Palmerston (South area)
Northern Territory · Palmerston, Darwin
Live · ABS ERP June 2025
Children under 15 are 28.4% of residents, against 21.5% in the middle Northern Territory area (Census 2021). The median age is 28, lower than the middle Northern Territory area (33, Census 2021).
Palmerston (South area) has 3 schools (1 government, 2 non-government; ACARA School Profile 2025) and 6 NQS-rated childcare services (ACECQA register). Population is 9,070 (ABS ERP June 2025).
Palmerston (South area) at a glance
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Boundaries: ABS Suburbs & Localities 2021. School pins are ACARA's published locations. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Open the full NT map →
How the Family-Fit score is built71/100
Family-Fit score
Method published in fullStrong for families - strongest on families already here, weakest on childcare & early years.
- Schools in the area · 20% of the score
- 63/100
- Childcare & early years · 15% of the score
- 60/100
- Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
- 69/100
- Housing affordability · 15% of the score
- 69/100
- Families already here · 10% of the score
- 100/100
- Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
- 78/100
NT median 50/100
3 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 989
NT median 30/100
6 NQS-rated services nearby
NT median 50/100
18 parks · no GP mapped (not counted) · 1 supermarket · 3 playgrounds
NT median 74/100
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 12.6% of mortgage-holding households, 20.1% of renting households
NT median 80/100
28.4% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 56.1% of families are couples with children
NT median 44/100
SEIFA IRSAD decile 8 of 10 nationally
The grey marker on each bar is the median across the 58 Northern Territory areas we publish a score for (state median overall: 53/100). It is context, not a pass mark.
Not scored here (no published data for this area, so it is left out rather than counted as zero): Getting around. The remaining inputs were rescaled to 100.
How this score is calculated
Each published figure for the Palmerston - South SA2 is mapped onto 0–100 by fixed thresholds, then weighted. Inputs with no data here are dropped and the rest rescaled - never scored as zero. Every threshold and weight →
School results, crime and flood or bushfire overlays are not graded into this score. Limits of the score →
What families notice
What families notice
- Ranks in the top 30% for socio-economic advantage in NT (ABS SEIFA - not a safety or school-quality measure).
- 18 parks mapped inside this SA2 (OpenStreetMap).
- We don't have official school-zoning data for NT yet (only VIC, NSW and QLD) - confirm zoning directly with the school or department.
- We don't yet have official crime data for NT (only NSW and VIC) - that's a data gap on our side, not a claim this area is safe.
- We don't yet have property or rent figures for this area - check a real-estate portal directly for current prices.
Living in Palmerston - South: family snapshot
Living in Palmerston - South
A mid-sized suburb particularly popular with young families. Growing quickly - population is up 3.9% in the past year. Strong Philippines communities here (2021 Census). Many childcare options nearby - 6 NQS-rated services. Mostly detached family homes.
Palmerston (South area) compared with Northern Territory10 measures
| Measure | Palmerston - South | NT average | Against NT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children aged 0 to 4 | 11.6% | 7.0% | Higher |
| Children aged 5 to 14 | 16.8% | 14.0% | Higher |
| Couple families with children | 56.1% | 44.6% | Higher |
| One-parent families | 13.9% | 18.7% | Lower |
| Homes owned outright | 2.6% | 15.5% | Lower |
| Homes owned with a mortgage | 58.1% | 29.0% | Higher |
| Homes rented | 39.0% | 49.9% | Lower |
| Separate houses | 81.4% | 71.0% | Higher |
| Flats and apartments | 9.0% | 14.9% | Lower |
| Born overseas | 30.5% | 21.8% | Higher |
Source: ABS Census 2021. The NT figure is the population-weighted average of the 68 NT areas with a published value. "Higher" and "Lower" describe the number only.
About this area and its boundary
Palmerston - South is a locality in the Palmerston area of Northern Territory. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Palmerston - South SA2.
9,070 residents - 28.4% are children under 15, median age 28, the largest overseas-born community is Philippines (8.7%).
Why “Palmerston - South”? The ABS divides the larger suburb of Palmerston into several statistical areas (SA2s); this profile covers one part of it. Other parts are listed further down. SA2 boundaries don’t always match suburb boundaries. It covers the gazetted suburbs of Zuccoli, Johnston, Archer and Mitchell, drawn separately on the map above.
Property market
No free house sale price or 3-bedroom house rent is published for this area. 39.0% of homes are rented, against 49.9% across Northern Territory.
Homes and households
Source: ABS Census 2021. Where the shares do not add to 100%, the rest is "other" or "not stated".
Housing cost pressuremortgage and rent against income
Housing cost pressure
In Palmerston - South, 20.1% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 12.6% of households with a mortgage spend more than 30% on repayments - the ABS's stretched-household threshold (Census 2021).
ABS published figures, not our calculation.
- Mortgage over 30% of income
- 12.6%
- Rent over 30% of income
- 20.1%
NT avg 11.2%
Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 149 of 1,026 households with a stated repayment.
NT avg 16.7%
Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 159 of 655 households with a stated rent.
The two figures cover different households (mortgage-holding vs renting), so never add them. How the ABS counts these → Grey marker: NT average (47 for mortgage and 62 for rent). Census 2021 - housing costs have moved since. Not financial advice.
What's being built herenew homes approved, year by year
What's being built here
154 new homes were approved in Palmerston - South in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 823 new dwellings here across the 6 years to June 2025 - an approval is permission to build, not a home that exists yet.
Approved in the year to June 2025
Middle NT area: 9
Separate houses
Private sector, over these 6 years
Townhouses & apartments
Private sector, over these 6 years
Counts are for the whole Palmerston - South statistical area. What these counts include → Dashed line: the median of 21Northern Territory areas.
Schools and childcare
3 schools are located in the area. 6 childcare services are on the national register, 6 rated Meeting the National Quality Standard or above.
Government schools in Palmerston - South
Free government schools your child may attend. Exact school zones aren’t mapped for NT yet, so we can’t confirm which one is yours.
A picture of students’ family backgrounds (ICSEA) - not a ranking or a quality score.
Fee-paying schools can’t be enrolled in by zone - they’re shown for context, not as the area’s school quality.
We show school intake context and catchments, not exam results. We don’t publish a school ranking.
To look beyond Palmerston - South, every Northern Territory school is on the Australian schools and catchment zones map.
Schools in Palmerston - South
- Students
- 795
- ICSEA
- 1001
- Students
- 537
- ICSEA
- 989
- Students
- 379
- ICSEA
- 1027
ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). Source: ACARA School Profile 2025. All NT schools →
Childcare: 6 services
National Quality Standard ratings from the ACECQA register, refreshed Oct 2026. Services are matched by suburb name.
Childcare services, ratings and fees6 services
- Meeting NQSZuccoli Primary School OSHCCentre-Based Care · 208 places · ZuccoliRated Jul 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSMother Teresa Outside School Hours CareCentre-Based Care · 180 places · ZuccoliRated Sep 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSZuccoli Early Learners Early Education CentreCentre-Based Care · 160 places · ZuccoliRated Nov 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSZuccoli Village Early LearnersCentre-Based Care · 140 places · ZuccoliRated Jun 2024
- Meeting NQSMother Teresa Early Learning CentreCentre-Based Care · 75 places · ZuccoliRated Sep 2023 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSZuccoli PreschoolCentre-Based Care · 44 places · ZuccoliRated Oct 2022 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Centre-based day care
- $13.06/hr
- Outside school hours care
- $9.70/hr
Mean hourly fee across CCS-approved services, December quarter 2025 - Dept of Education, © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0. Published at SA3 level (a wider area than this suburb's SA2), so it's an average across Palmerston and surrounds, not this specific service list.
Verify locations before visiting. A rating over 3 years old is flagged. What the NQS ratings mean → Childcare places per child, by suburb →
Who lives here
More couple families with children than Northern Territory overall: 56.1% of families, against 44.6% statewide.
Ages of people here
Share of residents in each age band, in years. Source: ABS Census 2021.
How the area is changingCensus 2011 to 2021
Each line is drawn on its own scale, so compare the numbers, not the heights. Source: ABS Census 2011, 2016 and 2021.
Census trends against the middle NT areafull charts
Which way this area is moving
The 2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses for Palmerston - South, counted on today's boundaries.
- People counted
- +6,441 people since 2011
- Median age
- −1 year since 2011
Usual residents counted on Census night.
Half the residents are older than this, half younger.
The dashed line is the median across the Northern Territory areas we profile. How the three Censuses line up →
Where this year's population change came from+3.90% in a year
Where did the gain come from?
+344Reading the streams: organic growth - more babies than goodbyes - was the biggest driver.
Ages against the state average, band by band
Ages of people here
16.8% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - more than the Northern Territory average of 14%, and 11.6% are under 5. The median age is 28.
- 0–4 years · before school
- 11.6%
- 5–14 years · school age
- 16.8%
- 15–19 years · teens
- 5.8%
- 20–34 years
- 31%
- 35–54 years
- 28.5%
- 55–64 years
- 4%
- 65 years and over
- 2.1%
NT avg 7%
NT avg 14%
NT avg 6.1%
NT avg 25.2%
NT avg 28.3%
NT avg 10.4%
NT avg 8.9%
Share of all residents of Palmerston - South (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Northern Territory average. How the bands and averages work →
Households and families
Households and families
70% of families here have children living at home - more than the Northern Territory average of 63%. The largest overseas-born communities are Philippines (8.7%), India (3.9%) and United Kingdom (2.5%). 39% of homes are rented.
Family make-up
Share of all families in the area. A small "other family" group the ABS also counts is not shown.
- Couple with children
- 56.1%
- One-parent family
- 13.9%
- Couple, no children
- 28.4%
NT avg 44.6%
NT avg 18.7%
NT avg 34.7%
What people live in
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated structures are not shown.
- Separate house
- 81.4%
- Semi-detached / townhouse
- 9.7%
- Flat or apartment
- 9%
NT avg 71%
NT avg 12.1%
NT avg 14.9%
Owned or rented
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated tenures are not shown.
- Owned outright
- 2.6%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 58.1%
- Rented
- 39%
NT avg 15.5%
NT avg 29%
NT avg 49.9%
Figures describe Palmerston - South (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Northern Territory average. How these are counted →
Birthplaces, languages and communities
Who lives in Palmerston - South
Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 82.6% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.
- Philippines · growing since 2016
- 8.7%
- India · established by 2016
- 3.9%
- United Kingdom · established by 2016
- 2.5%
- New Zealand · established by 2016
- 1.4%
- Nepal · established by 2016
- 0.9%
NT avg 2.7%
NT avg 2.1%
NT avg 2.6%
NT avg 1.5%
NT avg 1.1%
- Co-located communities
- Palmerston - South is home to established Philippines, India and United Kingdom communities - each is 2% or more of residents born overseas here, not a ranking of one against another.
- Nearby
- Bakewell, Rosebery - Bellamack and Gray also have an established Philippines community.
- Settlement pattern
- Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 19.3% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (NT avg 26%) and 13.3% arrived before 2001 (NT avg 33.7%).
- English at home
- Of residents who speak a language other than English at home and stated their English proficiency, 7.2% report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (NT avg 11.1%) - a self-reported ABS figure across all languages combined, not a judgement of any one community.
Figures describe Palmerston - South (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The ABS publishes only the five largest communities per area, so a missing name did not rank in the top five. How these are counted →
Socio-economic index (SEIFA)decile 8 of 10
- Decile (1 lowest, 10 highest)
- Decile 8 of 10
- Where this sits in NT
- top 30% of Northern Territory areas
A relative comparison of the whole area against all of Australia - not a safety, liveability, or school-quality measure. What IRSAD measures → Source: ABS SEIFA 2021, IRSAD index (SA2).
Getting around and lifestyle
1 supermarket and 18 parks are mapped in the area, and the nearest emergency department is Royal Darwin Hospital, 21.1 km away in a straight line.
Mapped inside the Palmerston - South boundary. A zero can mean "not mapped" rather than "not there". Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Train to the city and nearest emergency department
Train to the city
Not publishedThe Northern Territory has no urban passenger rail network, so there is no train travel time to publish.
Nearest emergency department
MappedRoyal Darwin Hospital · 21.1 km
Straight-line distance from the middle of this area - not a drive time. In an emergency call 000; do not plan around this figure.
Community and recreation
Out with a baby
Public-toilet facilities recorded on the National Public Toilet Map - not every place in the area that will let you change a baby.
About this data
Counts of features tagged in OpenStreetMap inside the Palmerston - South boundary. “Middle NT area”: the median of 67 Northern Territory areas. How these counts and times are made →
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors · baby-facility counts from the National Public Toilet Map (Continence Foundation of Australia, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, CC BY 3.0 AU)
Crime & safety in Palmerston - South
Official recorded-incident data is only published on this site for NSW and VIC so far - that's a coverage gap on our side, not a claim that Palmerston - South is safe. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe. More on crime & safety →
Risks
1 of the 1 planning and hazard records we hold show something in this area: traffic noise. 6 more are not published for NT - treat them as not checked.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentStuart Highway
Each line is the extent of an official record across the whole Palmerston - South area - not a risk rating, and a specific address may or may not be affected. Not financial or insurance advice.
All 9 checks and what each one means
Flooding
Not publishedNo free statewide flood overlay is published for NT yet, so we show none. Check the local council's planning maps.
Bushfire
Not publishedWe hold official bushfire mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for NT yet. Check the state fire service's mapping.
Heritage controls
Not publishedWe hold official heritage overlay mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for NT yet. Check the local council's planning scheme and the state heritage register.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentStuart Highway
1 named road through this area carries OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 5 named main roads. Roads are counted by name, not by mapped segment. Where a home sits relative to them matters far more than the count - a street two blocks back can be quiet.
Aircraft noise
Not publishedWe hold official aircraft-noise mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for NT yet. Check the airport's noise contours and the local planning scheme.
Land contamination checks
Not mappedWe hold official contaminated-land overlay mapping for Victoria only - nothing is published here for NT yet. Check the state environment authority's contaminated land register and the local planning scheme.
Acid sulfate soils
Not publishedWe hold acid sulfate soil mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for NT yet. Coastal and estuarine land is where these soils occur; check the state's soil mapping and the local planning scheme.
Recorded crime
Not publishedNT does not release the suburb-level incident counts we republish for New South Wales and Victoria, so we show none here.
Social housing
Census figure2.7% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 0.4% from a community housing provider
Share of occupied private dwellings here with a stated tenure (Census 2021). The middle NT area is 7.5% public and 0.8% community, across 62 areas. Listed because families ask; it is a fact about who owns the homes, not a judgement about the people in them.
About this data
Every line is an official published record for the Palmerston - South area - we don't rate, score or rank any of them. Where a line is missing, treat it as not checked rather than clear. What each line covers and does not →
Source: ABS Census 2021 (G37 tenure and landlord type) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) - road classification
Nearby suburbs
- Bakewell 2.0 km
- Rosebery (Bellamack area) 2.3 km
- Woodroffe 2.9 km
- Howard Springs 3.3 km
- Gray 3.5 km
- Moulden 3.9 km
The six closest profiled areas in Northern Territory, by distance between area centres.
The suburbs in this area
Everything else on this page is published for Palmerston - South as a whole - one ABS statistical area covering 4 separate gazetted suburbs. These are the figures published for each of the 3 the ABS publishes a profile for.
| Suburb | Residents Census 2021 | Schools |
|---|---|---|
| Zuccoli | 4,131 | 2 |
| Johnston | 2,386 | 1 |
| Archer | 3 | 0 |
1 smaller locality is also inside this area. The ABS publishes no separate census profile for it, so it has no row here.
Each row is that suburb's own published figure - nothing here is the wider area's number divided up. Resident counts are the Census 2021 usual-resident count for the gazetted suburb, so they will not add up to the population at the top of this page, which is the ABS's later June 2025 estimate for the whole statistical area: a different measure on a different date. Schools are ACARA-registered schools whose published address falls inside the suburb boundary, which is not the same as the school your address is zoned to. No free source publishes suburb-level house medians in Northern Territory, so no price column is shown - that is our coverage gap, not a statement about the market here. Every other figure on this page - crime & safety, overlays, commute, amenities, projections, the Family-Fit score - is published for the whole statistical area and cannot be separated by suburb.
Other areas in Palmerstonsorted by growth in one year
- 01Durack - Marlow Lagoon+1.3%5,073 ppl
- 02Woodroffe+1.2%3,538 ppl
- 03Palmerston - North+1.1%4,949 ppl
- 04Driver+1.0%2,989 ppl
- 05Rosebery - Bellamack+1.0%7,223 ppl
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