Most liveable suburbs in Ballina
East Ballina is the highest-rated suburb on the list, graded B. 4 of the 8 suburbs listed share that B rating — the rating separates the top of Ballina less finely than the order suggests. Its strongest input is safety, where it ranks above 82% of suburbs in the state.
This page ranks Ballina suburbs by our Liveability Rating, the same score behind the A+ to D letter on every suburb page. It blends schools, safety, socio-economic advantage, walkability and distance to the city, each measured against other suburbs in the same state. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are ranked, and suburbs we cannot rate are left out rather than ranked last.
This is a SuburbScan rating, not an official one. No government agency grades suburbs; we do, and the weights are published: 25% schools, 25% safety, 25% socio-economic advantage (ABS SEIFA), 15% walkability and 10% distance to the city. Each leg is a percentile within the suburb's own STATE, not within Ballina — which is why the order here matches the letters on the suburb pages it links to rather than quietly re-ranking them. A suburb under 500 people, or one missing too many of the five inputs, is Unrated and does not appear: we would rather leave a place off than publish a rating we cannot stand behind. Liveability is not the same as value, and a high rating says nothing about whether a suburb is affordable.
The most liveable suburbs in Ballina
Ranked on the SuburbScan Liveability Rating — schools, safety, socio-economic advantage, walkability and distance to the city, each measured against other suburbs in the same state. This is our rating, not an official one: no government agency grades suburbs. Suburbs we cannot rate, including those under 500 people, are left out rather than ranked last.
East Ballina
NSW 2478 · 5,882 residentsRated B · 59/100 liveability
Skennars Head
NSW 2478 · 1,303 residentsRated B · 58/100 liveability
Wollongbar
NSW 2477 · 3,261 residentsRated B · 50/100 liveability
Cumbalum
NSW 2478 · 2,211 residentsRated B · 49/100 liveability
Lennox Head
NSW 2478 · 7,687 residentsRated C · 48/100 liveability
Alstonville
NSW 2477 · 5,912 residentsRated C · 46/100 liveability· schools better than 17% of the state
West Ballina
NSW 2478 · 3,230 residentsRated D · 30/100 liveability
Ballina
NSW 2478 · 9,735 residentsRated D · 26/100 liveability· schools better than 17% of the state
Ranked from 8 qualifying suburbs.
25% schools · 25% safety · 25% socio-economic advantage · 15% walkability · 10% distance to the city. This is the SuburbScan Liveability Rating — the score behind the A+ to D letter on every suburb page, not a separate ranking built for this list. No government agency grades Australian suburbs; the letter is ours. Each input is a percentile against other suburbs in the same STATE, not within Ballina, so the order here matches the letter shown on each suburb's own page instead of quietly re-ranking them against a smaller pool. Suburbs under 500 residents, or missing too many of the five inputs, are Unrated and excluded. The rating does not include price: advantage correlates with cost, so the top of this list skews expensive, but liveability and affordability are different questions. See how we calculate for the full methodology.
Common questions about this ranking
What are the most liveable suburbs in Ballina?
East Ballina is the highest-rated suburb on the list, graded B. 4 of the 8 suburbs listed share that B rating — the rating separates the top of Ballina less finely than the order suggests. Its strongest input is safety, where it ranks above 82% of suburbs in the state.
Is this an official liveability rating?
No. This is the SuburbScan Liveability Rating, which we calculate ourselves. No government agency grades Australian suburbs from A+ to D — that letter is ours, and the formula behind it is published rather than proprietary.
How is the rating calculated?
It blends 25% schools, 25% safety, 25% socio-economic advantage, 15% walkability, and 10% distance to the city. Each input is a percentile rank against other suburbs in the same state, so a suburb reads as better than a given share of its state on that measure, and the five are then weighted into one score.
Why are Ballina suburbs compared to the whole state?
Because the letter on this page has to match the letter on the suburb's own page. The rating is a state-wide percentile; re-ranking it inside Ballina would produce a different order here from the one shown everywhere else on the site.
Why is a suburb I know missing?
Either it is Unrated or it is too small for this list. A suburb is Unrated when it has under 500 residents or too few of the five inputs to score honestly, and we leave those out rather than rank them last — an unrated suburb is one we have not measured, not a bad one. This list also only ranks suburbs with at least 1,000 residents.
Does a high rating mean a suburb is expensive?
Often, but the rating does not measure price and does not include it. Socio-economic advantage is one of the five inputs and correlates with price, so the top of this list skews expensive — liveability and affordability are different questions, and this page answers the first.
Same list in other cities
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Related
Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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