What is the population of Alice Springs, Northern Territory?

Alice Springs may be the hub of the Northern Territory’s Red Centre, but the Alice Springs population is just 26,448.

Alice Springs is the largest city in the Red Centre of the Northern Territory, although ‘city’ might be pushing it a bit. The hub of the Red Centre might be fairly sprawling, but the population of Alice Springs is fairly low.

Alice Springs offers stunning outback scenery on a West MacDonnell Ranges day tour, fascinating nocturnal visits to the Desert Park and scenic camel tours.

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Transfers: Alice Springs to Uluru | Uluru to Alice Springs | Uluru to Kings Canyon | Kings Canyon to Uluru | Kings Canyon to Alice Springs.
Day tours: Uluru from Alice Springs | Kata Tjuta from Uluru | Kings Canyon from Uluru | West MacDonnell Ranges from Alice Springs.

There’s a bit of tallest dwarf syndrome going on here – Alice Springs is in the middle of vast, expansive desert. The only competition is outback stations, Stuart Highway roadhouses and small Aboriginal settlements. Despite being the regional hub for major outback attractions such as Uluru, Kata-Tjuta and Kings Canyon, distances are enormous in these parts. The drive from Alice Springs to Uluru, for example, takes around five hours.

The status of regional centre gives Alice Springs far more in the way of facilities than the Alice Springs population might otherwise warrant. Alice Springs Airport, in particular, is surprisingly well connected.

Alice Springs population statistics

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the population of Alice Springs is 26,448. This Alice Springs population figure is for the significant urban area in 2020. It is as per the regional population report released in March 2021.

To get an idea of how many people live in Alice Springs, we can compare the Alice Springs population to that of other Australian towns and cities. Alice Springs is pretty much the same size as Taree in New South Wales. It is slightly bigger than Goulburn and Armidale in New South Wales, or Bacchus Marsh in Victoria.

The population of Alice Springs is a little bit smaller than that of Lismore, Ballina or Nelson Bay in New South Wales. It’s also a smidge smaller than that of Kalgoorlie in Western Australia, Victor Harbor–Goolwa in South Australia, Maryborough in Queensland or Burnie-Wynyard in Tasmania.