West Lakes SA 5021
Located in South Australia, West Lakes sits 14 km from Adelaide CBD, around 24 minutes by car. The suburb has 6,768 residents, a median age of 54, and a median household income of $80,496 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 40% nationally. The suburb grew 17.0% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $370 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,788. West Lakes is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. Walkability is moderate.
Is West Lakes a good suburb?
West Lakes scores a B (59/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit and community, weaker on safety.
Close to the CBD
Walkability 59/100 · 14.4 km · 24 min drive to Adelaide
Pricier than most
Median $1.34M · Pricier than 84% of SA
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 87/100 · Flood 42/100
Advantaged
SEIFA decile 8/10 · median age 54 · 6,768 residents
Liveability Rating
59 / 100 · Ranked #171 in SAEach bar is West Lakes'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 West Lakes?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
59 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataWest Lakes's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $1.34 million, about 3% below where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,337,500
36% above its 9 neighbours (median $987,000)
Based on 118 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 19 days — median across 74 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 17 sales $820K
- 3 bed 38 sales $1.26M
- 4 bed 53 sales $1.43M
- 5 bed 8 sales $2.05M
Units
$797,500
29% above its 8 neighbours (median $618,000)
Based on 44 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 19 days — median across 34 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 25 sales $778K
- 3 bed 14 sales $918K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in West Lakes are currently listed at around $899,000 on average. Based on 19 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$899K
19 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$757K
8 units listed in the last 6 months.
27 of the suburb's 2,941 dwellings (0.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in West Lakes rent for around $850 a week on average, based on 29 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$850/wk
13% above its 6 neighbours (median $750/wk)
29 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$680/wk
11 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
40 rentals advertised against an estimated 497 rented homes (8.0%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Apr–Jun 2026- 2-bed units
- $650/wk
- 10 bonds
- +39% 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 202586 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 35% of its income on the median rent in postcode 5021.
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$850/week ($44,000 a year) on a $899,000 median
$680/week ($35,000 a year) on a $757,000 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 West Lakes safe? Crime statistics
2026Crime in West Lakes sits in the high band, with 752 incidents recorded in 2026 — up roughly 15% on the prior year.
752 offences
14.8% since 2025Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20258 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
Walkability
West Lakes is somewhat walkable on foot — at 59/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car. Within the suburb there are 3 supermarkets, 33 parks and 7 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside West Lakes.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 176.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 143.1 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 60.9 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 19.9 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 West Lakes.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 33%
- Premises covered
- 3,394
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
Charles Sturt: 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 16 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 6 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
West Lakes is home to about 6,800 residents, with a median age of 54 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $80,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.6%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
6,768
Median Age
54
Median Household Income
$80,496/yr
Census Median Rent
$370/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,788/mo
Avg Household Size
2.2
Median Personal Income
$41,132/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.6%
Unoccupied Dwellings
7.7%
Total Dwellings
2,941
Owner-Occupier Rate
83.1%
Houses
57.9%
Rental Stress
23.9%
Mortgage Stress
26.7%
Work From Home
13.2%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
39 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 8 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 464 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 71.4%
- English Spoken at Home
- 78.9%
- Employment Rate
- 51.2%
- Completed Year 12
- 47.4%
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.
187 residents (2.8%) 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.
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 6,541 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
17% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (534 of 3,074).
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 2,776 people work here; 3,074 employed residents live here.
Roughly as many jobs as working residents (0.9 per resident). At least 9% 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 $1,726 a year through Charles Sturt based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 82%
- Commercial 9%
- Parks and recreation 8%
- 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: Charles Sturt
In the year to August 2026, 1,636 new dwellings were approved across Charles Sturt. That mix is 631 houses and 1,005 units. Approvals are up 109.1% on the same period a year earlier.
Air Quality
CLEANPM2.5 averaged 4.5 µg/m³ in 2025 — below the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³). 1 day exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 20.3 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 2.
From the Le Fevre 1 - Birkenhead monitoring station, 3.8 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Adelaide Airport M.o., 9.1 kmDry climate — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 5 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 1.3 km
- 1.4 km to a named beach
- 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
10 facilities within 5 km- 3.5 kmBeer ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Ethanol
- 3.7 kmIndustrial and Agricultural Chemical Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Ethanol · Acetone
- 3.8 kmHospitals (Except Psychiatric Hospitals)Top reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
- 3.9 kmIndustrial and Agricultural Chemical Product WholesalingTop reported: Chlorine & compounds · Zinc and compounds · Mercury & compounds
- 3.9 kmOther Warehousing and Storage ServicesTop reported: Zinc and compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 5021, 51 of 5,742 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.6% (205 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 4.5%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 5021, 1,843 rooftop-solar systems totalling 11.3 MW have been installed since 2001, against 3,162 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 103 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
2 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb.
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 2026-10-26 — 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 Mark Butler Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Mark Butler | 66.3% | 33.6% | +7.4 |
| 2022 | Mark Butler | 59.0% | 41.0% | -2.4 |
| 2019 | Mark Butler | 56.5% | 43.5% | +1.9 |
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 David Wilkins Australian Labor Party
Next state election: 16 March 2030.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | David Wilkins ALP | 59.4% |
| 2022 | Stephen Mullighan ALP | 61.2% |
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 West Lakes?
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 6,768 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
Seaton SA 5023
Grange SA 5022
Semaphore Park SA 5019
Royal Park SA 5014
West Lakes Shore SA 5020
Queenstown SA 5014
Compare West Lakes 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 West Lakes
Is West Lakes a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in West Lakes is high (87/100, 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 West Lakes?
West Lakes has no recorded bushfire history. Flood overlays cover a moderate share of it (42/100). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is West Lakes a good place to live?
West Lakes has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (59/100), 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 West Lakes?
West Lakes, SA had a population of 6,768 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for West Lakes, SA?
The postcode for West Lakes, SA is 5021.
How far is West Lakes from Adelaide?
West Lakes is 14 km from Adelaide CBD by road, about 24 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in West Lakes?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in West Lakes was $80,496 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 West Lakes?
The median advertised rent in West Lakes is $850 a week for houses (29 listings) and $680 a week for units (11 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in West Lakes?
The median age of residents in West Lakes was 54 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is West Lakes walkable?
West Lakes scores 59/100 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 air quality in West Lakes?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to West Lakes (Le Fevre 1 - Birkenhead) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 4.5 µg/m³ and PM10 of 20.3 µg/m³. That puts West Lakes below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in West Lakes?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to West Lakes, Adelaide Airport M.o. (9.1 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 West Lakes?
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 West Lakes belong to?
West Lakes sits within the Charles Sturt local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in West Lakes?
The average residential rates bill through Charles Sturt is $1,726 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near West Lakes?
Across Charles Sturt, 1,636 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 109.1% 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 West Lakes in?
West Lakes sits within the federal Division of Hindmarsh, currently held by Mark Butler (Australian Labor Party).
Search another suburb or address
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.
Was the information on this page useful to you?
Thanks! Anything we could improve?
We hate spam as much as you do — we'll never use your email for marketing, and we might not be able to reply to everyone.
Thanks for your feedback! 🙏
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.