Newcastle suburbs people moved to from the city

Callaghan tops the ranking: 16.5% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney. Newcastle West and The Hill follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 105 eligible Newcastle suburbs.

This page ranks Newcastle 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.

Newcastle 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.

1

Callaghan

NSW 2308 · 1,358 residents

16.5% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 224 residents

B 100.0
2

Newcastle West

NSW 2302 · 1,453 residents

14.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 211 residents

B 99.0
3

The Hill

NSW 2300 · 2,076 residents

13.2% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 267 residents

B 98.1
4

Wickham

NSW 2293 · 1,637 residents

12.8% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 201 residents

B 97.1
5

Newcastle

NSW 2300 · 3,852 residents

12.4% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 464 residents

B 96.2
6

Fern Bay

NSW 2295 · 4,046 residents

10.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 412 residents

C 95.2
7

Cooks Hill

NSW 2300 · 3,774 residents

9.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 337 residents

B 94.2
8

Hamilton

NSW 2303 · 4,614 residents

8.4% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 376 residents

B 93.3
9

Caves Beach

NSW 2281 · 4,016 residents

8.2% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 318 residents

B 92.3
10

Islington

NSW 2296 · 2,026 residents

8.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 153 residents

B 91.3
11

Tighes Hill

NSW 2297 · 1,801 residents

7.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 133 residents

B 90.4
12

Maryville

NSW 2293 · 1,671 residents

7.5% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 117 residents

B 89.4
13

Coal Point

NSW 2283 · 1,749 residents

7.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 123 residents

A 88.5
14

Adamstown

NSW 2289 · 6,335 residents

7.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 436 residents

B 87.5
15

Fishing Point

NSW 2283 · 1,105 residents

7.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 75 residents

B 86.5

Ranked from 105 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 Newcastle'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 newcastle suburbs people moved to from the city?

Callaghan tops the ranking: 16.5% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney. Newcastle West and The Hill follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 105 eligible Newcastle suburbs.

How is this ranking put together?

Each Newcastle 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

Related

Rankings last computed 28 September 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.

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