Balaclava NSW 2575
Balaclava is a suburb in New South Wales, 112 km from Sydney CBD, around 1 hour 25 minutes by car. Population is 574; the median age is 40 and the median household income is $105,196 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the middle range nationally. Population grew 15.7% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $500 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,000. The area shows high bushfire risk. Walkability is low.
Is Balaclava a good suburb?
Balaclava scores a C (41/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on transit and safety.
Car-dependent
Walkability 17/100 · 111.5 km · 84 min drive to Sydney
Around the state median
Median $1.08M
High bushfire risk
Fire 81/100 · Crime 17/100
Mid-range socio-economic
SEIFA decile 6/10 · median age 40 · 574 residents
Liveability Rating
41 / 100 · Ranked #987 in NSWEach bar is Balaclava's rank among NSW suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
No flood data is published for New South Wales — a blank here means we hold no data, not that there is no risk.
How do you rate the liveability in Balaclava?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
41 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataBalaclava's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $1.08 million, about 9% above where it sat a year earlier.
$1,077,500
In line with its 4 neighbours (median $1,090,000)
Based on 22 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 30 days — median across 3 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 7 sales $860K
- 4 bed 12 sales $1.23M
Rental Market
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $700/wk
- 27 bonds
- +17% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $500/wk
- 11 bonds
- +17% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2575 (NSW publishes bonds by postcode, which can cover several suburbs). Change since 2021 compares the median of the first four quarters with the last four. Asking rents above come from advertised listings.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202584 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 36% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2575.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Is Balaclava safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Balaclava sits in the low band, with 8 incidents recorded in 2025 — down roughly 53% on the prior year.
8 offences
52.9% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–2025No crash in Balaclava killed anyone or put anyone in hospital in 2021–2025.
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the suburb carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. Roads are listed with 3 or more serious crashes.
Council Flood Studies
Wingecarribee Shire Council has published 9 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
- Wingecarribee River Flood Study Update 2022
- Review of Whites Creek Floodplain Risk Management Study & Plan 2020
- Nattai Ponds Floodplain Risk Management Study & Draft Plan 2019
- Gibbergunyah Creek Floodplain Risk Management Study and Draft Plan 2016
- Nattai River Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2016
Schools
Walkability
Balaclava is very car-dependent on foot — at 17/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Balaclava.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 6.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 3.0 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.4 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 2 min
- Span of service
- 12.9 hours
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Balaclava.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 36%
- Premises covered
- 276
NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.
Amenities
Wingecarribee: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
Balaclava is home to 574 residents, with a median age of 40, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $105,000 a year, with unemployment at 2.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
574
Median Age
40
Median Household Income
$105,196/yr
Census Median Rent
$500/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,000/mo
Avg Household Size
2.9
Median Personal Income
$43,680/yr
Unemployment Rate
2.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
4.6%
Total Dwellings
196
Owner-Occupier Rate
77.1%
Houses
102.0%
Rental Stress
24.7%
Mortgage Stress
22.8%
Work From Home
17.5%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 81.5%
- English Spoken at Home
- 86.2%
- Employment Rate
- 64.6%
- Completed Year 12
- 38.5%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
3 residents (0.5%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
12.8% of residents (67) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (56).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 524 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
3% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (9 of 292).
City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $2,072 a year through Wingecarribee based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Environmental 41%
- Rural and farming 37%
- Residential 17%
- Infrastructure and transport 5%
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 — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Wingecarribee
In the year to August 2026, 335 new dwellings were approved across Wingecarribee. That mix is 244 houses and 91 units. Approvals are up 5.6% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council.
Local Aboriginal Land Councils are statutory bodies under the Aboriginal Land Rights Act 1983, responsible for land claims and land management for their members. Their boundaries are administrative and are not a statement of whose Country this is. NSW does not publish a register of Aboriginal parties by area — they are registered for each project.
Climate & Setting
from Mittagong (Alfred Street), 2.6 kmHigh rainfall.
- Elevation
- 606 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 36.8 km
- Annual rainfall
- 974 mm
- 97 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- —
- Winter min (Jul)
- —
Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
2 facilities within 5 km- 2.3 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Ammonia (total) · Total Phosphorus
- 4.8 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Toluene (methylbenzene) · Xylenes (individual or mixed isomers)
EV adoption
In postcode 2575, 135 of 18,147 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.3% (424 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.1%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2575, 3,672 rooftop-solar systems totalling 27.2 MW have been installed since 2001, against 6,992 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 248 went up in the last year.
Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$10,000 for new homes priced up to $600,000.
Off-the-plan or contracted-build value cap is $750,000 (vs $600,000 for completed new homes). Stamp duty concessions are a separate scheme (First Home Buyers Assistance).
Mortgage repayments
1 mortgage broker is registered in this suburb, 5 across postcode 2575.
Transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with Revenue NSW
The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $600,000 may qualify for $10,000 — see what qualifies with Revenue NSW.
At $1,077,500 this is $477,500 above the $600,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $10,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with Revenue NSW.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Carol Berry Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Carol Berry | 56.2% | 43.8% | -2.1 |
| 2022 | Stephen Jones | 60.1% | 39.9% | +0.8 |
| 2019 | Stephen Jones | 60.9% | 39.1% | +39.1 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Judy Hannan Independent
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Judy Hannan IND | 51.5% |
| 2019 | Nathaniel Smith LP | 55.5% |
| 2015 | Jai Rowell LP | 67.3% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: © State of New South Wales through the NSW Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0, adapted.
Looking at a specific address in Balaclava?
Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 574 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Nearby suburbs
Compare Balaclava to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other NSW suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Balaclava
Is Balaclava a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Balaclava is low (17/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Balaclava?
Balaclava has a high recorded bushfire history (81/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Balaclava a good place to live?
Balaclava has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (41/100), ranked against other NSW suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.
What is the population of Balaclava?
Balaclava, NSW had a population of 574 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Balaclava, NSW?
The postcode for Balaclava, NSW is 2575.
How far is Balaclava from Sydney?
Balaclava is 112 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 84 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Balaclava?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Balaclava was $105,196 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.
What is the median weekly rent in Balaclava?
There are too few current rental listings in Balaclava for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $500, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Balaclava?
The median age of residents in Balaclava was 40 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Balaclava at risk of bushfire?
Balaclava has a high recorded bushfire history (81/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the suburb relative to its size, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history. It records where fire has burned, not a bushfire-prone land designation, which your council's planning scheme sets.
Is Balaclava walkable?
Balaclava scores 17/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very car-dependent. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the weather like in Balaclava?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Balaclava, Mittagong (Alfred Street) (2.6 km away), 974 mm of rain a year over 97 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Balaclava?
First-home buyers in NSW may be eligible for $10,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $600,000. The grant is administered by Revenue NSW; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does Balaclava belong to?
Balaclava sits within the Wingecarribee local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Balaclava?
The average residential rates bill through Wingecarribee is $2,072 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Balaclava?
Across Wingecarribee, 335 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 5.6% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is Balaclava in?
Balaclava sits within the federal Division of Whitlam, currently held by Carol Berry (Australian Labor Party).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2024–25
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2025
- Road crashes · 2021–2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- State electorate · 2023
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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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.