Coffs Harbour NSW 2450
Coffs Harbour sits 526 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 5 hours 40 minutes by car. Census data records 27,089 residents with a median age of 43 and a median household income of $64,012 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. The suburb grew 5.2% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $355 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,733. Coffs Harbour is characterised by high crime risk. Of 14 schools within the suburb boundary, 2 rank above the state average, and walkability is high.
Is Coffs Harbour a good suburb?
Coffs Harbour scores a C (33/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on safety and community.
Mixed results
14 schools · 2 above peer schools
Very walkable
Walkability 88/100 · 525.9 km · 342 min drive to Sydney
Around the state median
Median $840K
High crime risk
Fire 34/100 · Crime 93/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 43 · 27,089 residents
Liveability Rating
33 / 100 · Ranked #1193 in NSWEach bar is Coffs Harbour's rank among NSW suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better).
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 Coffs Harbour?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
33 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataCoffs Harbour's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $840,000, about 9% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$840,000
In line with its 6 neighbours (median $825,000)
Based on 336 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 32 days — median across 182 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 24 sales $637K
- 3 bed 152 sales $788K
- 4 bed 107 sales $900K
- 5 bed 23 sales $1.02M
Units
$520,000
Based on 172 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 42 days — median across 73 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 1 bed 8 sales $432K
- 2 bed 129 sales $497K
- 3 bed 23 sales $790K
- 4 bed 5 sales $1.1M
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Coffs Harbour are currently listed at around $864,000 on average. Based on 305 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$864K
305 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$580K
81 units listed in the last 6 months.
386 of the suburb's 10,666 dwellings (3.6%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Coffs Harbour rent for around $650 a week on average, based on 203 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$650/wk
6% below its 4 neighbours (median $695/wk)
203 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$500/wk
112 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
315 rentals advertised against an estimated 4,362 rented homes (7.2%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $695/wk
- 89 bonds
- +31% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $520/wk
- 94 bonds
- +35% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2450 (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 202592 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 33% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2450.
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$650/week ($34,000 a year) on a $864,000 median
$500/week ($26,000 a year) on a $580,000 median
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.
Short-Stay Rentals
290 active Airbnb listings: 253 whole homes and 37 rooms. Whole homes are about 2.2% of the suburb's homes.
Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months. The share is against private dwellings at the 2021 Census.
Is Coffs Harbour safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Coffs Harbour sits in the high band, with 4,025 incidents recorded in 2025 — down about 9% on the prior year.
4,025 offences
9.2% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202592 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 2 of them fatal
Where they happened
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
Coffs Harbour City Council has published 13 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Coastal Erosion
Shoreline Change Summary
1988–2025Nearest Eroding Coastline
- Distance
- 2.9 km
- Rate
- -0.72 m/yr
- Net Movement
- -49.6 m
- Certainty
- good
Data Quality
Schools
14 schools serve Coffs Harbour, and results are mixed — some outperforming peer-suburb schools, some below. Casuarina Steiner School and Lismore Diocese Online Education Centre lead the pack.
- • 5,563 students across 11 schools (avg 506)
- • Sectors: 6 Government, 5 Independent, 3 Catholic
- • ICSEA 798-1072, median 970 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: St John Paul College (1,062 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Walkability
Coffs Harbour is very walkable on foot — at 88/100, most daily errands can be done on foot. Within the suburb there are 8 supermarkets, 64 parks and 67 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Coffs Harbour.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 387.8 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 241.3 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 126.9 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 17.4 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 Coffs Harbour.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 99%
- Premises covered
- 15,989
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
Coffs Harbour: 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
The ABS scores 68 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 8 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Coffs Harbour is home to about 27,100 residents, with a median age of 43, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $64,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.1%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
27,089
Median Age
43
Median Household Income
$64,012/yr
Census Median Rent
$355/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,733/mo
Avg Household Size
2.3
Median Personal Income
$33,904/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.1%
Unoccupied Dwellings
8.3%
Total Dwellings
10,666
Owner-Occupier Rate
59.1%
Houses
59.7%
Rental Stress
28.8%
Mortgage Stress
32.5%
Work From Home
10.7%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
496 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 261 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 4,220 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 75.1%
- English Spoken at Home
- 80.9%
- Employment Rate
- 49.6%
- Completed Year 12
- 34.1%
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.
1,368 residents (5.1%) 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.
5.3% of residents (1,365) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (829).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 25,733 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
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 18,897 people work here; 11,184 employed residents live here.
A jobs hub: 1.7 jobs for every working resident. At least 40% of the people who work here must live elsewhere.
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
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,437 a year through Coffs Harbour based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 25%
- Parks and recreation 20%
- Rural and farming 20%
- Environmental 16%
- Infrastructure and transport 16%
- Industrial 3%
- Commercial 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: Coffs Harbour
In the year to August 2026, 356 new dwellings were approved across Coffs Harbour. That mix is 208 houses and 148 units. Approvals are up 61.0% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Coffs Harbour 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
CLEANPM2.5 averaged 4.3 µg/m³ in 2025 — below the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³). 1 day exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 10.8 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.22 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 0 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.
From the Coffs Harbour monitoring station, 0.8 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Lower Bucca, 15.2 kmHigh rainfall.
- Elevation
- 8 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 2.7 km
- 3.2 km to a named beach
- Annual rainfall
- 1,827 mm
- 115 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
7 facilities within 5 km- 2.0 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 2.0 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · n-Hexane · Cyclohexane
- 2.0 kmMetal Coating and FinishingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Hydrochloric acid · Carbon monoxide
- 2.8 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 2.8 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Chlorine & compounds · Ammonia (total)
EV adoption
In postcode 2450, 208 of 38,895 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.8% (1,091 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.3%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2450, 10,108 rooftop-solar systems totalling 67.8 MW have been installed since 2001, against 19,265 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 617 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
17 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 25 across postcode 2450.
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 $840,000 this is $240,000 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 Pat Conaghan The Nationals
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Pat Conaghan | 40.9% | 59.1% | +0.5 |
| 2022 | Pat Conaghan | 40.5% | 59.5% | -2.4 |
| 2019 | Pat Conaghan | 38.1% | 61.9% | -0.7 |
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 Gurmesh Singh The Nationals
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Gurmesh Singh NP | 63.2% |
| 2019 | Gurmesh Singh NP | 60.3% |
| 2015 | Andrew Fraser NP | 64.3% |
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 Coffs Harbour?
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 27,089 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.
Featured in
- #1 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the most apartments
- #1 in Best Coffs Harbour suburbs to rent in
- #1 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the fastest EV adoption growth
- #1 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the highest EV adoption today
- #1 in Best Coffs Harbour suburbs for good private high schools
- #1 in Best Coffs Harbour suburbs for good public high schools
- #1 in Coffs Harbour suburbs that added the most residents, 2016-2021
- #1 in Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most Italian is spoken at home
- #1 in Most walkable suburbs in Coffs Harbour
- #1 in Sportiest Coffs Harbour suburbs
- #1 in Coffs Harbour suburbs that suit young professionals
- #2 in Best Coffs Harbour suburbs for good private primary schools
- #2 in Best Coffs Harbour suburbs for good public primary schools
- #2 in Best Coffs Harbour suburbs for first-home buyers (units)
- #2 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the most parkland nearby
- #2 in Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most Mandarin is spoken at home
- #2 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the most rooftop solar
- #3 in Best Coffs Harbour suburbs for first-home buyers (houses)
- #3 in Where the Indian community lives in Coffs Harbour
- #3 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the deepest rental markets
- #3 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the best NBN connectivity
- #3 in Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most Punjabi is spoken at home
- #3 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the best public transport
- #4 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the biggest house blocks
- #4 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the largest Hindu community
- #4 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the largest Sikh community
- #5 in The best beachside suburbs in Coffs Harbour
- #5 in Coffs Harbour suburbs where seniors live
- #9 in Coffs Harbour's most educated suburbs
- #9 in Coffs Harbour suburbs where young families live
- #10 in Coffs Harbour's highest-income suburbs
- #10 in The most liveable suburbs in Coffs Harbour
- #10 in Coffs Harbour suburbs with the largest non-religious population
- #10 in Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most homes are owned outright
- #11 in Coffs Harbour suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city
- #13 in Coffs Harbour's most owner-occupied suburbs
- #14 in The safest suburbs in Coffs Harbour
- #15 in Coffs Harbour suburbs that grew fastest, 2016-2021
Nearby suburbs
Toormina NSW 2452
Boambee East NSW 2452
Sawtell NSW 2452
Korora NSW 2450
North Boambee Valley NSW 2450
Boambee NSW 2450
Compare Coffs Harbour to another suburb
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Common questions about Coffs Harbour
Is Coffs Harbour a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Coffs Harbour is high (93/100, 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 Coffs Harbour?
Coffs Harbour has a low recorded bushfire history (34/100, 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 Coffs Harbour a good place to live?
Coffs Harbour has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (33/100), 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 Coffs Harbour?
Coffs Harbour, NSW had a population of 27,089 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Coffs Harbour, NSW?
The postcode for Coffs Harbour, NSW is 2450.
How far is Coffs Harbour from Sydney?
Coffs Harbour is 526 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 342 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Coffs Harbour?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Coffs Harbour was $64,012 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 Coffs Harbour?
The median advertised rent in Coffs Harbour is $650 a week for houses (203 listings) and $500 a week for units (112 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Coffs Harbour?
The median age of residents in Coffs Harbour was 43 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Coffs Harbour at risk of bushfire?
Coffs Harbour has a low recorded bushfire history (34/100). 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 Coffs Harbour?
There are 14 schools inside the Coffs Harbour boundary: 2 above, 5 at, and 3 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Coffs Harbour walkable?
Coffs Harbour scores 88/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the air quality in Coffs Harbour?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Coffs Harbour (Coffs Harbour) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 4.3 µg/m³ and PM10 of 10.8 µg/m³. That puts Coffs Harbour below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Coffs Harbour?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Coffs Harbour, Lower Bucca (15.2 km away), 1,827 mm of rain a year over 115 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Coffs Harbour?
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 Coffs Harbour belong to?
Coffs Harbour sits within the Coffs Harbour local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Coffs Harbour?
The average residential rates bill through Coffs Harbour is $1,437 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Coffs Harbour?
Across Coffs Harbour, 356 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 61.0% 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 Coffs Harbour in?
Coffs Harbour sits within the federal Division of Cowper, currently held by Pat Conaghan (The Nationals).
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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
- Air quality · 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- 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.