Garden Suburb vs New Lambton 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 New Lambton Heights: a median of $1.28 million, against $995,000 in Garden Suburb. On these figures, Garden Suburb tends to suit 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
Garden Suburb
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- carries lower crime risk (39/100 vs 64/100)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Garden Suburb
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper houses ($995,000 vs $1,280,000)
Weighs house prices and mortgage stress.
Renters
Too close to call
Nothing among the 3 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
They split
one each way, out of the 4 things we measure here
- Garden Suburb sits closer to the CBD (149.2 km vs 152.8 km)
- New Lambton Heights has a shorter drive in (113 min vs 118 min)
Weighs distance, drive time, rail access, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Garden Suburb
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- carries lower crime risk (39/100 vs 64/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Too close to call
Nothing among the 2 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs house yield and population growth.
Where they sit
Garden Suburb and New Lambton 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
New Lambton Heights has more residents (2,610 vs 1,959); New Lambton Heights has higher household incomes ($142,584 vs $122,772).
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,959 | 2,610 +33% vs other |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +2.6% | +6.4% |
| Median age | 41 same for both | |
| Median household income | $122,772/yr | $142,584/yr +16% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $465/wk | $483/wk +4% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (16.6%).
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 (20.7%).
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 (3.3%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $995,000 | $1,280,000 |
| Median unit price | — | $965,000 |
| Median land price | — | $560,000 |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 20 days from 14 sales | 38 days from 15 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.
16 vs 31 sales
27 vs 34 sales
7 vs 16 sales
Zoning mix
New Lambton Heights has more land zoned for conservation (30% vs 15%).
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 48% | 38% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 11% | 31% |
| Environmental | 15% | 30% |
| Other and special use | 19% | 0% |
| Parks and recreation | 5% | 1% |
| Rural and farming | 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
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 1,212 across Lake Macquarie | 912 across Newcastle |
| Approvals change year on year | +2% | +77% |
Gross rental yield
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3.4% $775/wk on $1.2M | 3.3% $900/wk on $1.44M |
| Units | — same for both | |
Ranking within NSW
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 48% of NSW | Higher than 67% of NSW |
| Income | Higher than 85% of NSW | Higher than 92% of NSW |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 86% of NSW | Higher than 83% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 80% of NSW | Higher than 71% of NSW |
| EV adoption | Higher than 81% of NSW | Higher than 87% of NSW |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 79% of NSW | Higher than 77% of NSW |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 37% of NSW | Higher than 32% of NSW |
Liveability
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | B same for both | |
| Score | 54/100 same for both | |
| Socio-economic band | very advantaged area decile 9/10 | very advantaged area decile 10/10 |
Risk profile
New Lambton Heights carries more crime risk (64 vs 39); Garden Suburb carries more bushfire risk (57 vs 46).
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | Moderate 57/100 | Moderate 46/100 |
| Crime | Low 39/100 | Moderate 64/100 |
| 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 | 4 within 5 km |
Schools
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 1 | 2 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 1 | 0 |
| Universities within 10 km | 2 The University of Newcastle (Callaghan), 6.4 km | 2 The University of Newcastle (Callaghan), 4.1 km |
| Full-time students aged 15–24 | 3.0% | 2.6% |
Schools in Garden Suburb
- Garden Suburb Public School Government · Primary below peers
Schools in New Lambton Heights
- New Lambton Heights Infants School Government · Primary
- John Hunter Hospital School Government · Combined · Special school
Amenities in the suburb
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Cafes & restaurants | 0 | 1 |
| Parks & reserves | 2 same for both | |
| Childcare | 3 | 1 |
| GPs | 1 | 2 |
| Pharmacies | 0 | 3 |
| Hospitals | 0 | 2 |
| Waterways | 5 | 2 |
Mobility
New Lambton Heights sits further from the CBD (152.8 km vs 149.2 km).
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 64/100 | 57/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 149.2 km | 152.8 km +2% vs other |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 118 min | 113 min |
| Public transport score | 66/100 Bus | 79/100 Bus |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 20.2 7-9am + 5-7pm | 153.0 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 1 min scheduled, not actual | 0 min scheduled, not actual |
| Electric vehicle share | 1.0% postcode 2289 | 1.4% postcode 2305 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 36 postcode 2289 | 38 postcode 2305 |
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 (64.0%).
Setting
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 87 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 84 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 5.7 km | 6.1 km |
NBN connectivity
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 72/100 | 71/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the node same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 49% 700 premises | 47% 1,025 premises |
Climate
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,025 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | 25.4°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | 10.2°C same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 6.1 µg/m³ same for both | |
| PM10 | 16.5 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | 0.53 pphm same for both | |
Council rates
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,708/yr | $1,783/yr |
| Council | Lake Macquarie | Newcastle |
Federal electorate
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Shortland | Newcastle |
| Member | Pat Conroy | Sharon Claydon |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Garden Suburb | New Lambton Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Garden Suburb
New Lambton Heights
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Garden Suburb
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.