Barrack Heights vs Shellharbour City Centre
Barrack Heights is the younger of the two, with a median age of 41 against 71 in Shellharbour City Centre. In Barrack Heights, most households own their home and the large majority of homes are detached houses. In Shellharbour City Centre, about half of households rent, about half of homes are flats or apartments, and the large majority of households are people living alone. On these figures, Barrack Heights tends to suit families with children, while Shellharbour City Centre suits renters, people living alone, and older residents.
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
Barrack Heights
ahead on 5 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more parks and reserves (11 vs 1)
- is already more of a family suburb (63% vs 14%)
- has more separate houses rather than flats (88% vs 27%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Barrack Heights
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has cheaper units ($560,000 vs $790,000)
- leaves households under less mortgage stress (32% vs 44%)
Weighs house prices, unit prices, and mortgage stress.
Renters
They split
one each way, out of the 3 things we measure here
- Barrack Heights leaves renters under less rental stress (28% vs 42%)
- Shellharbour City Centre has a bigger rental market to choose from (49% vs 34%)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
They split
one each way, out of the 3 things we measure here
- Barrack Heights sits closer to the CBD (102.6 km vs 111 km)
- Shellharbour City Centre is more walkable (91/100 vs 67/100)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Shellharbour City Centre
ahead on 3 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (73% vs 12%)
- has more residents already 65 and over (62% vs 21%)
- is more walkable (91/100 vs 67/100)
- But Barrack Heights carries lower crime risk (69/100 vs 99/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Shellharbour City Centre
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is growing faster (87.3% vs 1.7%)
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Barrack Heights and Shellharbour City Centre 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
Barrack Heights has more residents (6,003 vs 457); Shellharbour City Centre skews older (71 vs 41).
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 6,003 +92% vs other | 457 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +1.7% | +87.3% |
| Median age | 41 | 71 |
| Median household income | $69,680/yr +29% vs other | $49,348/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $380/wk | $400/wk +5% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (22.5%).
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 (19.4%).
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 (9.0%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $937,500 | $950,000 |
| Median unit price | $560,000 | $790,000 |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 26 days from 49 sales | — |
Zoning mix
Shellharbour City Centre has more commercially zoned land (52% vs 1%).
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 77% | 22% |
| Commercial | 1% | 52% |
| Parks and recreation | 15% | 8% |
| Other and special use | 0% | 13% |
| Industrial | 4% | 0% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 2% | 4% |
| 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
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 883 across Shellharbour same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | +25% same for both | |
Gross rental yield
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3.9% $720/wk on $949K | — |
| Units | — | 4.2% $640/wk on $798K |
Ranking within NSW
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 39% of NSW | Higher than 47% of NSW |
| Income | Higher than 33% of NSW | Higher than 10% of NSW |
| Schools | Higher than 10% of NSW | — |
| Walkability | Higher than 87% of NSW | Higher than 97% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 49% of NSW | Higher than 18% of NSW |
| EV adoption | Higher than 30% of NSW | Higher than 78% of NSW |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 80% of NSW | Higher than 78% of NSW |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 70% of NSW | — |
| Rental yield (units) | — | Higher than 30% of NSW |
Liveability
Shellharbour City Centre is more walkable (91 vs 67).
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | C | — |
| Score | 38/100 | — |
| Socio-economic band | below-average income decile 2/10 | below-average income decile 3/10 |
Risk profile
Shellharbour City Centre carries more crime risk (99 vs 69).
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Crime | Moderate 69/100 | High 99/100 |
| Flood | Not mapped no mapped data here same for both | |
| Coastal erosion | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 4 within 5 km | 6 within 5 km |
Schools
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 3 | 1 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 | 1 |
| Rated below peers | 2 | 0 |
Schools in Barrack Heights
- Barrack Heights Public School Government · Primary below peers
- Warilla High School Government · Secondary below peers
- Aspect South Coast School, Barrack Heights Independent · Primary · Special school
Schools in Shellharbour City Centre
- Nazareth Catholic Primary School Catholic · Primary at peers
Amenities in the suburb
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 0 | 4 |
| Parks & reserves | 11 | 1 |
| Childcare | 5 | 3 |
| GPs | 1 | 2 |
| Pharmacies | 0 | 3 |
| Hospitals | 1 | 0 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 0 | 8 |
| Fuel stations | 1 same for both | |
| EV chargers | 0 | 3 |
| Waterways | 1 | 0 |
Mobility
Shellharbour City Centre sits further from the CBD (111 km vs 102.6 km).
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 67/100 | 91/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 102.6 km | 111 km +8% vs other |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 98 min | 99 min |
| Public transport score | 79/100 Bus same for both | |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 47.5 7-9am + 5-7pm | 30.5 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual | 1 min scheduled, not actual |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.3% postcode 2528 | 0.9% postcode 2529 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 31 postcode 2528 | 45 postcode 2529 |
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 (74.6%).
Setting
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 11 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 44 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 1.3 km 1.5 km to a named beach | 2.8 km 2.9 km to a named beach |
NBN connectivity
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 73/100 | 71/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the premises | Fibre to the building |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 51% 2,681 premises | 27% 891 premises |
Climate
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 974 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | — same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | — same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 5.1 µg/m³ same for both | |
| PM10 | 14.3 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | 0.37 pphm same for both | |
Council rates
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,788/yr same for both | |
| Council | Shellharbour same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Whitlam same for both | |
| Member | Carol Berry same for both | |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Barrack Heights | Shellharbour City Centre | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Shellharbour City Centre
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Barrack Heights
Other comparisons with Shellharbour City Centre
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.