Located in South Australia, Morphett Vale sits 26 km from Adelaide CBD, around 31 minutes by car. The suburb has 24,002 residents, a median age of 40, and a median household income of $62,348 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. The suburb grew 3.7% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $295 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,300. Morphett Vale is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. Of 13 schools within the suburb boundary, 3 rank above the state average, and walkability is high.
Is Morphett Vale a good suburb?
Morphett Vale scores a C (48/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on safety and community.
Mixed results
13 schools · 3 above peer schools
Very walkable
Walkability 81/100 · 25.5 km · 31 min drive to Adelaide
Around the state median
Median $771K · Cheaper than 85% of SA
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 74/100 · Flood 39/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 40 · 24,002 residents
Liveability Rating
48 / 100 · Ranked #283 in SAEach bar is Morphett Vale's rank among SA suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better).
How do you rate the liveability in Morphett Vale?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
48 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataMorphett Vale's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $771,000, roughly 13% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$771,000
7% below its 8 neighbours (median $825,500)
Based on 613 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 20 days — median across 319 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 32 sales $654K
- 3 bed 445 sales $762K
- 4 bed 109 sales $840K
- 5 bed 17 sales $950K
Units
$593,999
9% above its 3 neighbours (median $545,000)
Based on 77 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 19 days — median across 35 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 1 bed 5 sales $700K
- 2 bed 55 sales $570K
- 3 bed 13 sales $657K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Morphett Vale are currently listed at around $780,000 on average. Based on 173 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$780K
173 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$575K
17 units listed in the last 6 months.
190 of the suburb's 9,905 dwellings (1.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Morphett Vale rent for around $620 a week on average, based on 113 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$620/wk
5% below its 5 neighbours (median $650/wk)
113 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$520/wk
7 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
120 rentals advertised against an estimated 2,872 rented homes (4.2%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Apr–Jun 2026- 3-bed houses
- $600/wk
- 110 bonds
- +60% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $492/wk
- 15 bonds
- +64% 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 2025105 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 29% of its income on the median rent in postcode 5162.
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$620/week ($32,000 a year) on a $780,000 median
$520/week ($27,000 a year) on a $575,000 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.
Is Morphett Vale safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in Morphett Vale sits in the high band, with 1,290 incidents recorded in 2026 — down roughly 13% on the prior year.
1,290 offences
12.8% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202536 crashes
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.
Schools
13 schools serve Morphett Vale, and results are mixed — some outperforming peer-suburb schools, some below. Coorara Primary School and Flaxmill School P-6 lead the pack.
- • 5,458 students across 12 schools (avg 455)
- • Sectors: 6 Independent, 6 Government, 1 Catholic
- • ICSEA 908-1071, median 976 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Woodcroft College (1,534 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Walkability
Morphett Vale is very walkable on foot — at 81/100, most daily errands can be done on foot. Within the suburb there are 8 supermarkets, 13 parks and 14 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Morphett Vale.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 456.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 247.3 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 157.7 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 19.8 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 Morphett Vale.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 38%
- Premises covered
- 11,669
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
Onkaparinga: 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 56 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Morphett Vale is home to about 24,000 residents, with a median age of 40, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $62,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.7%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
24,002
Median Age
40
Median Household Income
$62,348/yr
Census Median Rent
$295/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,300/mo
Avg Household Size
2.3
Median Personal Income
$33,228/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.7%
Unoccupied Dwellings
5.5%
Total Dwellings
9,905
Owner-Occupier Rate
71.0%
Houses
84.9%
Rental Stress
24.6%
Mortgage Stress
25.0%
Work From Home
7.3%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
637 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 110 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 2,793 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 74.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 86.4%
- Employment Rate
- 52.4%
- Completed Year 12
- 36.1%
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.
334 residents (1.4%) 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 22,679 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
10% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (1,055 of 10,507).
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 4,757 people work here; 10,507 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.5 jobs per working resident. At least 55% 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 $2,008 a year through Onkaparinga based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 89%
- Parks and recreation 5%
- Commercial 5%
- Zones under 1% 1%
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: Onkaparinga
In the year to August 2026, 1,367 new dwellings were approved across Onkaparinga. That mix is 813 houses and 554 units. Approvals are up 58.4% on the same period a year earlier.
Air Quality
This station does not measure fine particles (PM2.5).
PM10 averaged 19.5 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.34 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 3 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.
From the Christie Downs monitoring station, 3.3 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Adelaide Airport M.o., 18.8 kmDry climate — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 103 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 5.1 km
- Annual rainfall
- 394 mm
- 71 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 28.1°C
- 16 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 7.8°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
8 facilities within 5 km- 2.2 kmPaint and Coatings ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Xylenes (individual or mixed isomers) · Toluene (methylbenzene)
- 2.7 kmPolymer Film and Sheet Packaging Material ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Ethanol
- 3.3 kmOther Petroleum and Coal Product ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Manganese & compounds
- 3.5 kmOther Petroleum and Coal Product ManufacturingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
- 3.5 kmFossil Fuel Electricity GenerationTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
EV adoption
In postcode 5162, 138 of 26,606 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.2% (582 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.7%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 5162, 9,468 rooftop-solar systems totalling 49.7 MW have been installed since 2001, against 14,876 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 470 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
9 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 12 across postcode 5162.
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 2026-10-27 — 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 Amanda Rishworth Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Amanda Rishworth | 70.7% | 29.3% | +4.4 |
| 2022 | Amanda Rishworth | 66.3% | 33.6% | -4.4 |
| 2019 | Amanda Rishworth | 61.9% | 38.1% | +1.6 |
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 Katrine Hildyard Australian Labor Party
Next state election: 16 March 2030.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Katrine Hildyard ALP | 60.1% |
| 2022 | Katrine Hildyard ALP | 66.7% |
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 Morphett Vale?
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 24,002 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
Checking the whole city?
Suburbs to avoid in Adelaide There is no list of bad suburbs, but there are hazards the state measures and publishes — recorded crime, bushfire exposure, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Adelaide suburbs ranked on them, with what the numbers do and don't mean.Nearby suburbs
Woodcroft SA 5162
Christie Downs SA 5164
Reynella SA 5161
Hackham SA 5163
Hackham West SA 5163
Old Reynella SA 5161
Compare Morphett Vale 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 Morphett Vale
Is Morphett Vale a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Morphett Vale is high (74/100, ranked against other SA suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect Morphett Vale?
Morphett Vale has no recorded bushfire history. Flood overlays cover a low share of it (39/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Morphett Vale a good place to live?
Morphett Vale has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (48/100), 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 Morphett Vale?
Morphett Vale, SA had a population of 24,002 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Morphett Vale, SA?
The postcode for Morphett Vale, SA is 5162.
How far is Morphett Vale from Adelaide?
Morphett Vale is 26 km from Adelaide CBD by road, about 31 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Morphett Vale?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Morphett Vale was $62,348 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 Morphett Vale?
The median advertised rent in Morphett Vale is $620 a week for houses (113 listings) and $520 a week for units (7 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Morphett Vale?
The median age of residents in Morphett Vale was 40 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Morphett Vale?
There are 13 schools inside the Morphett Vale boundary: 3 above, 8 at, and 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Morphett Vale walkable?
Morphett Vale scores 81/100 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 Morphett Vale?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Morphett Vale, Adelaide Airport M.o. (18.8 km away), summer days average 28.1°C, winter nights 7.8°C, 394 mm of rain a year over 71 rainy days, and 16 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Morphett Vale?
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 Morphett Vale belong to?
Morphett Vale sits within the Onkaparinga local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Morphett Vale?
The average residential rates bill through Onkaparinga is $2,008 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Morphett Vale?
Across Onkaparinga, 1,367 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 58.4% 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 Morphett Vale in?
Morphett Vale sits within the federal Division of Kingston, currently held by Amanda Rishworth (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 2024–25
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2026
- Road crashes · 2021–2025
- Air quality · 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.