Great Marlow vs Swan Creek
Swan Creek is the younger of the two, with a median age of 37 against 50 in Great Marlow. In both, most households own their home and the large majority of homes are detached houses. In Swan Creek, about half of households are people living alone. On these figures, Swan Creek tends to suit families with children and couples.
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
Swan Creek
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has more separate houses rather than flats (100% vs 87%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Swan Creek
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- leaves households under less mortgage stress (19% vs 29%)
Weighs mortgage stress.
Renters
Swan Creek
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (38% vs 22%)
- has cheaper rent ($310/wk vs $345/wk)
- But Great Marlow leaves renters under less rental stress (25% vs 34%)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Swan Creek
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has a shorter drive in (402 min vs 413 min)
- sits closer to the CBD (609.8 km vs 616.9 km)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Great Marlow
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has more residents already 65 and over (28% vs 22%)
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
Great Marlow and Swan Creek 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
Great Marlow has more residents (184 vs 106); Great Marlow has higher household incomes ($72,748 vs $46,800).
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 184 +42% vs other | 106 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +0.0% | -4.5% |
| Median age | 50 | 37 |
| Median household income | $72,748/yr +36% vs other | $46,800/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $345/wk +10% vs other | $310/wk |
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.
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (19.0%).
Property market
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $825,000 | — |
| Median unit price | — same for both | |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
Zoning mix
Great Marlow has more land zoned for conservation (17% vs 5%); Swan Creek has more rural and farming land (93% vs 82%).
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Rural and farming | 82% | 93% |
| Environmental | 17% | 5% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 0% | 1% |
| 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
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 246 across Clarence Valley same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | -80% same for both | |
Ranking within NSW
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 36% of NSW | — |
| Income | Higher than 39% of NSW | Higher than 8% of NSW |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 45% of NSW | Higher than 21% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 55% of NSW | — |
| EV adoption | Higher than 18% of NSW | Higher than 21% of NSW |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 70% of NSW | Higher than 56% of NSW |
Liveability
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | — same for both | |
| Score | — same for both | |
| Socio-economic band | mid-range socio-economic decile 6/10 | below-average income decile 2/10 |
Risk profile
Great Marlow carries more bushfire risk (16 vs 0).
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | Low 16/100 | None 0/100 |
| Crime | Moderate 63/100 | Moderate 61/100 |
| 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 same for both | |
Schools
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 0 same for both | |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
Amenities in the suburb
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Parks & reserves | 1 | 0 |
| Waterways | 2 | 3 |
Mobility
Great Marlow sits further from the CBD (616.9 km vs 609.8 km).
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 4/100 | 0/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 616.9 km +1% vs other | 609.8 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 413 min | 402 min |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.2% postcode 2460 | 0.2% postcode 2462 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 60 postcode 2460 | 55 postcode 2462 |
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 (73.2%).
Setting
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 2 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 3 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 32.4 km | 29.4 km |
NBN connectivity
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 60/100 | 30/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the curb | Fixed wireless |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 11% 83 premises | 0% 43 premises |
Climate
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,060 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | 30.0°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | 8.3°C same for both | |
Council rates
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,380/yr same for both | |
| Council | Clarence Valley same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Page same for both | |
| Member | Kevin Hogan same for both | |
| Party | The Nationals same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Great Marlow | Swan Creek | |
|---|---|---|
| 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 Great Marlow
Other comparisons with Swan Creek
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.