10 safest suburbs in Adelaide: Did yours make the list?

With an abundance of food and entertainment and a relatively steady property market – it’s not hard to see why Adelaide is considered to be amongst the world’s most liveable cities.

As well as being one of Australia’s less volatile state capitals for property value fluctuations lately, Adelaide was named the world’s 10th most liveable city by the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2019 Global Liveability Index. The City of Churches received an overall rating of 96.6 out of a possible 100 across stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure. It was only narrowly behind the other Australian cities in the top ten – Melbourne, that won second place at 98.4, and Sydney, that placed third at 98.1.

If you’re considering renting or buying in Adelaide, one factor that could be worth considering is how safe your suburb is. According to the latest realestate.com.au Life in Australia Index report, the majority of Adelaide residents surveyed (69%) said feeling safe was the most important factor in deciding whether somewhere is a good place to live. To give you an idea of where the ‘safest’ suburbs are, Canstar analysed data from the South Australia Police (SAPOL) to identify the 10 suburbs in Adelaide with the lowest crime rates.

Compare Home Insurance

What are the safest suburbs in Adelaide?

The 10 Adelaide suburbs with the lowest crime rates from July 2018 to June 2019 were:

1. Rosslyn Park: 0.96 incidents per 100 residents
2. McLaren Flat: 0.98 incidents per 100 residents
3. Stonyfell: 0.99 incidents per 100 residents
4. Glenalta: 1.17 incidents per 100 residents
5. Erindale: 1.18 incidents per 100 residents
6. Aldgate: 1.22 incidents per 100 residents
7. Wattle Park: 1.27 incidents per 100 residents
8. Mylor: 1.28 incidents per 100 residents
9. Hazelwood Park: 1.28 incidents per 100 residents
10. Coromandel Valley: 1.29 incidents per 100 residents

This was based on the number of recorded criminal offences from July 2018 to June 2019, using SAPOL data. Criminal offences included all crimes against a person, such as assault, and crimes against property, such as theft. Canstar then weighed this against the number of residents in each suburb, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Rosslyn Park had the lowest number of criminal offences by population. Located just six kilometres east of the city, Rosslyn Park is perhaps best known as being home to the Penfolds Winery Magill Estate. Originally, the suburb was mostly made up of paddocks owned by Christopher Rawson Penfold, the founder of Penfolds. Nowadays, Rosslyn Park is mainly a residential area. It had only 14 recorded offences in 2018-2019 and a population of 1,462 people.

Nearby suburbs Erindale, Wattle Park, Hazelwood Park and Stonyfell also made the list. The rest of the Adelaide’s lowest-crime suburbs were located south and south-east of the CBD. Notably, McLaren Flat, a suburb surrounded by vineyards and wineries, had a low crime rate with 15 incidents during 2018-2019 and a recorded population of 1,537 people. Stonyfell, in Adelaide’s eastern foothills, had a similarly low rate with 12 offences and 1,209 residents.

What Adelaide suburbs have the highest crime rates?

Canstar also identified the 10 Adelaide suburbs with the highest crime rates, based on SAPOL and ABS data. These were:

1. Elizabeth: 109.96 incidents per 100 residents
2. Port Adelaide: 56.21 incidents per 100 residents
3. Adelaide City: 43.04 incidents per 100 residents
4. Smithfield: 37.80 incidents per 100 residents
5. Oaklands Park: 35.95 incidents per 100 residents
6. Kilkenny: 25.54 incidents per 100 residents
7. Elizabeth South: 23.36 incidents per 100 residents
8. Modbury: 17.83 incidents per 100 residents
9. Ridleyton: 17.82 incidents per 100 residents
10. Salisbury: 16.81 incidents per 100 residents

Playford suburb Elizabeth topped the list. Located 24 kilometres north of the city, Elizabeth had 1,126 recorded crimes in 2018-2019 and 1,024 recorded residents. Other Playford suburbs Smithfield and Elizabeth South also made the list, however, they had lower crime rates in comparison.

Port Adelaide had the second highest crime rate. The suburb had 688 recorded incidents in 2018-2019 and 1,224 residents. The suburb is Adelaide’s main port and is about 14 kilometres north-west of the city.

How can a suburb’s ‘safety’ affect the cost of home and contents insurance?

In addition to potential safety concerns, living in a high-crime neighbourhood may also impact your hip pocket. According to insurer Guild Insurance, if an area is statistically shown to be prone to more crime or house damage, this can affect how much it costs an insurer to provide home and contents insurance. This may result in higher premiums for customers in these areas.

However, Guild Insurance said this is just one aspect of how it calculates premiums and other factors,  such as whether your suburb is susceptible to natural disasters like floods and bushfires, are typically more important in determining cost.

If you live in a high-crime area, one way you may be able to reduce premiums is to install additional security measures. Security features such as deadlocks and monitored alarms, could reduce the risk of crime-related claims and would generally be reflected in a lower insurance premium, Guild Insurance told Canstar.

Note: Top 10 lists above are based on Adelaide suburbs with the lowest or highest combined number of incidents recorded (offences against property or the person) per 100 residents. Suburbs with less than 1,000 residents recorded in the 2016 Census excluded. Number of residents obtained via ABS Census 2016 Quick Stats.

Main image source: ymgerman/Shutterstock.com