Rose Bay vs Dover Heights
In both, most households own their home. In Rose Bay, most homes are flats or apartments. In Dover Heights, most homes are detached houses and most households are couple families. Houses cost more in Dover Heights: a median of $7.22 million, against $6.55 million in Rose Bay, and rent is higher there too. Rose Bay is closer to the city centre: 8.4 km, against 9.5 km. On these figures, Rose Bay tends to suit people living alone, while Dover Heights suits 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
They split
one each way, out of the 6 things we measure here
- Rose Bay has more schools inside the suburb (6 vs 1)
- Dover Heights has more separate houses rather than flats (66% vs 21%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Rose Bay
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has cheaper units ($1,600,000 vs $2,040,000)
- has cheaper houses ($6,550,000 vs $7,225,000)
Weighs house prices, unit prices, and mortgage stress.
Renters
Rose Bay
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (44% vs 20%)
- has cheaper rent ($630/wk vs $798/wk)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Too close to call
Nothing among the 4 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs distance, drive time, rail access, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Rose Bay
ahead on 2 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more GPs (5 vs 0)
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (79% vs 34%)
- But Dover Heights carries lower crime risk (20/100 vs 36/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Dover Heights
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is growing faster (6.4% vs -1.4%)
Weighs population growth.
Where they sit
Rose Bay and Dover 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
Rose Bay has more residents (9,911 vs 4,044); Dover Heights has higher household incomes ($201,604 vs $132,028).
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 9,911 +59% vs other | 4,044 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | -1.4% | +6.4% |
| Median age | 40 | 41 |
| Median household income | $132,028/yr | $201,604/yr +53% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $630/wk | $798/wk +27% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (16.1%).
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 (27.9%).
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 (14.3%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $6,550,000 | $7,225,000 |
| Median unit price | $1,600,000 | $2,040,000 |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 28 days from 10 sales | 34 days from 14 sales |
Zoning mix
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Residential | 53% | 84% |
| Parks and recreation | 34% | 7% |
| Infrastructure and transport | 8% | 4% |
| Environmental | 0% | 4% |
| Commercial | 3% | 1% |
| Planning zones cover 99% of Rose Bay and 100% of Dover Heights. The rest is unzoned land such as water or road reserve. | ||
| 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
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 222 across Woollahra | 180 across Waverley |
| Approvals change year on year | -21% | +42% |
Gross rental yield
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | — same for both | |
| Units | 6.9% $998/wk on $750K | — |
Ranking within NSW
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | Higher than 99% of NSW same for both | |
| Income | Higher than 89% of NSW | Higher than 99% of NSW |
| Schools | Higher than 90% of NSW | — |
| Walkability | Higher than 98% of NSW | Higher than 96% of NSW |
| Affordability | Higher than 3% of NSW | Higher than 4% of NSW |
| EV adoption | Higher than 98% of NSW | Higher than 100% of NSW |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 86% of NSW | Higher than 85% of NSW |
| Rental yield (units) | Higher than 100% of NSW | — |
Liveability
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | A+ same for both | |
| Score | 93/100 | 95/100 |
| Socio-economic band | very advantaged area decile 10/10 same for both | |
Risk profile
Rose Bay carries more crime risk (36 vs 20).
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Crime | Low 36/100 | Low 20/100 |
| 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 same for both | |
Schools
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 6 | 1 |
| Rated above peers | 4 | 1 |
| Rated at peers | 1 | 0 |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
| Universities within 10 km | 3 1-37 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, 5.4 km | 3 1-37 Foveaux Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010, 6.5 km |
| Full-time students aged 15–24 | 2.9% | 5.3% |
Schools in Rose Bay
- Cranbrook Junior School Independent · Primary above peers
- Kambala Independent · Combined above peers
- McAuley Catholic Primary School Catholic · Primary above peers
- Rose Bay Public School Government · Primary above peers
- Rose Bay Secondary College Government · Secondary at peers
- Kambala, Fernbank Campus Independent · Secondary
Schools in Dover Heights
- Kesser Torah College Independent · Combined above peers
Amenities in the suburb
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 4 | 0 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 18 | 1 |
| Parks & reserves | 8 | 3 |
| Childcare | 14 | 3 |
| GPs | 5 | 0 |
| Pharmacies | 5 | 0 |
| Police stations | 1 | 0 |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 3 | 0 |
| Fuel stations | 2 | 0 |
Mobility
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 95/100 | 89/100 |
| Distance to Sydney | 8.4 km | 9.5 km +13% vs other |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 19 min | 22 min |
| Public transport score | 79/100 Bus same for both | |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 292.5 7-9am + 5-7pm | 93.8 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual same for both | |
| Electric vehicle share | 3.5% postcode 2029 | 5.2% postcode 2030 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 8 postcode 2029 | 18 postcode 2030 |
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 (60.3%).
Setting
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 10 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 83 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 1.3 km 532 m to a named beach | 314 m 1.3 km to a named beach |
NBN connectivity
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 77/100 | 76/100 |
| Most common technology | Hybrid fibre-coaxial same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 8% 5,339 premises | 5% 1,539 premises |
Climate
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Annual rainfall | 1,129 mm same for both | |
| Summer max (Jan) | 27.5°C same for both | |
| Winter min (Jul) | 9.5°C same for both | |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 6.3 µg/m³ same for both | |
| PM10 | 13.8 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | 0.84 pphm same for both | |
Council rates
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,812/yr | $1,277/yr |
| Council | Woollahra | Waverley |
Federal electorate
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Wentworth same for both | |
| Member | Allegra Spender same for both | |
| Party | Independent same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Rose Bay | Dover Heights | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $10,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $600,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Rose Bay
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.