 5 (0.4%)
New Zealand 4 (0.3%)

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 12 (0.8%)
2011-2015 3 (0.2%)
2001-2010 23 (1.6%)
1991-2000 10 (0.7%)
1981-1990 22 (1.6%)
Before 1981 103 (7.3%)

12 residents (0.8%) 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.

Adelaide - South 87 (6.5%)
Adelaide - North 22 (1.6%)
Overseas 21 (1.6%)

Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,347 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.

German 8 (0.6%)
Spanish 3 (0.2%)

Age Distribution

0-4 66 (4.7%)
5-14 150 (10.6%)
15-19 66 (4.7%)
20-24 80 (5.7%)
25-34 162 (11.5%)
35-44 144 (10.2%)
45-54 207 (14.6%)
55-64 250 (17.7%)
65-74 207 (14.6%)
75-84 70 (5.0%)
85+ 11 (0.8%)

Family & Household Composition

Couple Families 177 (49.2%)
Lone Person 121 (33.6%)
One Parent Families 48 (13.3%)
Group Household 10 (2.8%)
Other Families 4 (1.1%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 495 (78.0%)
Worked from Home 86 (13.5%)
Car (passenger) 26 (4.1%)
Walked Only 13 (2.0%)
Bus 10 (1.6%)
Bicycle 5 (0.8%)

8% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (58 of 744).

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

Certificate III & IV 235 (16.6%)
Bachelor Degree 205 (14.5%)
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 139 (9.8%)
Postgraduate Degree 51 (3.6%)
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 50 (3.5%)

Cars per Dwelling

0 cars 4 (0.7%)
1 car 125 (23.1%)
2 cars 242 (44.7%)
3 cars 112 (20.7%)
4+ cars 64 (11.8%)

Council Rates

Mount Barker
FY 2024-25

Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,485 a year through Mount Barker based on 2024 figures.

Avg residential rate
$2,485/yr
33% above the SA average of $1,863 · median of 68 councils
Valuation basis
Capital Value
land + buildings

How this land is zoned

Share of Macclesfield's area by planning zone
2026-09
  • Rural and farming 94%
  • Residential 3%
  • Parks and recreation 1%
  • Other and special use 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: Mount Barker

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

In the year to August 2026, 657 new dwellings were approved across Mount Barker. That mix is 575 houses and 82 units. Approvals are down 7.2% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
657dwellings
-7.2% YoY
Houses
575
detached dwellings
Units
82
townhouses + apartments

Climate & Setting

from Strathalbyn, 10.4 km

Dry climate.

Elevation
295 m
above sea level, at the town centre
Distance to the ocean
32.7 km
Annual rainfall
466 mm
82 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.

EV adoption

1.8%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.15% in 2021
+0.8 points this year
Top 8% in SA

In postcode 5153, 117 of 6,544 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.0% (134 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.8%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.15%
2022
0.21%
2023
0.40%
2024
1.04%
2025
1.79%

Rooftop solar

86
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 7.8 kW each

In postcode 5153, 2,255 rooftop-solar systems totalling 17.6 MW have been installed since 2001, against 2,619 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 135 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
138
2020
170
2021
165
2022
128
2023
113
2024
112
2025
106
2026
80

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.

Verify eligibility with RevenueSA

Mortgage repayments

I'm looking for
Deposit
$
%
Monthly repayment
$5,148
Loan amount
$789,600
Total interest over 30 years
$1,063,536

2 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 5153.

Deposit
$197,400
Stamp duty
$48,115
Cash needed at settlement
$245,515

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

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 Mayo

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

Heysen District

Currently held by Josh Teague Liberal Party

Next state election: 16 March 2030.

Year Winner Won with
2026 Josh Teague LP 50.6%
2022 Josh Teague LP 51.9%

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 Macclesfield?

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.

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

Nearby suburbs

Compare Macclesfield to another suburb

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

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Common questions about Macclesfield

Is Macclesfield a safe place to live?

Recorded crime in Macclesfield is low (11/100, ranked against other SA suburbs on offences per resident).

What natural hazards affect Macclesfield?

Macclesfield has a low recorded bushfire history (16/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). These are town-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.

Is Macclesfield a good place to live?

Macclesfield has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (63/100), 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 Macclesfield?

Macclesfield, SA had a population of 1,413 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for Macclesfield, SA?

The postcode for Macclesfield, SA is 5153.

How far is Macclesfield from Adelaide?

Macclesfield is 46 km from Adelaide CBD by road, about 45 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in Macclesfield?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Macclesfield was $83,460 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 Macclesfield?

There are too few current rental listings in Macclesfield for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $308, across all dwelling types.

What is the median age in Macclesfield?

The median age of residents in Macclesfield was 47 at the 2021 ABS Census.

Is Macclesfield at risk of bushfire?

Macclesfield has a low recorded bushfire history (16/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the town relative to its size, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history. It records where fire has burned, not a bushfire-prone land designation, which your council's planning scheme sets.

How are the schools in Macclesfield?

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

Is Macclesfield walkable?

Macclesfield scores 28/100 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 Macclesfield?

At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Macclesfield, Strathalbyn (10.4 km away), 466 mm of rain a year over 82 rainy days over 2006-2026.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Macclesfield?

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 Macclesfield belong to?

Macclesfield sits within the Mount Barker local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in Macclesfield?

The average residential rates bill through Mount Barker is $2,485 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near Macclesfield?

Across Mount Barker, 657 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 7.2% 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 Macclesfield in?

Macclesfield sits within the federal Division of Mayo, currently held by Rebekha Sharkie (Centre Alliance).

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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.

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