Forestville vs Killarney Heights
In both, the large majority of households own their home, the large majority of homes are detached houses, and most households are couple families. Houses cost more in Killarney Heights: a median of $2.8 million, against $2.55 million in Forestville, and rent is higher there too. Forestville is closer to the city centre: 14.6 km, against 17.1 km. On these figures, Killarney Heights tends to suit couples.
Forestville is the larger and more walkable suburb, with a walkability score of 84 compared to Killarney Heights' 62, and sits closer to the CBD at 14.6 km versus 17.1 km. Killarney Heights has a notably higher median household income of $178,152 against Forestville's $130,364, and also scores higher on liveability at 68 versus 63. Both suburbs share the same median age of 43 years and top socio-economic decile, though Killarney Heights commands higher rents and house prices, with median weekly rent at $923 compared to $650 in Forestville.
Written by an AI language model from the figures below. Every number in it is checked against those figures before it is published.
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
Forestville
ahead on 3 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more schools inside the suburb (6 vs 2)
- has more childcare (8 vs 3)
- has more parks and reserves (20 vs 9)
- But Killarney Heights has more separate houses rather than flats (96% vs 80%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Killarney Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- leaves households under less mortgage stress (24% vs 30%)
Weighs house prices and mortgage stress.
Renters
Forestville
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper rent ($650/wk vs $923/wk)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Forestville
ahead on 3 of the 4 things we measure here
- is more walkable (84/100 vs 62/100)
- has a shorter drive in (22 min vs 27 min)
- sits closer to the CBD (14.6 km vs 17.1 km)
Weighs distance, drive time, rail access, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Forestville
ahead on 3 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (20% vs 4%)
- has more GPs (3 vs 0)
- is more walkable (84/100 vs 62/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, 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
Forestville and Killarney Heights 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
Forestville has more residents (8,659 vs 4,502); Killarney Heights rents higher ($923/wk vs $650/wk).
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 8,659 +48% vs other | 4,502 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +4.0% | +0.7% |
| Median age | 43 same for both | |
| Median household income | $130,364/yr | $178,152/yr +37% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $650/wk | $923/wk +42% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (17.9%).
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 (22.0%).
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 (6.3%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $2,550,000 | $2,800,000 |
| Median unit price | $1,275,000 | — |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 26 days from 50 sales | 26 days from 30 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.
31 vs 7 sales
26 vs 18 sales
25 vs 14 sales
Zoning mix
Killarney Heights has more land zoned for conservation (54% vs 27%).
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 56% | 35% |
| Environmental | 27% | 54% |
| Parks and recreation | 14% | 8% |
| 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
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 620 across Northern Beaches same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | +51% same for both | |
Gross rental yield
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3.3% $1,295/wk on $2.04M | — |
| Units | — same for both | |
Ranking within NSW
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 90% of NSW | Higher than 92% of NSW |
| Income | Higher than 89% of NSW | Higher than 98% of NSW |
| Schools | Higher than 40% of NSW | — |
| Walkability | Higher than 94% of NSW | Higher than 85% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 19% of NSW | Higher than 30% of NSW |
| EV adoption | Higher than 95% of NSW same for both | |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 83% of NSW | Higher than 77% of NSW |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 35% of NSW | — |
Liveability
Forestville is more walkable (84 vs 62); Killarney Heights scores higher overall (68 vs 63).
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | B same for both | |
| Score | 63/100 | 68/100 |
| Socio-economic band | very advantaged area decile 10/10 same for both | |
Risk profile
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | High 74/100 | High 77/100 |
| Crime | Low 23/100 | Low 26/100 |
| 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 | 1 within 5 km | 0 within 5 km |
Schools
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 6 | 2 |
| Rated above peers | 1 | 0 |
| Rated at peers | 2 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 1 | 0 |
| Universities within 10 km | 2 Macquarie University Wallumattagal Campus at North Ryde, 8.1 km | 2 Australian Catholic University-North Sydney Campus, 7.2 km |
| Full-time students aged 15–24 | 2.9% | 4.1% |
Schools in Forestville
- Forestville Public School Government · Primary above peers
- High School Campus for Yanginanook School Independent · Secondary at peers
- Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Primary School Catholic · Primary at peers
- Aspect Vern Barnett School Independent · Combined · Special school below peers
- Forestville Montessori School Independent · Primary
- Aspect Vern Barnett School, Forestville Independent · Primary · Special school
Schools in Killarney Heights
- Killarney Heights High School Government · Secondary at peers
- Killarney Heights Public School Government · Primary at peers
Amenities in the suburb
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1 | 0 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 12 | 5 |
| Parks & reserves | 20 | 9 |
| Childcare | 8 | 3 |
| GPs | 3 | 0 |
| Pharmacies | 1 | 0 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 1 | 0 |
| Fuel stations | 5 | 0 |
| Beaches | 0 | 1 |
| Waterways | 5 | 2 |
Mobility
Killarney Heights sits further from the CBD (17.1 km vs 14.6 km).
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 84/100 | 62/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 14.6 km | 17.1 km +17% vs other |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 22 min | 27 min |
| Public transport score | 79/100 Bus same for both | |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 335.8 7-9am + 5-7pm | 79.0 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual | 1 min scheduled, not actual |
| Electric vehicle share | 2.4% postcode 2087 same for both | |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 39 postcode 2087 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 (62.0%).
Setting
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 120 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 91 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 6.4 km 2.9 km to a named beach | 4.6 km 1.1 km to a named beach |
NBN connectivity
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 75/100 | 71/100 |
| Most common technology | Hybrid fibre-coaxial same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 1% 3,244 premises | 19% 1,544 premises |
Climate
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,176 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | — same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | — same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 5.4 µg/m³ same for both | |
| PM10 | 14.2 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | 0.23 pphm same for both | |
Council rates
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,696/yr same for both | |
| Council | Northern Beaches same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Mackellar same for both | |
| Member | Sophie Scamps same for both | |
| Party | Independent same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Forestville | Killarney Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Forestville
Killarney Heights
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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.