Black Hill NSW 2322
Located in New South Wales, Black Hill sits 160 km from Sydney CBD, around 1 hour 55 minutes by car. The locality has 516 residents, a median age of 47, and a median household income of $154,960 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 20% nationally. The locality fell 7.9% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $586 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,665. Black Hill is characterised by high crime risk. All 1 school within the locality boundary rank above the state average, and walkability is low.
Is Black Hill a good place to live?
Black Hill scores a C (36/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on transit and safety.
Mixed results
1 school · 1 above peer schools
Car-dependent
Walkability 0/100 · 160.1 km · 113 min drive to Sydney
Around the state median
Median $1.73M · Pricier than 87% of NSW
High crime risk
Fire 41/100 · Crime 92/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 10/10 · median age 47 · 516 residents
Liveability Rating
36 / 100 · Ranked #1126 in NSWEach bar is Black Hill'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 Black Hill?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
36 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataThe median house sale price in Black Hill sits at $1.73 million, broadly flat year-on-year. That said, only three sales settled in the quarter, so the median is a noisy signal — treat it as a direction rather than a level.
$1,730,000
Based on only 3 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Rental Market
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $650/wk
- 75 bonds
- +54% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2322 (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 202586 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 35% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2322.
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 Black Hill safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Black Hill sits in the high band, with 59 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 37% on the prior year.
59 offences
37.2% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20257 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 1 of them fatal
Where they happened
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the locality 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.
- Black Creek Nulkaba to Branxton (Stage 2) Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2026
- Greta Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2025
- Greta Flood Study 2019
- Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan Report Cessnock City (Black Creek Stage 1) 2016
- Black Creek Flood Study: Nulkaba to Branxton (Stage 2) 2015
Schools
One school serve Black Hill, and the cohort skews above peer-suburb performance. Black Hill Public School leads the pack.
- • 67 students in one school (avg 67)
Primary
Walkability
Black Hill is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car.
We hold no public transport timetable data for this area, so public transport is not rated here and the score is spread across the remaining components. It is not counted as zero.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Black Hill.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 12.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 2.1 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.0 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 9.9 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 Black Hill.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 0%
- Premises covered
- 173
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
Cessnock: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this locality alone — this locality's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
Black Hill is home to 516 residents, with a median age of 47, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $155,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
516
Median Age
47
Median Household Income
$154,960/yr
Census Median Rent
$586/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,665/mo
Avg Household Size
3.2
Median Personal Income
$46,956/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
10.5%
Total Dwellings
153
Owner-Occupier Rate
93.1%
Houses
100.0%
Rental Stress
19.7%
Mortgage Stress
20.6%
Work From Home
29.9%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 89.7%
- English Spoken at Home
- 95.0%
- Employment Rate
- 61.9%
- Completed Year 12
- 39.1%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,405 a year through Cessnock based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 59%
- Environmental 32%
- Industrial 8%
- Infrastructure and transport 1%
Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the locality around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Cessnock
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.
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
MODERATEPM2.5 averaged 6.3 µg/m³ in 2025 — below Australia's NEPM annual standard (8 µg/m³), slightly above the stricter WHO guideline (5 µg/m³). 1 day exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 17.5 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.72 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 1 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.
From the Beresfield monitoring station, 5.7 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS, 20.8 kmHigh rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 41 m
- above sea level, at the locality centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 16.0 km
- Near high-voltage lines
- 5.3% of addresses
- 17 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- Annual rainfall
- 1,025 mm
- 91 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 25.4°C
- 4 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 10.2°C
- 0 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the locality 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
5 facilities within 5 km- 4.5 kmCoal MiningTop reported: Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide
- 4.6 kmPoultry ProcessingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 4.6 kmPoultry ProcessingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 4.8 kmPrepared Animal and Bird Feed ManufacturingTop reported: Phosphoric acid
- 4.8 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 2322, 163 of 23,852 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.8% (661 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.5%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2322, 5,801 rooftop-solar systems totalling 46.4 MW have been installed since 2001, against 9,082 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 486 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
4 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 2322.
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 $1,730,000 this is $1,130,000 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 Meryl Swanson Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Meryl Swanson | 56.9% | 43.1% | +4.3 |
| 2022 | Meryl Swanson | 53.3% | 46.7% | +1.7 |
| 2019 | Meryl Swanson | 55.0% | 45.0% | +5.7 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact locality's voters across time.
State Electorate
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 locality's voters. Results: © State of New South Wales through the NSW Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0, adapted.
Looking at a specific address in Black Hill?
Every figure above is a locality 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 516 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
East Maitland NSW 2323
Thornton NSW 2322
Ashtonfield NSW 2323
Beresfield NSW 2322
Tarro NSW 2322
Buchanan NSW 2323
Compare Black Hill to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other NSW suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about Black Hill
Is Black Hill a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Black Hill is high (92/100, 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 Black Hill?
Black Hill has a moderate recorded bushfire history (41/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). These are locality-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Black Hill a good place to live?
Black Hill has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (36/100), 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 Black Hill?
Black Hill, NSW had a population of 516 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Black Hill, NSW?
The postcode for Black Hill, NSW is 2322.
How far is Black Hill from Sydney?
Black Hill is 160 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 113 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Black Hill?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Black Hill was $154,960 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 Black Hill?
There are too few current rental listings in Black Hill for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $586, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Black Hill?
The median age of residents in Black Hill was 47 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Black Hill at risk of bushfire?
Black Hill has a moderate recorded bushfire history (41/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the locality 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 Black Hill?
There is 1 school inside the Black Hill boundary: 1 above similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
What is the air quality in Black Hill?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Black Hill (Beresfield) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 6.3 µg/m³ and PM10 of 17.5 µg/m³. That puts Black Hill below the Australian NEPM annual standard of 8 µg/m³ but above the stricter WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Black Hill?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Black Hill, Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS (20.8 km away), summer days average 25.4°C, winter nights 10.2°C, 1,025 mm of rain a year over 91 rainy days, and 4 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Black Hill?
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 Black Hill belong to?
Black Hill sits within the Cessnock local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Black Hill?
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 Black Hill?
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 Black Hill in?
Black Hill sits within the federal Division of Paterson, currently held by Meryl Swanson (Australian Labor Party).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · 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
- Air quality · 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.