Suburbs to avoid in Central Coast
No suburb is bad for everybody, and a list that says otherwise is an opinion with a number attached. What does exist is a short set of hazards the states measure and publish, suburb by suburb. This page ranks Central Coast suburbs on those, highest first: recorded crime, bushfire history, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are ranked.
West Gosford carries the most measured hazard in the ranking, leading on recorded crime and bushfire history. Somersby and Woy Woy follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 72 eligible Central Coast suburbs.
Read each number for what it is. Recorded crime is offences per resident, so a suburb with a shopping centre, a nightlife strip or a railway interchange carries crimes committed against businesses and visitors — the busiest retail suburb is usually near the top and is not a dangerous place to live. Bushfire history records where fire has burned, and is highest in the leafy suburbs at the bush edge that people move to on purpose. A flood overlay is a planning control, not a prediction. Aircraft noise comes from airport contours and changes street by street. All of it is a suburb average, and nobody lives in a suburb average: check the address before ruling anywhere in or out.
Central Coast suburbs with the highest measured hazards
Ranked on recorded crime (weighted heaviest), bushfire history, flood overlays and aircraft noise, each measured against other suburbs in the same pool. A suburb with no crime record is excluded, and a hazard the state does not publish is left out of the score rather than counted as zero.
West Gosford
NSW 2250 · 1,602 residents87/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 99% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Somersby
NSW 2250 · 1,087 residents79/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 90% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Woy Woy
NSW 2256 · 11,072 residents79/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 86% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Kariong
NSW 2250 · 6,485 residents77/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 79% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Canton Beach
NSW 2263 · 1,202 residents76/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 84% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Gosford
NSW 2250 · 4,873 residents75/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 99% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Charmhaven
NSW 2263 · 2,501 residents75/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 94% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Toukley
NSW 2263 · 4,557 residents71/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 92% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Wyong
NSW 2259 · 4,530 residents71/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 97% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Lake Munmorah
NSW 2259 · 5,084 residents69/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 67% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Bateau Bay
NSW 2261 · 12,516 residents68/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 73% of Central Coast · bushfire history
San Remo
NSW 2262 · 4,434 residents68/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 89% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Ourimbah
NSW 2258 · 4,019 residents68/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 82% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Budgewoi
NSW 2262 · 3,497 residents67/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 82% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Norah Head
NSW 2263 · 1,149 residents66/100 hazard score · more recorded crime than 71% of Central Coast · bushfire history
Ranked from 72 qualifying suburbs.
50% recorded crime · 25% recorded bushfire history · 25% aircraft noise. Each hazard is a percentile within Central Coast's candidate pool — the highest reading scores highest on that leg — then blended, crime-led. A hazard the state does not publish at suburb level is left out and the other weights scaled up, rather than counted as zero. Crime is recorded offences per resident from state police data, never compared across state lines; bushfire and flood come from mapped overlays and noise from airport ANEF contours. Suburbs with no crime record, or no measured hazard at all, are excluded. Socio-economic measures are deliberately not part of the score. See how we calculate for the full methodology.
Common questions about this ranking
Which Central Coast suburbs should I avoid?
None of them for everybody. A suburb near the top of this list carries more of one or more measured hazards than its neighbours, which matters more to some buyers than others — a family by a bushland reserve accepts bushfire risk that a retiree may not. Use the list to decide which addresses to look at more closely, never to rule a whole suburb out.
How is this ranking scored?
Each Central Coast suburb is scored on 50% recorded crime, 25% recorded bushfire history, and 25% aircraft noise. Every hazard is turned into a percentile within Central Coast, so a score reads as how the suburb compares with the rest of the city, then blended with crime weighted heaviest. Flood overlays is left out because the state does not publish it at suburb level, rather than being counted as zero.
Why is a busy shopping or nightlife suburb near the top?
Recorded crime is offences per resident. Offences committed against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the few people who live nearby, so commercial centres score high without being dangerous places to live. It measures reported offences, not your personal risk, and is only ever compared within the same state.
Why is SEIFA or income not part of the score?
Because they describe the people who live somewhere, not a hazard you would face there. Adding them would turn this into a ranking of lower-income suburbs under the word "avoid". Income and socio-economic data are on every suburb page.
Why are some suburbs missing from the list?
A suburb only appears if it has a crime record, at least 1,000 residents and at least one measured hazard. A suburb without a crime record is excluded rather than scored, and in states where suburb-level crime data is not published the ranking is not produced.
Same list in other cities
- Suburbs to avoid in Sydney
- Suburbs to avoid in Melbourne
- Suburbs to avoid in Brisbane
- Suburbs to avoid in Perth
- Suburbs to avoid in Adelaide
- Suburbs to avoid in Hobart
- Suburbs to avoid in Darwin
- Suburbs to avoid in Canberra
- Suburbs to avoid in Newcastle
- Suburbs to avoid in Sunshine Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Gold Coast
- Suburbs to avoid in Wollongong
- Suburbs to avoid in Geelong
- Suburbs to avoid in Townsville
- Suburbs to avoid in Toowoomba
- Suburbs to avoid in Busselton
- Suburbs to avoid in Ballarat
- Suburbs to avoid in Cairns
- Suburbs to avoid in Albany
- Suburbs to avoid in Ballina
- Suburbs to avoid in Geraldton
- Suburbs to avoid in Warragul
- Suburbs to avoid in Bundaberg
- Suburbs to avoid in Launceston
- Suburbs to avoid in Bendigo
- Suburbs to avoid in Rockhampton
- Suburbs to avoid in Mackay
- Suburbs to avoid in Albury – Wodonga
- Suburbs to avoid in Camden Haven
- Suburbs to avoid in Burnie
- Suburbs to avoid in Wagga Wagga
- Suburbs to avoid in Coffs Harbour
- Suburbs to avoid in Alice Springs
- Suburbs to avoid in Mount Isa
Related
Rankings last computed 28 September 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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