Bellbird NSW 2325

Bellbird sits 157 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 2 hours 5 minutes by car. Census data records 2,338 residents with a median age of 34 and a median household income of $74,204 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the bottom 20% nationally. Population grew 15.1% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $323 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,600. The area shows high crime risk and high bushfire risk. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.

Is Bellbird a good suburb?

Bellbird scores a D (19/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on prices, weaker on safety and community.

Schools

Mixed results

1 school

Transit

Some car dependence

Walkability 52/100 · 157.3 km · 125 min drive to Sydney

Prices

More affordable than most

Median $685K · More affordable than 89% of NSW

Safety

High crime risk

Fire 64/100 · Crime 89/100

Community

Highly disadvantaged

SEIFA decile 1/10 · median age 34 · 2,338 residents

D

Liveability Rating

19 / 100 · Ranked #1481 in NSW

Each bar is Bellbird'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.

Schools quality no data
too few schools to rate
Safety
4
Bushfire Moderate · Crime High

No flood data is published for New South Wales — a blank here means we hold no data, not that there is no risk.

Socio-economic
9
Very disadvantaged
Walkability
49
Somewhat walkable
CBD access
39
157.3 km · 125 min drive to Sydney
How it's calculated: Safety rank 4 × 25% + Socio-economic rank 9 × 25% + Walkability rank 49 × 15% + CBD access rank 39 × 10% = 19 / 100. Missing components rebalance the remaining weights.

How do you rate the liveability in Bellbird?

Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.

Our score

19 / 100

From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.

Residents say

…

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What applies here? (optional)

One rating per person. You can change yours at any time.

Median House Price

Public listings data

Bellbird's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $685,000, roughly 43% above where it sat a year earlier.

Houses

$685,000

last 8 quarters
Cheaper than 87% of NSW
↑ +42.7% year-on-year

Based on 179 recorded sales in the last 24 months.

Typically sold in 30 days — median across 54 sales that recorded a listing period

By bedrooms

  • 2 bed 6 sales $682K
  • 3 bed 45 sales $685K
  • 4 bed 92 sales $750K
  • 5 bed 16 sales $878K

Land

$395,000

last 6 quarters
↑ +16.7% year-on-year

Based on 56 recorded sales in the last 24 months.

Typically sold in 30 days — median across 8 sales that recorded a listing period

Currently for Sale

Last 6 months

Houses in Bellbird are currently listed at around $856,000 on average. Based on 24 houses listed in the past six months.

$856K

last 3 months
↑ +7.6% vs previous 6 months from $795K
Since 2022: $604K → $831K (+37%)

24 houses listed in the last 6 months.

26 of the suburb's 816 dwellings (3.2%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.

Rental Market

Advertised rents · last 6 months

Houses in Bellbird rent for around $660 a week on average, based on 58 houses listed for rent in the past six months.

Houses

$660/wk

last 6 months
↑ +1.5% vs previous 6 months from $650/wk
Since 2021: $455/wk → $660/wk (+45%)

58 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.

Units

$490/wk

↑ +4.3% vs previous 6 months from $470/wk

5 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.

63 rentals advertised against an estimated 214 rented homes (29.4%) in the last 6 months.

Rent agreed on new leases

Jul–Sep 2026
3-bed houses
$580/wk
93 bonds
+43% since 2021
2-bed units
$485/wk
36 bonds
+48% since 2021

Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2325 (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 2025

105 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 29% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2325.

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.

Gross rental yield

Indicative
House
4.0% above the typical range

$660/week ($34,000 a year) on a $856,000 median

Not enough unit sales and rentals in the window to calculate a yield.

Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.

Is Bellbird safe? Crime statistics

2025

Crime in Bellbird sits in the high band, with 243 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 59% on the prior year.

243 offences

58.8% since 2024
Assault 66 (27.2%)
Theft 58 (23.9%)
Harassment & Stalking 47 (19.3%)
Property Damage 26 (10.7%)
Disorderly Conduct 10 (4.1%)
Sexual Offences 10 (4.1%)
Arson 9 (3.7%)
Weapons Offences 9 (3.7%)
Drug Offences 5 (2.1%)
Other Offences Against Person 3 (1.2%)

Crime Trend

Serious Road Crashes

2021–2025

2 crashes

where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 1 of them fatal

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

Cessnock City Council has published 8 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.

All 8 on the portal

Schools

One school serve Bellbird, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.

50
out of 100
Average
1 school in this suburb
1 at similar
  • • 355 students in one school (avg 355)

Primary

Government · K-6 · 355 students
ICSEA 907 (higher than 12% of Australian schools) · 3% top-SEA students
At similar

Walkability

Bellbird is somewhat walkable on foot — at 52/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car.

52
out of 100
Somewhat Walkable
Top 18% in NSW
Public Transport within 1 km 67
Schools within 1.5 km 60
Parks within 800 m 60
Supermarkets within 1 km 0
GPs within 1 km 60
Pharmacies within 1 km 0
Childcare within 1 km 80
Hospitals within 5 km 60

Public transport

Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Bellbird.

70
out of 100
Bus
Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
30.0 arrivals/hr
Off-peak weekday
15.7 arrivals/hr
Saturday
5.5 arrivals/hr
Median peak wait
0 min
Span of service
12.6 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 Bellbird.

80
connectivity score / 100
Top 11% in NSW
Most common
Fibre to the premises
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
65%
Premises covered
1,632
Technology mix
Fibre to the premises (FTTP) 65%
Fibre to the node (FTTN) 31%
Fixed wireless (WIRELESS) 4%

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

Supermarkets
None
Shopping Centres
None
Cafes & Restaurants
None
Parks & Reserves
1 in suburb
Sport & Recreation
None
Beaches
None
Waterways
10 in suburb
Childcare
2 in suburb
GPs
1 in suburb
Pharmacies
None
Hospitals
None
Police Stations
None
Banks & Bank@Post
None
Fuel Stations
None
EV Chargers
None
Pubs & Bars
1 in suburb
Arts & Culture
None
Places of Worship
None

Cessnock: council population

The whole council area, not just Bellbird · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
71,443
+2.9% in a year
Change
+2,011
people since 2024
Density
36
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
+505
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
+1,405
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+101
arrivals minus departures

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

ABS SEIFA · ranked against every suburb in Australia, and within the state
2021 census
Advantage and disadvantage
1/10
1/10 within NSW
income, education, jobs and housing together
Economic resources
3/10
2/10 within NSW
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
1/10
1/10 within NSW
qualifications and job type, income excluded
How evenly that is spread

The ABS scores 8 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.

Bellbird is home to about 2,300 residents, with a median age of 34, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $74,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.6%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

2,338

15.1% since 2016

Median Age

34

5.6% since 2016

Median Household Income

$74,204/yr

21.4% since 2016

Census Median Rent

$323/wk

15.4% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

$1,600/mo

5.5% since 2016

Avg Household Size

2.7

no change since 2016

Median Personal Income

$33,436/yr

24.6% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

6.6%

19.5% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

6.2%

27.1% since 2016

Total Dwellings

816

15.4% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

73.8%

1.1% since 2016

Houses

91.7%

0.9% since 2016

Rental Stress

22.6%

5.0% since 2016

Mortgage Stress

25.9%

13.1% since 2016

Work From Home

13.7%

251.3% since 2016

Dwelling Types

Houses 748 (91.7%)
Townhouses 63 (7.7%)
Flats / Apartments 5 (0.6%)

Property Ownership

Mortgage 319 (40.6%)
Owned Outright 260 (33.1%)
Renting 206 (26.2%)

Demographics

Born in Australia
89.8%
English Spoken at Home
94.2%
Employment Rate
55%
8.7% since 2016
Completed Year 12
23.1%

Occupations

Technicians & Trades 188 (19.0%)
Community & Personal Service 152 (15.4%)
Labourers 132 (13.3%)
Machinery Operators & Drivers 120 (12.1%)
Clerical & Administrative 107 (10.8%)
Sales 95 (9.6%)
Professionals 93 (9.4%)
Managers 85 (8.6%)

Religion

Christianity 1,188 (50.8%)
No Religion 981 (42.0%)
Buddhism 30 (1.3%)
Other Religions 6 (0.3%)
Hinduism 4 (0.2%)

Country of Birth (overseas)

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.

England 41 (1.8%)
New Zealand 23 (1.0%)
Thailand 15 (0.6%)
Philippines 10 (0.4%)
Vietnam 6 (0.3%)
Scotland 6 (0.3%)
India 5 (0.2%)
Germany 3 (0.1%)

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.

2016-2021 3 (0.1%)
2011-2015 25 (1.1%)
2001-2010 21 (0.9%)
1991-2000 19 (0.8%)
1981-1990 20 (0.9%)
Before 1981 41 (1.8%)

3 residents (0.1%) 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.

1.9% of residents (41) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (41).

Newcastle and Lake Macquarie 85 (4.0%)
Central Coast 49 (2.3%)

Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 2,142 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.

Thai 7 (0.3%)
Hindi 6 (0.3%)
Mandarin 3 (0.1%)
Vietnamese 3 (0.1%)
German 3 (0.1%)

Age Distribution

0-4 196 (8.4%)
5-14 351 (15.0%)
15-19 146 (6.2%)
20-24 145 (6.2%)
25-34 340 (14.5%)
35-44 284 (12.1%)
45-54 266 (11.4%)
55-64 280 (12.0%)
65-74 230 (9.8%)
75-84 76 (3.3%)
85+ 27 (1.2%)

Family & Household Composition

Couple Families 266 (41.8%)
One Parent Families 170 (26.7%)
Lone Person 163 (25.6%)
Group Household 23 (3.6%)
Other Families 14 (2.2%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 599 (79.1%)
Worked from Home 104 (13.7%)
Car (passenger) 41 (5.4%)
Bicycle 6 (0.8%)
Walked Only 4 (0.5%)
Bus 3 (0.4%)

1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (7 of 989).

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.

Local Jobs

People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.

About 194 people work here; 989 employed residents live here.

Mostly a place people commute from: 0.2 jobs per working resident. At least 78% of employed residents must work outside the suburb.

Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.

Education

Certificate III & IV 533 (22.8%)
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 120 (5.1%)
Bachelor Degree 80 (3.4%)
Postgraduate Degree 15 (0.6%)
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 14 (0.6%)

Cars per Dwelling

0 cars 28 (3.5%)
1 car 268 (33.2%)
2 cars 328 (40.6%)
3 cars 106 (13.1%)
4+ cars 82 (10.1%)

Council Rates

Cessnock
FY 2024-25

Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,405 a year through Cessnock based on 2024 figures.

Avg residential rate
$1,405/yr
14% above the NSW average of $1,230 · median of 128 councils
Valuation basis
Unimproved Value
land only

How this land is zoned

Share of Bellbird's area by planning zone
2026-09
  • Residential 43%
  • Rural and farming 30%
  • Environmental 22%
  • Infrastructure and transport 3%
  • Parks and recreation 1%
  • Zones under 1% 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 — the property page shows the zone for one address.

Building Approvals: Cessnock

The whole council area, not just Bellbird · new residential dwellings
to 2026-08

In the year to August 2026, 719 new dwellings were approved across Cessnock. That mix is 560 houses and 159 units. Approvals are down 31.1% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
719dwellings
-31.1% YoY
Houses
560
detached dwellings
Units
159
townhouses + apartments

Aboriginal Land Council

Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Mindaribba 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.

Air Quality

This station does not measure fine particles (PM2.5).

PM10 averaged 22.6 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 14.

From the Mount Thorley monitoring station, 30.0 km away.

Climate & Setting

from Cessnock Airport AWS, 7.2 km

Moderate rainfall — hot summers, cold winters with occasional frost.

Elevation
94 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
Distance to the ocean
39.5 km
Annual rainfall
804 mm
80 rainy days
Summer max (Jan)
30.0°C
20 days ≥ 35°C
Winter min (Jul)
5.1°C
11 frost days ≤ 0°C

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

1 facility within 5 km

EV adoption

0.4%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.00% in 2021
+0.1 points this year

In postcode 2325, 86 of 24,360 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.0% (480 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.3%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.00%
2022
0.04%
2023
0.08%
2024
0.23%
2025
0.35%

Rooftop solar

51
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 7.1 kW each

In postcode 2325, 6,158 rooftop-solar systems totalling 44.0 MW have been installed since 2001, against 12,075 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 521 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.

Systems installed, year by year
2019
490
2020
533
2021
464
2022
507
2023
564
2024
499
2025
439
2026
335

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).

Verify eligibility with Revenue NSW

Mortgage repayments

I'm looking for
Deposit
$
%
Monthly repayment
$3,573
Loan amount
$548,000
Total interest over 30 years
$738,118

4 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 2325.

Deposit
$137,000
Stamp duty
$25,012
Cash needed at settlement
$162,012

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.

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 2026-10-26 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.

Federal Electorate

Division of Hunter

Currently held by Dan Repacholi Australian Labor Party

Year Winner 2PP ALP 2PP LNP Swing
2025 Dan Repacholi 59.5% 40.5% +4.7
2022 Dan Repacholi 54.0% 46.0% -1.1
2019 Joel Fitzgibbon 53.0% 47.0% +9.5

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

Cessnock District

Currently held by Clayton Barr Labor

Next state election: 13 March 2027.

Year Winner Won with
2023 Clayton Barr ALP 73.4%
2019 Clayton Barr ALP 69.3%
2015 Clayton Barr ALP 72.0%

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 Bellbird?

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.

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Common questions about Bellbird

Is Bellbird a safe place to live?

Recorded crime in Bellbird is high (89/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.

What natural hazards affect Bellbird?

Bellbird has a moderate recorded bushfire history (64/100, 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 Bellbird a good place to live?

Bellbird has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (19/100), 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 Bellbird?

Bellbird, NSW had a population of 2,338 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for Bellbird, NSW?

The postcode for Bellbird, NSW is 2325.

How far is Bellbird from Sydney?

Bellbird is 157 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 125 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in Bellbird?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Bellbird was $74,204 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 Bellbird?

The median advertised rent in Bellbird is $660 a week for houses (58 listings) and $490 a week for units (5 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.

What is the median age in Bellbird?

The median age of residents in Bellbird was 34 at the 2021 ABS Census.

Is Bellbird at risk of bushfire?

Bellbird has a moderate recorded bushfire history (64/100). 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.

How are the schools in Bellbird?

There is 1 school inside the Bellbird boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).

Is Bellbird walkable?

Bellbird scores 52/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it somewhat walkable. 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 Bellbird?

At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Bellbird, Cessnock Airport AWS (7.2 km away), summer days average 30°C, winter nights 5.1°C, 804 mm of rain a year over 80 rainy days, and 20 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Bellbird?

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 Bellbird belong to?

Bellbird sits within the Cessnock local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in Bellbird?

The average residential rates bill through Cessnock is $1,405 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near Bellbird?

Across Cessnock, 719 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 31.1% 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 Bellbird in?

Bellbird sits within the federal Division of Hunter, currently held by Dan Repacholi (Australian Labor Party).

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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.

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