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Thornton

Safety 73/100 Safer than 66% of Cape Town suburbs (relative) Property 1.5-2M Top 40% Schools 1 nearby Healthcare 21 facilities more access than most suburbs Council Near avg complaints 1d median resolution Transport Minibus taxi coverage 2 routes serving the area

Data current as of

#6 Most Improved

The neighbourhood

What's it like to live here?

Thornton is a neighbourhood in Northern Suburbs, Cape Town, where property values sit in the middle-to-upper range for Cape Town. The area's safety profile is below the city average for reported safety. There are several places of worship in the area. The dominant commuter mode is private vehicle. Policing falls under the Pinelands SAPS precinct.

How is the area changing?

In Thornton, crime is declining based on the most recent quarterly comparison. Property values have broadly tracked inflation between valuation rolls.

What should buyers know?

Thornton is served by schools within reach. In this area, the City typically resolves service complaints promptly. The suburb is well-served by nearby healthcare facilities.

Neighbourhood summary generated from StreetSignal data and reviewed by our team.

These statistics describe the suburb as a whole. Conditions vary between streets and neighbourhoods within any suburb.

For home buyers & families

Is Thornton safe?

Lower reported crime

3rd percentile among 744 suburbs · relative index, not an absolute safety measure

Very low Absolute crime volume
2 428 reported crimes per year · city median: 10 468
↓ 15.8% vs Q3 2024
Crime is low and falling. This is one of the safer parts of Cape Town, with violent crime well below the city average and a positive year-on-year trend. Contact crime (assault, robbery) dominates the reported crime profile.

Detailed data

Safety index (resident-adjusted) How is this calculated? 73 / 100
Contact crime rate 121,190 per 100k residents
Station population 18 120
Harm rate (per resident) 56/100
Harm volume (absolute) 94/100
Data period Q3 2025/2026 (Oct–Dec 2025)
Source SAPS via DataFirst · CC-BY 4.0

This data reflects crimes reported to SAPS Pinelands precinct, which covers Thornton and surrounding suburbs. Reported crime may differ from actual crime levels. Full methodology

Disagree with this score? Challenge the methodology ›

Source: SAPS via DataFirst · Q3 2025/2026

FOR BUYERS & INVESTORS

What do properties cost in Thornton?

60th percentile

Planned development

23 hectares of land in Thornton are earmarked for new development across 1 parcel, primarily High Density Residential (23ha).

Source: CCT District Spatial Development Framework (January 2023). Development areas indicate planning designation, not construction timelines.

The median property value in Thornton is R2.2M. Property values have grown by 5.1% per year since 2018.

A 5.1% annual growth rate (CAGR) over the valuation period.
Value band distribution – Thornton properties (GV2022)

Property values are based on the City of Cape Town's 2022 General Valuation roll. GV is an assessed value for municipal rating purposes; transaction prices frequently exceed GV. Recent sales transaction data and rental market data are not available as open data in South Africa.

Median GV2022 R2,200,000
Value growth (CAGR 2018–2022) +5.1% per year ↑ Growing
City-wide value percentile 60th percentile
Dominant value band 1.5-2M
Source CCT GV 2022 · Open Data Policy 27781

Source: City of Cape Town GV2022

FOR PARENTS

How are schools in Thornton?

1 school nearby

Thornton has 1 school within reach. Schools include Thornton Primary School.

Matric results: pass rate data currently covers 157 of 744 suburbs. Thornton will surface when DBE suburb-level data is processed in the next pipeline run. About coverage ›
Q5
Thornton Primary School
Public · Grades R–7 · 695 learners · 27.8:1 learner-educator ratio
Quintile 5School fees applyFavourable class size

Quintile 5 is the highest government-funding category - fees apply, but these are the best-resourced public schools in South Africa. Rankings set by the WCED against community socioeconomic index. Learner-educator ratio (LER) is from EMIS Q2 2025; under 30:1 is favourable by WCED standards, over 40:1 indicates strained capacity. What quintile means ›

Source: DBE EMIS · Q2 2025

FOR COMMUTERS

How connected is Thornton?

Private vehicle dominant

Thornton has 2 minibus taxi routes, including routes to the CBD. The most common way people get to work is by private vehicle (93%).

Taxi connectivity Ranks this suburb's taxi route access against all 744 Cape Town suburbs. Based on routes matched by name and within 500m of suburb centre. Large suburbs may have higher actual connectivity than shown. Full methodology ›

Low connectivity
2 routes
14th percentile · 4 destinations · CBD-connected
Cape town, Khayelitsha, Maitland, Ruyterwacht (via garden village)
Based on CCT minibus taxi route data. Routes matched by name and spatial proximity (500m). Methodology ›

Commute mode share

Anyone relocating to Thornton needs a car. The 93% private vehicle share is a socioeconomic profile signal, not a walkability score – in working-class Cape Town suburbs the same walking rate indicates structural necessity. Here it is lifestyle choice.
Private vehicle
93%
Cape Town transport context: In South African cities, transport mode is a socioeconomic proxy – high private vehicle = affluent, high minibus taxi = working class, high walking = structural necessity not preference. StreetSignal reports modal share rather than a walkability index, which would misrepresent SA urban mobility. Methodology ›
Dominant mode Private vehicle (93%)
Source CCT Household Survey 2024

Source: City of Cape Town Open Data · 2024

FOR RESIDENTS

What are living conditions in Thornton?

Full municipal services

Thornton has a service delivery index of 99.5 out of 100, above the city median of 84.5. 100% of dwellings are formal structures.

Computed from the City of Cape Town 2024 Household Survey , Thornton survey group (41 households). direct.

Food is only 20% of household budgets - well below the city median of 32%
› Monthly accommodation expenditure (R4,709) is 2.8× the city median of R1,674.› High digital connectivity: 83% of households have home internet access.

Access to basic services

100 City median: 85
Piped water
100.0%
Flush toilet
100.0%
Weekly refuse
98.1%
Grid electricity
100.0%

Housing & tenure – Informal or family-compound housing

100 City median: 68
Formal dwellings
100.0%
Owner-occupied
28.2%
Rented
33.1%

Environmental risk – Low risk exposure

3 risk index · higher = greater risk · City median: 26
Flooding risk
0.0%
Fire risk
0.0%
Violent crime
0.0%
Non-violent crime
2.7%

Economic structure – Moderate material pressure

Food spending share
20.4%
Share of income spent on food
City median: 35.3%
Comfortable, moderate discretionary income · 94th percentile
Hardship dimensions
0
Areas of material need (out of 8)
Grant income share
18.0%
of households receiving grants
Monthly savings
R1,596
Weighted mean per household

Spending priorities – top priority: Food

Food
84.8%
of households prioritise
Electricity
82.9%
of households prioritise
Petrol/transport
81.0%
of households prioritise
Rent/bond
52.1%
of households prioritise
School fees
30.4%
of households prioritise

Digital inclusion – Fibre-connected suburb

Home fibre
82.9%
City median: 46.5%
Mobile only
14.5%
No access
2.7%

Food security

Adult food insecurity
2.7%
City median: 18.3%
Child food insecurity
0.0%
City median: 13.0%
Food insecurity prevalence
2.7%
City median: 22.3%

Demographics & community

Avg household size
2.6 people
Avg children per household
0.7

Asset ownership

Computer access
79.1%
Fridge ownership
94.7%
Property ownership
0.0%
Geyser ownership
88.2%
Borehole access
9.9%

Home-based economy

Home-based business
2.7%
of households operate a home-based business
WFH full-time
2.7%

How Thornton compares

Food insecurity 85% below the city average for adult food insecurity
Material hardship 87% below the city average for material hardship
Income 4.0× the city average for median household income
Food spend share 42% below the city average for food expenditure share

Source: City of Cape Town 2024 Household Survey. Survey group: Thornton. direct.

Energy access
9%
Free basic electricity
5.6%
City median

9% of electricity connections in Thornton receive free basic electricity under the City's indigent support programme. Free basic electricity is a constitutional entitlement providing a monthly allocation to qualifying households. The proportion reflects the reach of the City's indigent support in this suburb, not a measure of poverty.

Source: CCT prepaid electricity data (2025/11/30 to 2026/01/31). Covers prepaid connections only. Credit-metered households are not included. 5,587 connections.

Source: City of Cape Town household survey · 2024

FOR RESIDENTS

How responsive are municipal services in Thornton?

Highly responsive

The City of Cape Town resolves service requests in Thornton in a median of 1 day, compared to the city-wide median of 1 day. This is based on 4,408 service requests to the City of Cape Town.

Computed from City of Cape Town service request data
Infrastructure problems get fixed fast. The median resolution under one day means Thornton residents experience responsive municipal service – a signal of well-maintained infrastructure and efficient complaint routing.
1
Median days to resolve
City median: 1
93rd
Percentile
across Cape Town
35%
Resolved
same day
Sewerage overflow (14%)Power outage (12%)Compost Bin Application - 150L (5%)Damaged Bin - 240L (3%)Single street light out (3%)
Service requests logged 4 408
Requests resolved 79% (3 476 of 4 408)
75% resolved within 6 days
90% resolved within 17 days
Source CCT service request database
Community & faith

Places of worship

3 registered
Christian
3

Registered places of worship per suburb from City of Cape Town open data. Coverage: 299 of 744 suburbs.

Municipal complaints

Complaints & top issues

Near city average
Complaint rate How is this calculated? 2174.3 per 1,000 households
Total complaints 4 390
Unresolved 21.0%

Top issues: SEW: Blocked/Overflow (619), No Power (541), Compost Bin Application - 150L (204)

Source: City of Cape Town C3 service requests

FOR FAMILIES

What services are near Thornton?

Well served

Healthcare access

21 within 5km
Nearest public Conradie Care Centre · Provincial Hospital · 1 km
Nearest private Netcare N1 City Hospital · Private Hospital · 4.1 km
Public facilities 18
Private facilities 3

This suburb has access to both public and private healthcare within 5 km.

The nearest fire station to Thornton is Epping, 1.1 km away. The nearest public pool is Kensington Swimming Pool, 1.8 km away. The nearest clinic is Conradie Care Centre, 1.0 km away.

Nearest clinic Conradie Care Centre · 1 km
Nearest library Pinelands · 2.2 km
Nearest park / open space Tambotie Park · 0.05 km

Fire station

1.1
km to nearest
fire station
Epping
community station
within-5km
response
category

Cape Town has 32 fire stations serving 744 suburbs. Source: CCT open data.

Public swimming pools

1.8
km to nearest
public pool
7
pools
within 5 km
19
pools
within 10 km
Nearest pool Kensington Swimming Pool

Cape Town operates 35 public swimming pools. Source: CCT open data.

Distances straight-line from suburb centroid.

Source: City of Cape Town facility registry

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Explore surrounding areas

Bordering suburbs

4 adjacent

Suburbs that border or sit adjacent to Thornton. Each has its own safety profile, property market, and service data.

Maitland Pinelands Wp Park Wp Showgrounds
Building on this data? Access all 744 suburbs via the free REST API or explore commercial access.
Explore rankings: Safest suburbs Best for families Affordable + safe

Thornton · -33.9240°S, 18.5317°E

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