Safest suburbs in Wollongong

Kiama Downs is Wollongong's safest ranked suburb, with lower recorded crime than 98.3% of the city. Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 61 eligible Wollongong suburbs.

This page ranks Wollongong suburbs from safest, leading on recorded crime and factoring in bushfire and flood risk. Each risk is measured relative to other suburbs in the same state, and suburbs without crime data are excluded rather than shown as risk-free. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are ranked.

The score is crime-led: 60% recorded-crime safety, 20% bushfire and 20% flood, because the dominant question behind "safest suburbs" is crime — but a leafy suburb with serious bushfire exposure shouldn't top a safety list on low crime alone. Each leg is an inverted percentile within Wollongong's pool, so a suburb reads as "safer than X% of Wollongong" on that hazard. Crime is recorded-offence rate per resident from state police data, ranked within the state — it reflects reported offences, not your personal risk, and collection differs between states, so we never compare across state lines. Bushfire and flood come from mapped hazard overlays; a suburb with no mapped overlay scores as low-risk on that leg. This is descriptive risk data, not a guarantee about any individual street or property.

The safest suburbs in Wollongong

Ranked on recorded crime (weighted heaviest), bushfire and flood risk — each measured relative to other suburbs in the same state. Suburbs without crime data are excluded rather than shown as risk-free.

1

Kiama Downs

NSW 2533 · 5,087 residents

83/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 98% of Wollongong

A 82.7
2

Cordeaux Heights

NSW 2526 · 4,460 residents

82/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 97% of Wollongong

A 81.7
3

Farmborough Heights

NSW 2526 · 4,179 residents

78/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 91% of Wollongong

A 78.2
4

Haywards Bay

NSW 2530 · 1,280 residents

78/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 91% of Wollongong

B 78.2
5

Horsley

NSW 2530 · 9,437 residents

76/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 87% of Wollongong

B 75.7
6

Blackbutt

NSW 2529 · 3,291 residents

74/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 83% of Wollongong

B 73.7
7

Stanwell Park

NSW 2508 · 1,532 residents

71/100 safety · among Wollongong's lowest recorded crime · some bushfire exposure

B 70.7
8

Mount Pleasant

NSW 2519 · 1,397 residents

70/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 95% of Wollongong · some bushfire exposure

B 70.3
9

Mount Kembla

NSW 2526 · 1,083 residents

70/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 93% of Wollongong · some bushfire exposure

B 70.3
10

Balgownie

NSW 2519 · 5,722 residents

69/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 76% of Wollongong

B 69.2
11

Mount Ousley

NSW 2519 · 1,611 residents

68/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 73% of Wollongong

A 67.7
12

Tarrawanna

NSW 2518 · 2,184 residents

66/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 88% of Wollongong · some bushfire exposure

C 66.0
13

Tullimbar

NSW 2527 · 1,840 residents

64/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 68% of Wollongong

B 64.2
14

Mount Keira

NSW 2500 · 1,691 residents

64/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 83% of Wollongong · some bushfire exposure

C 63.7
15

Calderwood

NSW 2527 · 3,013 residents

63/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 65% of Wollongong

B 62.7

Ranked from 61 qualifying suburbs.

How we ranked these

60% recorded crime · 20% bushfire · 20% flood. Each risk is turned into an inverted percentile within Wollongong's candidate pool — the lowest-risk suburb scores highest on that leg — then blended, crime-led. Crime is the recorded-offence rate per resident from state police data, ranked within the state; it reflects reported offences, not personal risk, and is never compared across state lines. Bushfire and flood come from mapped hazard overlays. Suburbs without crime data are excluded rather than shown as risk-free. See how we calculate for the full methodology.

Common questions about this ranking

What are the safest suburbs in Wollongong?

Kiama Downs is Wollongong's safest ranked suburb, with lower recorded crime than 98.3% of the city. Cordeaux Heights and Farmborough Heights follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 61 eligible Wollongong suburbs.

How is this ranking scored?

Each eligible Wollongong suburb is scored on three risks, crime-led: 60% recorded crime, 20% recorded bushfire history, and 20% flood overlays. Each is turned into an inverted percentile within Wollongong — a suburb with the lowest recorded crime scores highest on the crime leg — then blended. Crime leads because it's the risk most people mean by 'safest'. NSW publishes no suburb-level flood overlay, so flood does not separate suburbs here; the order comes from crime and bushfire history.

What does the crime figure actually measure?

It's the rate of recorded offences per resident from state police data, ranked against other suburbs in the same state. Two important limits: it counts reported offences, not your personal risk, and different states record and categorise crime differently — so we only ever compare suburbs within the same state, never across state lines.

Why are some suburbs missing from the list?

A suburb only appears if it has crime data and at least 1,000 residents. Suburbs without a crime record are excluded rather than shown as risk-free — otherwise a data gap would masquerade as a perfectly safe suburb. In states where suburb-level crime data isn't published, this ranking isn't produced at all.

How often is this list updated?

The top 15 is recomputed whenever the underlying risk data refreshes — crime data on each state police release, and bushfire and flood as their mapped hazard overlays update. See the footer for the last computed date.

Same list in other cities

Related

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

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