Ashby Heights vs Harwood
Harwood is the younger of the two, with a median age of 45 against 55 in Ashby Heights. In both, most households own their home and the large majority of homes are detached houses. In Ashby Heights, about half of households are couple families. Houses cost more in Ashby Heights: a median of $855,000, against $705,000 in Harwood, though rent is higher in Harwood. On these figures, Ashby Heights tends to suit couples, while Harwood suits families with children and buyers on a tighter budget.
Which one suits you?
There is no overall winner — the suburb that suits a family with school-age kids is routinely the wrong one for someone commuting into the city. So each of these answers its own question, against a checklist you can see, using the same figures in the tables below.
Families with school-age kids
Ashby Heights
ahead on 2 of the 6 things we measure here
- carries lower crime risk (25/100 vs 74/100)
- is already more of a family suburb (63% vs 53%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Harwood
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper houses ($705,000 vs $855,000)
Weighs house prices and mortgage stress.
Renters
Harwood
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (29% vs 6%)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Harwood
ahead on 3 of the 3 things we measure here
- is more walkable (15/100 vs 0/100)
- has a shorter drive in (421 min vs 432 min)
- sits closer to the CBD (648.6 km vs 662.9 km)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
They split
one each way, out of the 5 things we measure here
- Ashby Heights carries lower crime risk (25/100 vs 74/100)
- Harwood is more walkable (15/100 vs 0/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Ashby Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is growing faster (25.9% vs 18.9%)
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Ashby Heights and Harwood drawn to the same scale. Both outlines are shown together, so the map answers whether they share a border and how their areas compare.
Bars start at zero. Scores, risks and rankings are drawn against their full 0–100 range; other rows are drawn in proportion to the larger of the two.
Side by side, out of 100
Risks are inverted — shown as safety and low exposure — so a longer bar always means better.
Demographics
Ashby Heights skews older (55 vs 45); Ashby Heights has higher household incomes ($64,116 vs $57,252).
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 292 | 346 +18% vs other |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +25.9% | +18.9% |
| Median age | 55 | 45 |
| Median household income | $64,116/yr +11% vs other | $57,252/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $310/wk | $330/wk +6% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (27.4%).
Who lives together
Household composition, 2021 Census.
Who owns and who rents
Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.
Where residents were born
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents, 2021 Census. A dash means that country is not among the suburb's own eight largest.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (3.5%).
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (19.9%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $855,000 | $705,000 |
| Median unit price | — same for both | |
| Median land price | $555,000 | — |
Zoning mix
Harwood has more land zoned for conservation (25% vs 13%).
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Rural and farming | 64% | 73% |
| Environmental | 13% | 25% |
| Residential | 23% | 1% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 0% | 2% |
| Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the suburb around it. Zones as at 2026-09. | ||
Development activity
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 246 across Clarence Valley same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | -80% same for both | |
Ranking within NSW
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 33% of NSW | Higher than 23% of NSW |
| Income | Higher than 26% of NSW | Higher than 17% of NSW |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 28% of NSW | Higher than 65% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 48% of NSW | Higher than 56% of NSW |
| EV adoption | Higher than 27% of NSW | Higher than 82% of NSW |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 42% of NSW | Higher than 58% of NSW |
Liveability
Harwood is more walkable (15 vs 0).
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | — same for both | |
| Score | — same for both | |
| Socio-economic band | below-average income decile 3/10 | high-need area decile 1/10 |
Risk profile
Ashby Heights carries more bushfire risk (92 vs 12); Harwood carries more crime risk (74 vs 25).
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | High 92/100 | Low 12/100 |
| Crime | Low 25/100 | High 74/100 |
| Flood | Not mapped no mapped data here same for both | |
| Coastal erosion | None 0/100 | Low 33/100 |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 0 within 5 km | 1 within 5 km |
Schools
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 0 | 1 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 | 1 |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
Schools in Ashby Heights
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Schools in Harwood
- Harwood Island Public School Government · Primary at peers
Amenities in the suburb
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Childcare | 0 | 1 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 0 | 1 |
| EV chargers | 0 | 1 |
| Waterways | 6 same for both | |
Mobility
Ashby Heights sits further from the CBD (662.9 km vs 648.6 km).
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 0/100 | 15/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 662.9 km +2% vs other | 648.6 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 432 min | 421 min |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.2% postcode 2463 | 1.1% postcode 2465 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 70 postcode 2463 | 43 postcode 2465 |
How people get to work
Method of travel on census day 2021 — which fell during COVID restrictions, so working from home is inflated and every travel mode understated.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (80.4%).
Setting
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 139 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 1 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 9.4 km | 3.0 km |
NBN connectivity
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 28/100 | 30/100 |
| Most common technology | Fixed wireless same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 0% 106 premises | 0% 163 premises |
Climate
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,408 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | — same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | — same for both | |
Council rates
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,380/yr same for both | |
| Council | Clarence Valley same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Page same for both | |
| Member | Kevin Hogan same for both | |
| Party | The Nationals same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Ashby Heights | Harwood | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Ashby Heights
Other comparisons with Harwood
Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.