Patonga vs Woy Woy
Woy Woy is the younger of the two, with a median age of 48 against 65 in Patonga. In both, most households own their home and most homes are detached houses. In Patonga, most households are people living alone. In Woy Woy, about half of households are people living alone. Houses cost more in Patonga: a median of $1.68 million, against $1.05 million in Woy Woy. On these figures, Patonga tends to suit people living alone and older residents, while Woy Woy suits 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
Woy Woy
ahead on 4 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more parks and reserves (17 vs 1)
- has more childcare (9 vs 0)
- has more schools inside the suburb (6 vs 0)
- But Patonga has more separate houses rather than flats (87% vs 62%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
They split
one each way, out of the 2 things we measure here
- Patonga leaves households under less mortgage stress (33% vs 38%)
- Woy Woy has cheaper houses ($1,050,000 vs $1,675,000)
Weighs house prices and mortgage stress.
Renters
Woy Woy
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (40% vs 13%)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Woy Woy
ahead on 3 of the 3 things we measure here
- is more walkable (52/100 vs 21/100)
- has a shorter drive in (73 min vs 90 min)
- sits closer to the CBD (81.4 km vs 93.3 km)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Woy Woy
ahead on 3 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more GPs (6 vs 0)
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (38% vs 13%)
- is more walkable (52/100 vs 21/100)
- But Patonga has more residents already 65 and over (52% vs 28%)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Patonga
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is growing faster (14.1% vs 4.0%)
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Patonga and Woy Woy 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
Woy Woy has more residents (11,072 vs 235); Patonga skews older (65 vs 48).
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 235 | 11,072 +4611% vs other |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +14.1% | +4.0% |
| Median age | 65 | 48 |
| Median household income | $55,588/yr | $59,852/yr +8% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $390/wk +3% vs other | $380/wk |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (30.6%).
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 (16.6%).
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 (4.9%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1,675,000 | $1,050,000 |
| Median unit price | — | $787,500 |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 59 days from 6 sales | 29 days from 93 sales |
Zoning mix
Patonga has more land zoned for conservation (78% vs 64%).
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental | 78% | 64% |
| Residential | 1% | 20% |
| Parks and recreation | 20% | 5% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 0% | 8% |
| Industrial | 0% | 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
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 1,441 across Central Coast (NSW) same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | +67% same for both | |
Gross rental yield
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | — | 3.7% $680/wk on $960K |
| Units | — same for both | |
Ranking within NSW
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 83% of NSW | Higher than 51% of NSW |
| Income | Higher than 16% of NSW | Higher than 21% of NSW |
| Schools | — | Higher than 33% of NSW |
| Walkability | Higher than 70% of NSW | Higher than 82% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 5% of NSW | Higher than 27% of NSW |
| EV adoption | Higher than 75% of NSW same for both | |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 67% of NSW | Higher than 71% of NSW |
| Rental yield (houses) | — | Higher than 56% of NSW |
Liveability
Woy Woy is more walkable (52 vs 21).
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | — | D |
| Score | — | 23/100 |
| Socio-economic band | advantaged area decile 7/10 | below-average income decile 2/10 |
Risk profile
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | High 83/100 same for both | |
| Crime | High 86/100 same for both | |
| Flood | Not mapped no mapped data here same for both | |
| Coastal erosion | Moderate 60/100 | None 0/100 |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 0 within 5 km | 1 within 5 km |
Schools
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 0 | 6 |
| Rated above peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated at peers | 0 | 3 |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
Schools in Patonga
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Schools in Woy Woy
- St John the Baptist Catholic Primary School Catholic · Primary at peers
- Woy Woy Public School Government · Primary at peers
- Woy Woy South Public School Government · Primary at peers
- Brisbane Water Secondary College Woy Woy Campus Government · Secondary
- Aspect Central Coast School, Woy Woy Independent · Primary · Special school
- EOC Broken Bay - Woy Woy Catholic · Primary · Special school
Amenities in the suburb
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 0 | 2 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 1 | 10 |
| Parks & reserves | 1 | 17 |
| Childcare | 0 | 9 |
| GPs | 0 | 6 |
| Pharmacies | 0 | 2 |
| Hospitals | 0 | 2 |
| Police stations | 0 | 1 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 0 | 4 |
| Waterways | 5 | 3 |
Mobility
Patonga sits further from the CBD (93.3 km vs 81.4 km).
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 21/100 | 52/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 93.3 km +13% vs other | 81.4 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 90 min | 73 min |
| Public transport score | 30/100 Bus | 91/100 Rail · Bus |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 8.2 7-9am + 5-7pm | 329.8 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual same for both | |
| Electric vehicle share | 0.8% postcode 2256 same for both | |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 31 postcode 2256 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 (56.7%).
Setting
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 79 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 97 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 210 m 2.2 km to a named beach | 3.5 km 4.6 km to a named beach |
NBN connectivity
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 51/100 | 62/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the node same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 10% 290 premises | 31% 5,959 premises |
Climate
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,176 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | — same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | — same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 5.4 µg/m³ | 5.1 µg/m³ |
| PM10 | 14.2 µg/m³ | 14.8 µg/m³ |
| NO₂ | 0.23 pphm | 0.36 pphm |
Council rates
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,409/yr same for both | |
| Council | Central Coast (NSW) same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Robertson same for both | |
| Member | Gordon Reid same for both | |
| Party | Australian Labor Party same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Patonga | Woy Woy | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Patonga
More comparisons
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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.