Cabbage Tree Island NSW 2477

Cabbage Tree Island is a suburb in New South Wales, 726 km from Sydney CBD, around 7 hours 55 minutes by car. Population is 89; the median age is 21 and the median household income is $44,200 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the bottom 20% nationally. Population grew 14.1% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $210 per week. The area shows no recorded bushfire exposure. Walkability is low.

This suburb is too small to rate.

The Liveability Rating is calculated for suburbs of 500 residents or more, and this one has 89. Below that the school, census and safety figures behind the score cover too few people to rank fairly against the rest of the state. The individual measures further down this page are still shown.

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Rental Market

Rent agreed on new leases

Jul–Sep 2026
3-bed houses
$800/wk
23 bonds
+22% since 2021

Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2477 (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

88 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 34% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2477.

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.

Short-Stay Rentals

No active Airbnb listings.

Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months.

Serious Road Crashes

2021–2025

No crash in Cabbage Tree Island 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

Ballina Shire Council has published 6 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.

All 6 on the portal

Schools

No schools in this suburb boundary.

Walkability

Cabbage Tree Island is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car.

0
out of 100
Very Car-Dependent
Public Transport within 1 km not measured
Schools within 1.5 km 0
Parks within 800 m 0
Supermarkets within 1 km 0
GPs within 1 km 0
Pharmacies within 1 km 0
Childcare within 1 km 0
Hospitals within 5 km 0

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.

NBN connectivity

The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Cabbage Tree Island.

30
connectivity score / 100
Most common
Fixed wireless
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
0%
Premises covered
43
Technology mix
Fixed wireless (WIRELESS) 100%

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

No amenities mapped in this suburb boundary.

Ballina: council population

The whole council area, not just Cabbage Tree Island · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
48,603
+1.0% in a year
Change
+468
people since 2024
Density
100
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
-47
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
+313
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+202
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
1/10
1/10 within NSW
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
8/10
8/10 within NSW
qualifications and job type, income excluded

Cabbage Tree Island is home to 89 residents, and skews young, with a median age of 21 against the national 38. Median household income runs at $44,000 a year, with unemployment at 36.4%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

89

14.1% since 2016

Median Age

21

19.2% since 2016

Median Household Income

$44,200/yr

2.0% since 2016
Bottom 6% in NSW

Census Median Rent

$210/wk

82.6% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

—

Avg Household Size

3.9

9.3% since 2016

Median Personal Income

$17,940/yr

20.0% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

36.4%

21.3% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

0.0%

Total Dwellings

16

20.0% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

—

Houses

100.0%

no change since 2016

Rental Stress

24.7%

79.0% since 2016

Mortgage Stress

—

Work From Home

0.0%

Dwelling Types

Houses 16 (100.0%)

Property Ownership

Renting 12 (100.0%)

Demographics

Born in Australia
82.0%
English Spoken at Home
75.3%
Employment Rate
11.1%
43.4% since 2016
Completed Year 12
11.2%

Occupations

Managers 6 (100.0%)
Labourers 4 (66.7%)

Religion

No Religion 49 (55.1%)
Christianity 19 (21.3%)
Other Religions 6 (6.7%)

Age Distribution

0-4 7 (7.9%)
5-14 26 (29.2%)
15-19 7 (7.9%)
25-34 10 (11.2%)
35-44 6 (6.7%)
45-54 12 (13.5%)
55-64 10 (11.2%)
65-74 4 (4.5%)
75-84 3 (3.4%)

Family & Household Composition

One Parent Families 11 (100.0%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 6 (100.0%)

Education

Certificate III & IV 3 (3.4%)

Cars per Dwelling

0 cars 6 (50.0%)

Council Rates

Ballina
FY 2024-25

Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,264 a year through Ballina based on 2024 figures.

Avg residential rate
$1,264/yr
3% above the NSW average of $1,230 · median of 128 councils
Valuation basis
Unimproved Value
land only

How this land is zoned

Share of Cabbage Tree Island's area by planning zone
2026-09
  • Rural and farming 73%
  • Environmental 18%
  • Other and special use 8%

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: Ballina

The whole council area, not just Cabbage Tree Island · new residential dwellings
to 2026-08

In the year to August 2026, 238 new dwellings were approved across Ballina. That mix is 154 houses and 84 units. Approvals are up 210.0% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
238dwellings
+210.0% YoY
Houses
154
detached dwellings
Units
84
townhouses + apartments

Aboriginal Land Council

Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Jali 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.

Setting

Elevation
2 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
Distance to the ocean
2.8 km

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

EV adoption

0.7%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.06% in 2021
+0.2 points this year

In postcode 2477, 70 of 10,190 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.8% (286 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.5%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.06%
2022
0.06%
2023
0.20%
2024
0.46%
2025
0.69%

Rooftop solar

75
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 5.9 kW each

In postcode 2477, 3,981 rooftop-solar systems totalling 23.5 MW have been installed since 2001, against 5,294 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 204 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
279
2020
358
2021
275
2022
229
2023
241
2024
214
2025
176
2026
129

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

Federal Electorate

Division of Page

Currently held by Kevin Hogan The Nationals

Year Winner 2PP ALP 2PP LNP Swing
2025 Kevin Hogan 40.7% 59.3% +1.4
2022 Kevin Hogan 39.3% 60.7% +1.3
2019 Kevin Hogan 40.5% 59.5% +7.2

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

Ballina District

Currently held by Tamara Smith The Greens

Next state election: 13 March 2027.

Year Winner Won with
2023 Tamara Smith GRN 57.7%
2019 Tamara Smith GRN 55.4%
2015 Tamara Smith GRN 53.1%

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 Cabbage Tree Island?

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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Nearby suburbs

Compare Cabbage Tree Island 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 Cabbage Tree Island

What natural hazards affect Cabbage Tree Island?

Cabbage Tree Island has no recorded bushfire history. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.

What is the population of Cabbage Tree Island?

Cabbage Tree Island, NSW had a population of 89 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for Cabbage Tree Island, NSW?

The postcode for Cabbage Tree Island, NSW is 2477.

How far is Cabbage Tree Island from Sydney?

Cabbage Tree Island is 726 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 474 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in Cabbage Tree Island?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Cabbage Tree Island was $44,200 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 Cabbage Tree Island?

There are too few current rental listings in Cabbage Tree Island for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $210, across all dwelling types.

What is the median age in Cabbage Tree Island?

The median age of residents in Cabbage Tree Island was 21 at the 2021 ABS Census.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Cabbage Tree Island?

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 Cabbage Tree Island belong to?

Cabbage Tree Island sits within the Ballina local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in Cabbage Tree Island?

The average residential rates bill through Ballina is $1,264 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near Cabbage Tree Island?

Across Ballina, 238 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 210.0% 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 Cabbage Tree Island in?

Cabbage Tree Island sits within the federal Division of Page, currently held by Kevin Hogan (The Nationals).

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Data freshness

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.

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