Glenside

Development Activity

Demographics

The median age of 43 sits 3 years above the national figure, consistent with an established professional and semi-retired cohort living alongside a younger overseas-born population. Overseas-born residents account for 41.3%, which is 19.7 points above the national average. The leading ancestries are English (865 people), followed by Chinese (437), Scottish (226) and Irish (190), a mix that reflects both Anglo-Celtic roots and significant Asian migration. Mandarin is the most spoken non-English language (131 speakers), followed by Cantonese (42) and Sinhala (35). University qualifications reach 58% of the adult population, 27.9 points higher than the national rate, placing Glenside among Adelaide's most educated suburbs. Average household size of 2.1 is 0.4 below the national figure, reflecting the prevalence of couples without children (31.6% of families) and smaller households.

Tenure in Glenside divides between outright owners (37.3%), renters (38.6%) and mortgage holders (24.2%). The near-parity between outright owners and renters is unusual and reflects two distinct groups: long-held properties that have been paid off, and a large rental stock servicing the suburb's transient professional and student population. Apartments account for 36.1% of dwellings and semi-detached homes 34.3%, leaving only 29.3% as separate houses, which concentrates price pressure on detached stock. Two-bedroom configurations dominate at 41.7%, followed by three-bedroom at 32.6%. The 13.3% vacancy rate is high by Adelaide standards, concentrated in the dense apartment layer. Mortgage holders face a 31.2% mortgage-to-income ratio, above the stress threshold despite the median house price being lower than Sydney or Melbourne equivalents.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

Healthcare dominates local employment at 21.6% of workers (201 people), consistent with proximity to several hospital and health campus facilities. Professional and technical services follow at 14.7% (137 workers) and Education at 12.3% (114 workers), producing a knowledge-sector trio that accounts for nearly half of all local employment. The top occupation is Professionals at 457 workers, well ahead of Clerical/Admin (164) and Community/Personal services (144). Full-time employment runs at 60.4% of those in work, with an unemployment rate of 5.4%. Participation at 49.1% is low, partly because 1,085 residents are not in the labour force, including students, retirees and carers. The household income percentile of 35.3 nationally reflects this composition: high qualifications concentrated in sectors that do not always translate to high wages in early career or part-time roles.

Source: ABS Census 2021

Full-time and part-time are shares of the employed. Source: ABS Census 2021

Transport to Work

Car dependency is high at 72.4% of commuters driving, while 10.5% use public transport and 8.5% walk or cycle, broadly typical of Adelaide's inner-eastern suburbs rather than a walkable city core. No schools are recorded inside the 1.12 square kilometre boundary, so families rely on institutions in neighbouring suburbs. Crime totals 220 incidents, a rate of 77.1 per 1,000 residents. With 7% of residents (193 people) needing daily assistance, and a volunteering rate of 21.4%, the suburb has a socially connected character. Rent-to-income at 23.9% keeps tenants below the 30% stress line, while mortgage stress flags at 31.2%. SEIFA decile data is not available for Glenside in this dataset, so relative disadvantage rankings cannot be cited directly.

Growth Outlook

Glenside is a compact suburb of 1.12 square kilometres with a population density of 2,556 per square kilometre, placing it in the dense inner-ring category for Adelaide. With 62 development applications in the past 12 months, activity is moderate and mostly concentrated in the apartment and fitout segment, as indicated by sample applications. The 28.3% turnover rate suggests roughly one in four properties changes resident each year, driven by the 38.6% renter proportion and the transient healthcare and education workforce. The high-vacancy signal (13.3%) combined with ongoing development applications suggests supply has been added faster than demand in recent years, particularly in the multi-dwelling segment. Volunteering at 21.4% is above average, pointing to a community-engaged resident base despite the higher turnover.

Population trend: Burnside council area

Glenside sits in the Burnside council area. These are the council area's residents, not Glenside's.

ABS Estimated Resident Population by LGA, 30 June each year; council area, not this suburb

Safety & Crime

Source: Crime Statistics Agency Victoria / SA Police

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Glenside compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

Frequently Asked Questions