Carool vs Upper Duroby
Carool is the younger of the two, with a median age of 49 against 54 in Upper Duroby. In both, the large majority of households own their home and the large majority of homes are detached houses. In Upper Duroby, about half of households are people living alone. On these figures, Upper Duroby tends to suit 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
Carool
ahead on 2 of the 6 things we measure here
- carries lower crime risk (35/100 vs 81/100)
- is already more of a family suburb (61% vs 50%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Upper Duroby
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- leaves households under less mortgage stress (16% vs 28%)
Weighs mortgage stress.
Renters
Carool
ahead on 3 of the 3 things we measure here
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (25% vs 10%)
- leaves renters under less rental stress (23% vs 53%)
- has cheaper rent ($350/wk vs $725/wk)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Upper Duroby
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has a shorter drive in (522 min vs 534 min)
- sits closer to the CBD (812.6 km vs 823.3 km)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Carool
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- carries lower crime risk (35/100 vs 81/100)
Weighs who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Too close to call
Nothing among the 1 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Carool and Upper Duroby 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
Upper Duroby rents higher ($725/wk vs $350/wk); Carool has more residents (204 vs 118).
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 204 +42% vs other | 118 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +17.2% | +13.5% |
| Median age | 49 | 54 |
| Median household income | $79,092/yr +10% vs other | $71,500/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $350/wk | $725/wk +107% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (22.0%).
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 (4.4%).
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (14.7%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $2,000,000 | — |
| Median unit price | — same for both | |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
Zoning mix
Carool has more rural and farming land (99% vs 85%).
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Rural and farming | 99% | 85% |
| Other and special use | 0% | 9% |
| Environmental | 1% | 6% |
| 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
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 331 across Tweed same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | -50% same for both | |
Ranking within NSW
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 85% of NSW | — |
| Income | Higher than 46% of NSW | Higher than 35% of NSW |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 70% of NSW | Higher than 71% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 8% of NSW | — |
| EV adoption | Higher than 62% of NSW same for both | |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 44% of NSW | Higher than 50% of NSW |
Liveability
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | — same for both | |
| Score | — same for both | |
| Socio-economic band | mid-range socio-economic decile 5/10 same for both | |
Risk profile
Upper Duroby carries more crime risk (81 vs 35).
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Crime | Low 35/100 | High 81/100 |
| 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 | 0 within 5 km | 1 within 5 km |
Schools
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 1 | 0 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
Schools in Carool
- Carool Public School Government · Primary
Schools in Upper Duroby
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Amenities in the suburb
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Parks & reserves | 0 | 1 |
| Waterways | 3 | 5 |
Mobility
Carool sits further from the CBD (823.3 km vs 812.6 km).
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 21/100 | 22/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 823.3 km +1% vs other | 812.6 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 534 min | 522 min |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.6% postcode 2486 same for both | |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 74 postcode 2486 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 (64.7%).
Setting
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 133 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 145 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 11.2 km | 12.9 km |
NBN connectivity
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 29/100 | 30/100 |
| Most common technology | Fixed wireless same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 0% 86 premises | 0% 47 premises |
Climate
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,637 mm | 1,569 mm |
| Summer max (Jan) | 28.6°C | 29.1°C |
| Winter min (Jul) | 10.5°C | 9.1°C |
Council rates
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,745/yr same for both | |
| Council | Tweed same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Richmond same for both | |
| Member | Justine Elliot same for both | |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Carool | Upper Duroby | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Carool
Other comparisons with Upper Duroby
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.