Coffs Harbour suburbs people moved to from the city

Sapphire Beach tops the ranking: 12.8% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney. Korora and Sawtell follow.

This page ranks Coffs Harbour suburbs by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify.

These are the places people from the capitals moved to between 2016 and 2021, and each row names the capital most of them came from. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it, so a suburb near the top is not necessarily growing. Not every move is a sea change or a tree change: mining towns and Defence bases rank high because jobs bring people there. The Central Coast is part of Greater Sydney in the ABS geography; we count it as a place of its own, so moves from the Central Coast are not moves from Sydney. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder.

Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Ranked by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census, among suburbs outside the capitals with at least 1,000 residents. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it.

Sapphire Beach

NSW 2450 · 2,660 residents

12.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 320 residents

C 100.0

Korora

NSW 2450 · 2,740 residents

9.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 238 residents

C 92.9

Sawtell

NSW 2452 · 3,788 residents

9.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 327 residents

C 85.7

Moonee Beach

NSW 2450 · 2,176 residents

8.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 184 residents

C 78.6

Emerald Beach

NSW 2456 · 2,677 residents

8.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 216 residents

C 71.4

Safety Beach

NSW 2456 · 1,103 residents

7.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 80 residents

B 64.3

Bonville

NSW 2450 · 2,939 residents

7.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 204 residents

C 57.1

Corindi Beach

NSW 2456 · 1,802 residents

7.2% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 122 residents

D 50.0

Woolgoolga

NSW 2456 · 6,151 residents

6.5% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 376 residents

D 42.9

Sandy Beach

NSW 2456 · 2,913 residents

6.2% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 168 residents

C 35.7

Coffs Harbour

NSW 2450 · 27,089 residents

5.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 1,365 residents

C 28.6

Boambee East

NSW 2452 · 5,304 residents

5.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 251 residents

C 21.4

Boambee

NSW 2450 · 1,770 residents

4.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 74 residents

C 14.3

North Boambee Valley

NSW 2450 · 2,318 residents

4.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 89 residents

C 7.1

Toormina

NSW 2452 · 6,171 residents

3.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 195 residents

C 0.0

Ranked from 15 qualifying suburbs.

How we ranked these

100% share of residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census, percentile-ranked within Coffs Harbour's candidate pool. Suburbs that touch a capital's statistical area are not ranked, because the count for their own area includes people who never moved. The Central Coast counts as a place of its own, not as Sydney. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify, and the larger number of arrivals breaks ties. It counts arrivals, not net migration. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder; the ABS adjusts small counts slightly to protect privacy. See how we calculate for the full methodology.

Common questions about this ranking

What are the coffs Harbour suburbs people moved to from the city?

Sapphire Beach tops the ranking: 12.8% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney. Korora and Sawtell follow.

How is this ranking put together?

Each Coffs Harbour suburb is ranked by the share of its residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are included.

Does this show where people are leaving?

No. It counts people who arrived from a capital, not people who left the suburb. A place near the top can have lost as many residents as it gained, so it is not a measure of growth.

Why are some suburbs near a capital missing?

A suburb that touches a capital's statistical area is left out: the Census count for its own area includes people who never moved, so a share would overstate the arrivals.

How current is it?

It covers moves between August 2016 and August 2021, from the 2021 Census, the most recent available until results from the August 2026 Census are released in 2027.

Same list in other cities

Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.

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Coffs Harbour suburbs people moved to from the city

Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Common questions about this ranking

Same list in other cities

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