Culcairn NSW 2660
Culcairn is a town in New South Wales, 521 km from Sydney CBD, around 5 hours 25 minutes by car. Population is 1,483; the median age is 44 and the median household income is $60,996 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $220 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,000. Culcairn is characterised by high crime risk. All 3 schools within the town boundary rank above the state average, and walkability is low.
Is Culcairn a good town?
Culcairn scores a C (44/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on schools and prices, weaker on transit and community.
Above the state average
3 schools · 3 above peer schools · Top 3% in NSW
Car-dependent
Walkability 12/100 · 520.9 km · 327 min drive to Sydney
More affordable than most
Median $405K · More affordable than 90% of NSW
Moderate crime risk
Fire 28/100 · Crime 68/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 44 · 1,483 residents
Liveability Rating
44 / 100 · Ranked #903 in NSWEach bar is Culcairn'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 Culcairn?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
44 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataCulcairn's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $405,000, roughly 12% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$405,000
Based on 58 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 42 days — median across 19 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 5 sales $350K
- 3 bed 24 sales $392K
- 4 bed 18 sales $472K
- 5 bed 6 sales $442K
Land
$165,000
Based on 20 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 31 days — median across 5 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Culcairn are currently listed at around $435,000 on average. Based on 8 houses listed in the past six months.
$435K
8 houses listed in the last 6 months.
8 of the suburb's 552 dwellings (1.4%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Culcairn rent for around $405 a week on average, based on 4 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$405/wk
4 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
4 rentals advertised against an estimated 106 rented homes (3.8%) in the last 6 months.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$405/week ($21,000 a year) on a $435,000 median
Based on a small sample (4 listings) — indicative only.
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 Culcairn safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Culcairn sits in the moderate band, with 80 incidents recorded in 2025 — up about 10% on the prior year.
80 offences
9.6% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20253 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the town 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
Greater Hume Shire Council has published 7 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Schools
Three schools serve Culcairn, and the cohort skews above peer-suburb performance. Billabong High School and Culcairn Public School lead the pack.
- • 459 students across 3 schools (avg 153)
- • Sectors: 2 Government, 1 Catholic
- • ICSEA 946-1016, median 969 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Billabong High School (312 students)
Primary
Secondary
Walkability
Culcairn is very car-dependent on foot — at 12/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Culcairn.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 20.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 6.7 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.2 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 20.3 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 Culcairn.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 6%
- Premises covered
- 760
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
Greater Hume: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this town alone — this town's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 4 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the town closely.
Culcairn is home to about 1,500 residents, with a median age of 44, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $61,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.6%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,483
Median Age
44
Median Household Income
$60,996/yr
Census Median Rent
$220/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,000/mo
Avg Household Size
2.5
Median Personal Income
$32,396/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.6%
Unoccupied Dwellings
12.5%
Total Dwellings
552
Owner-Occupier Rate
80.8%
Houses
97.5%
Rental Stress
18.8%
Mortgage Stress
19.7%
Work From Home
14.3%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
14 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 3 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 100 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 83.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 90.6%
- Employment Rate
- 50%
- Completed Year 12
- 24.6%
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.
27 residents (1.8%) 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.
3.3% of residents (47) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (30).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,405 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 town against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 524 people work here; 586 employed residents live here.
Roughly as many jobs as working residents (0.9 per resident). At least 11% of employed residents must work outside the town.
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 $992 a year through Greater Hume based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 99%
- 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 town around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Greater Hume
In the year to August 2026, 86 new dwellings were approved across Greater Hume. That mix is 81 houses and 5 units. Approvals are up 33.3% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Albury And District 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 Albury Airport, 43.9 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, cool winters.
- Elevation
- 217 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Annual rainfall
- 645 mm
- 74 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 33.3°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 2.5°C
Elevation is the ground at the town 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- 0.4 kmGas SupplyTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 3.8 kmLeather Tanning, Fur Dressing and Leather Product ManufacturingTop reported: Ammonia (total) · Manganese & compounds · Chromium (III) compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 2660, 4 of 1,391 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 1.1% (16 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 1.4%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2660, 465 rooftop-solar systems totalling 3.3 MW have been installed since 2001, against 682 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 24 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
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 $405,000 this is under 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 David Farley One Nation — elected at the 2026 by-election, after the results below
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sussan Ley | 37.1% | 62.9% | +3.5 |
| 2022 | Sussan Ley | 33.6% | 66.3% | -3.5 |
| 2019 | Sussan Ley | 30.2% | 69.8% | -0.7 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact town's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Justin Clancy Liberal
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Justin Clancy LP | 66.3% |
| 2019 | Justin Clancy LP | 66.0% |
| 2015 | Greg Aplin LP | 63.2% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this town's voters. Results: © State of New South Wales through the NSW Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0, adapted.
Looking at a specific address in Culcairn?
Every figure above is a town 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 1,483 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 Culcairn 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 Culcairn
Is Culcairn a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Culcairn is moderate (68/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Culcairn?
Culcairn has a low recorded bushfire history (28/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). These are town-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Culcairn a good place to live?
Culcairn has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (44/100), 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 Culcairn?
Culcairn, NSW had a population of 1,483 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Culcairn, NSW?
The postcode for Culcairn, NSW is 2660.
How far is Culcairn from Sydney?
Culcairn is 521 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 327 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Culcairn?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Culcairn was $60,996 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 Culcairn?
The median advertised rent in Culcairn is $405 a week for houses (4 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Culcairn?
The median age of residents in Culcairn was 44 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Culcairn at risk of bushfire?
Culcairn has a low recorded bushfire history (28/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the town 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 Culcairn?
There are 3 schools inside the Culcairn boundary: 3 above similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Culcairn walkable?
Culcairn scores 12/100 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 Culcairn?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Culcairn, Albury Airport (43.9 km away), summer days average 33.3°C, winter nights 2.5°C, and 645 mm of rain a year over 74 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Culcairn?
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 Culcairn belong to?
Culcairn sits within the Greater Hume local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Culcairn?
The average residential rates bill through Greater Hume is $992 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Culcairn?
Across Greater Hume, 86 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 33.3% 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 Culcairn in?
Culcairn sits within the federal Division of Farrer, currently held by David Farley (One Nation).
Search another suburb or address
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.