Ballina vs West Ballina
In both, most households own their home. In Ballina, most households are people living alone. In West Ballina, most homes are detached houses and about half of households are people living alone.
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
Ballina
ahead on 3 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more schools inside the suburb (5 vs 1)
- has more parks and reserves (17 vs 9)
- has more childcare (7 vs 4)
- But West Ballina has more separate houses rather than flats (68% vs 53%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Too close to call
Nothing among the 3 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs house prices, unit prices, and mortgage stress.
Renters
Ballina
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (41% vs 29%)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
West Ballina
ahead on 3 of the 3 things we measure here
- is more walkable (42/100 vs 28/100)
- has a shorter drive in (463 min vs 475 min)
- sits closer to the CBD (726.2 km vs 733.3 km)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Ballina
ahead on 2 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more GPs (8 vs 1)
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (47% vs 32%)
- But West Ballina is more walkable (42/100 vs 28/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
They split
one each way, out of the 2 things we measure here
- Ballina is growing faster (12.5% vs 6.8%)
- West Ballina returns a higher gross yield on houses (5.4% vs 4.1%)
Weighs house yield and population growth.
Where they sit
Ballina and West Ballina 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
Ballina has more residents (9,735 vs 3,230); Ballina skews older (56 vs 54).
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 9,735 +67% vs other | 3,230 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +12.5% | +6.8% |
| Median age | 56 | 54 |
| Median household income | $52,676/yr | $52,780/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $360/wk | $370/wk +3% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (18.6%).
Who lives together
Household composition, 2021 Census.
Who owns and who rents
Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (17.2%).
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 (3.6%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $950,000 | $900,000 |
| Median unit price | $675,000 | $707,500 |
| Median land price | $705,000 | — |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 34 days from 72 sales | 43 days from 43 sales |
House price by bedroom count
Only bed counts both suburbs published enough sales for. Sale counts are shown because the buckets differ in depth.
78 vs 44 sales
30 vs 36 sales
Zoning mix
West Ballina has more rural and farming land (53% vs 22%); Ballina has more land zoned for conservation (27% vs 10%).
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Rural and farming | 22% | 53% |
| Environmental | 27% | 10% |
| Residential | 17% | 13% |
| Other and special use | 15% | 17% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 6% | 0% |
| Parks and recreation | 5% | 1% |
| Industrial | 4% | 5% |
| Commercial | 2% | 0% |
| 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
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 238 across Ballina same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | +210% same for both | |
Gross rental yield
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 4.1% $750/wk on $945K | 5.4% $850/wk on $825K |
| Units | 4.8% $600/wk on $652K | — |
Ranking within NSW
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 43% of NSW same for both | |
| Income | Higher than 13% of NSW same for both | |
| Schools | Higher than 29% of NSW | — |
| Walkability | Higher than 74% of NSW | Higher than 79% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 26% of NSW same for both | |
| EV adoption | Higher than 82% of NSW same for both | |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 92% of NSW same for both | |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 78% of NSW | Higher than 98% of NSW |
| Rental yield (units) | Higher than 56% of NSW | — |
Liveability
West Ballina is more walkable (42 vs 28).
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | D same for both | |
| Score | 26/100 | 30/100 |
| Socio-economic band | below-average income decile 3/10 | below-average income decile 2/10 |
Risk profile
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Crime | High 94/100 | High 92/100 |
| Flood | Not mapped no mapped data here same for both | |
| Coastal erosion | Moderate 49/100 | Low 27/100 |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 1 within 5 km | 3 within 5 km |
Schools
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 5 | 1 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 3 | 1 |
| Rated below peers | 1 | 0 |
Schools in Ballina
- Ballina Public School Government · Primary at peers
- Richmond Christian College Independent · Combined at peers
- St Francis Xavier Primary School Catholic · Primary at peers
- Ballina Coast High School Government · Secondary below peers
- Biala Special School Independent · Combined · Special school
Schools in West Ballina
- Emmanuel Anglican College Independent · Combined at peers
Amenities in the suburb
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 7 | 1 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 20 | 1 |
| Parks & reserves | 17 | 9 |
| Childcare | 7 | 4 |
| GPs | 8 | 1 |
| Pharmacies | 5 | 0 |
| Hospitals | 1 | 0 |
| Police stations | 1 | 0 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 11 | 0 |
| Fuel stations | 4 same for both | |
| EV chargers | 2 | 0 |
| Waterways | 8 | 2 |
Mobility
Ballina sits further from the CBD (733.3 km vs 726.2 km).
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 28/100 | 42/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 733.3 km | 726.2 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 475 min | 463 min |
| Public transport score | 79/100 Bus | 73/100 Bus |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 123.8 7-9am + 5-7pm | 40.2 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual same for both | |
| Electric vehicle share | 1.1% postcode 2478 same for both | |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 66 postcode 2478 same for both | |
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 (76.0%).
Setting
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 1 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 3 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 3.1 km 3.3 km to a named beach | 1.6 km |
NBN connectivity
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 84/100 same for both | |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the curb | Fibre to the premises |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 29% 6,742 premises | 46% 1,476 premises |
Council rates
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,264/yr same for both | |
| Council | Ballina same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Richmond same for both | |
| Member | Justine Elliot same for both | |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Ballina | West Ballina | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Ballina
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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.