Gillieston Heights vs Sawyers Gully
Gillieston Heights is the younger of the two, with a median age of 30 against 42 in Sawyers Gully. In both, most households own their home and the large majority of homes are detached houses. In Gillieston Heights, about half of households are couple families. In Sawyers Gully, most households are couple families. Houses cost more in Sawyers Gully: a median of $1.29 million, against $820,000 in Gillieston Heights, though rent is higher in Gillieston Heights. On these figures, Gillieston Heights tends to suit young adults, families with children, and 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
Gillieston Heights
ahead on 4 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more parks and reserves (4 vs 0)
- has more childcare (3 vs 0)
- has more schools inside the suburb (2 vs 0)
- But Sawyers Gully has more separate houses rather than flats (100% vs 86%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Gillieston Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper houses ($820,500 vs $1,288,000)
Weighs house prices and mortgage stress.
Renters
Gillieston Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (39% vs 11%)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Sawyers Gully
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has a shorter drive in (116 min vs 122 min)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
They split
one each way, out of the 4 things we measure here
- Gillieston Heights carries lower crime risk (58/100 vs 87/100)
- Sawyers Gully has more residents already 65 and over (18% vs 9%)
Weighs who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Gillieston Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is growing faster (52.3% vs 8.4%)
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Gillieston Heights and Sawyers Gully 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
Gillieston Heights has more residents (4,796 vs 542); Sawyers Gully skews older (42 vs 30).
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 4,796 +89% vs other | 542 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +52.3% | +8.4% |
| Median age | 30 | 42 |
| Median household income | $103,272/yr +7% vs other | $96,044/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $430/wk +6% vs other | $405/wk |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (21.1%).
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 (21.4%).
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 (1.9%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $820,500 | $1,288,000 |
| Median unit price | $295,000 | — |
| Median land price | $458,000 | — |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 23 days from 83 sales | — |
Zoning mix
Sawyers Gully has more rural and farming land (86% vs 39%); Gillieston Heights has more land zoned for conservation (33% vs 12%).
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Rural and farming | 39% | 86% |
| Environmental | 33% | 12% |
| Residential | 26% | 0% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 1% | 2% |
| 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
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 1,413 across Maitland | 719 across Cessnock |
| Approvals change year on year | +20% | -31% |
Gross rental yield
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 4.0% $650/wk on $850K | — |
| Units | — same for both | |
Ranking within NSW
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 30% of NSW | Higher than 67% of NSW |
| Income | Higher than 71% of NSW | Higher than 63% of NSW |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 69% of NSW | Higher than 64% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 83% of NSW | Higher than 42% of NSW |
| EV adoption | Higher than 57% of NSW | Higher than 42% of NSW |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 98% of NSW | Higher than 63% of NSW |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 72% of NSW | — |
Liveability
Gillieston Heights scores higher overall (40 vs 22).
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | C | D |
| Score | 40/100 | 22/100 |
| Socio-economic band | mid-range socio-economic decile 5/10 | below-average income decile 3/10 |
Risk profile
Sawyers Gully carries more bushfire risk (52 vs 28); Sawyers Gully carries more crime risk (87 vs 58).
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | Low 28/100 | Moderate 52/100 |
| Crime | Moderate 58/100 | High 87/100 |
| 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 | 2 within 5 km |
Schools
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 2 | 0 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 1 | 0 |
Schools in Gillieston Heights
- Gillieston Public School Government · Primary below peers
- The Heights Learning Community Independent · Primary
Schools in Sawyers Gully
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Amenities in the suburb
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1 | 0 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 2 | 0 |
| Parks & reserves | 4 | 0 |
| Childcare | 3 | 0 |
| GPs | 1 | 0 |
| Pharmacies | 1 | 0 |
| Waterways | 1 | 10 |
Mobility
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 19/100 | 14/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 163.6 km same for both | |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 122 min | 116 min |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.6% postcode 2321 | 0.4% postcode 2326 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 69 postcode 2321 | 56 postcode 2326 |
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 (86.1%).
Setting
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 7 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 48 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 25.6 km | 31.7 km |
NBN connectivity
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 99/100 | 31/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the premises | Fixed wireless |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 99% 2,339 premises | 2% 182 premises |
Climate
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 996 mm | 804 mm |
| Summer max (Jan) | 30.0°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | 7.1°C | 5.1°C |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 6.3 µg/m³ same for both | |
| PM10 | 17.5 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | 0.72 pphm same for both | |
Council rates
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,908/yr | $1,405/yr |
| Council | Maitland | Cessnock |
Federal electorate
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Paterson | Hunter |
| Member | Meryl Swanson | Dan Repacholi |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Gillieston Heights | Sawyers Gully | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Gillieston Heights
Sawyers Gully
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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.