Falls Creek NSW 2540

Falls Creek is a rural locality in New South Wales, 176 km from Sydney CBD, around 2 hours 25 minutes by car. Population is 939; the median age is 49 and the median household income is $78,416 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the lower-middle tier nationally. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,199. Falls Creek is characterised by high bushfire risk. 1 school sits within the locality boundary, and walkability is low.

Is Falls Creek a good place to live?

Falls Creek scores a D (26/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on transit, prices, and safety.

Schools

Mixed results

1 school

Transit

Car-dependent

Walkability 23/100 · 175.6 km · 147 min drive to Sydney

Prices

Above the state median

Median $1.25M · Less affordable than 77% of NSW

Safety

High bushfire risk

Fire 90/100 · Crime 45/100

Community

Below-average income

SEIFA decile 4/10 · median age 49 · 939 residents

D

Liveability Rating

26 / 100 · Ranked #1353 in NSW

Each bar is Falls Creek'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
12
Bushfire High · Crime Moderate

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
36
Mid-range
Walkability
27
Car-dependent
CBD access
34
175.6 km · 147 min drive to Sydney
How it's calculated: Safety rank 12 × 25% + Socio-economic rank 36 × 25% + Walkability rank 27 × 15% + CBD access rank 34 × 10% = 26 / 100. Missing components rebalance the remaining weights.

How do you rate the liveability in Falls Creek?

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

Our score

26 / 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

Falls Creek's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $1.25 million, roughly 10% below where it sat a year earlier. That said, only nine sales settled in the quarter, so the median is a noisy signal — treat it as a direction rather than a level.

Houses

$1,250,000

last 2 quarters
↓ −10.3% year-on-year

Based on only 9 sales — small sample, take as indicative.

Land

$1,625,000

Based on only 4 sales — small sample, take as indicative.

Rental Market

Rent agreed on new leases

Jul–Sep 2026
3-bed houses
$600/wk
116 bonds
+27% since 2021
2-bed units
$470/wk
11 bonds
+30% since 2021

Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2540 (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

100 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 30% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2540.

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 Falls Creek safe? Crime statistics

2025

Crime in Falls Creek sits in the moderate band, with 27 incidents recorded in 2025 — down roughly 18% on the prior year.

27 offences

18.2% since 2024
Assault 7 (25.9%)
Harassment & Stalking 7 (25.9%)
Sexual Offences 4 (14.8%)
Property Damage 3 (11.1%)
Theft 3 (11.1%)
Drug Offences 2 (7.4%)
Weapons Offences 1 (3.7%)

Crime Trend

Serious Road Crashes

2021–2025

15 crashes

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

Where they happened

Princes Highway 10 (66.7%)
Jervis Bay Road 5 (33.3%)

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

Shoalhaven City Council has published 31 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.

All 31 on the portal

Schools

One school serve Falls Creek, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.

38
out of 100
Weak
1 school in this locality
1 below similar
  • • 59 students in one school (avg 59)

Primary

Government · K-6 · 59 students
ICSEA 921 (higher than 15% of Australian schools) · 3% top-SEA students
Below similar

Walkability

Falls Creek is very car-dependent on foot — at 23/100, nearly all errands require a car.

23
out of 100
Very Car-Dependent
Public Transport within 1 km 60
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 60
Hospitals within 5 km 0

Public transport

Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Falls Creek.

41
out of 100
Bus
Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
11.8 arrivals/hr
Off-peak weekday
6.2 arrivals/hr
Saturday
3.8 arrivals/hr
Median peak wait
2 min
Span of service
13.0 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 Falls Creek.

30
connectivity score / 100
Most common
Fixed wireless
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
0%
Premises covered
360
Technology mix
Fixed wireless (WIRELESS) 97%
Satellite (Sky Muster) (SATELLITE) 3%

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 locality
Sport & Recreation
None
Beaches
None
Waterways
1 in locality
Childcare
1 in locality
GPs
None
Pharmacies
None
Hospitals
None
Police Stations
None
Banks & Bank@Post
None
Fuel Stations
None
EV Chargers
None
Pubs & Bars
None
Arts & Culture
None
Places of Worship
None

Shoalhaven: council population

The whole council area, not just Falls Creek · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
111,755
+0.7% in a year
Change
+774
people since 2024
Density
24
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
-248
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
+702
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+320
arrivals minus departures

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

ABS SEIFA · ranked against every suburb in Australia, and within the state
2021 census
Advantage and disadvantage
4/10
4/10 within NSW
income, education, jobs and housing together
Economic resources
8/10
8/10 within NSW
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
3/10
3/10 within NSW
qualifications and job type, income excluded

Falls Creek is home to 939 residents, with a median age of 49, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $78,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.4%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

939

0.4% since 2016

Median Age

49

4.3% since 2016

Median Household Income

$78,416/yr

2.0% since 2016

Census Median Rent

$350/wk

16.7% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

$2,199/mo

11.3% since 2016

Avg Household Size

2.7

3.6% since 2016

Median Personal Income

$33,644/yr

17.2% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

3.4%

12.8% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

9.8%

12.5% since 2016

Total Dwellings

326

7.6% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

90.1%

2.4% since 2016

Houses

98.5%

0.2% since 2016

Rental Stress

23.2%

14.3% since 2016

Mortgage Stress

33.7%

9.4% since 2016

Work From Home

17.2%

405.9% since 2016

Dwelling Types

Houses 321 (98.5%)
Flats / Apartments 5 (1.5%)

Property Ownership

Owned Outright 150 (48.1%)
Mortgage 131 (42.0%)
Renting 31 (9.9%)

Demographics

Born in Australia
80.0%
English Spoken at Home
90.3%
Employment Rate
53.1%
2.1% since 2016
Completed Year 12
29.8%

Occupations

Technicians & Trades 81 (19.1%)
Professionals 58 (13.7%)
Community & Personal Service 57 (13.4%)
Clerical & Administrative 53 (12.5%)
Labourers 48 (11.3%)
Managers 44 (10.4%)
Sales 37 (8.7%)
Machinery Operators & Drivers 32 (7.5%)

Religion

Christianity 458 (48.8%)
No Religion 400 (42.6%)
Buddhism 3 (0.3%)

Country of Birth (overseas)

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.

England 55 (5.9%)
Germany 8 (0.9%)
Scotland 7 (0.7%)
Canada 5 (0.5%)
New Zealand 4 (0.4%)
Netherlands 4 (0.4%)
Italy 3 (0.3%)

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 0 (0.0%)
2011-2015 0 (0.0%)
2001-2010 16 (1.7%)
1991-2000 9 (1.0%)
1981-1990 10 (1.1%)
Before 1981 92 (9.8%)

0 residents (0.0%) 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.

3.5% of residents (32) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (29).

Illawarra 30 (3.3%)

Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 907 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.

Age Distribution

0-4 32 (3.4%)
5-14 105 (11.2%)
15-19 50 (5.3%)
20-24 42 (4.5%)
25-34 91 (9.7%)
35-44 87 (9.3%)
45-54 138 (14.7%)
55-64 159 (16.9%)
65-74 146 (15.5%)
75-84 76 (8.1%)
85+ 12 (1.3%)

Family & Household Composition

Couple Families 110 (53.9%)
Lone Person 57 (27.9%)
One Parent Families 23 (11.3%)
Group Household 9 (4.4%)
Other Families 5 (2.5%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 255 (75.7%)
Worked from Home 58 (17.2%)
Car (passenger) 20 (5.9%)
Walked Only 4 (1.2%)

2% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (9 of 424).

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.

Education

Certificate III & IV 205 (21.8%)
Bachelor Degree 68 (7.2%)
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 65 (6.9%)
Postgraduate Degree 16 (1.7%)
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 13 (1.4%)

Cars per Dwelling

1 car 61 (19.1%)
2 cars 124 (38.8%)
3 cars 73 (22.8%)
4+ cars 70 (21.9%)

Council Rates

Shoalhaven
FY 2024-25

Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,501 a year through Shoalhaven based on 2024 figures.

Avg residential rate
$1,501/yr
22% above the NSW average of $1,230 · median of 128 councils
Valuation basis
Unimproved Value
land only

How this land is zoned

Share of Falls Creek's area by planning zone
2026-09
  • Rural and farming 64%
  • Residential 23%
  • Environmental 10%
  • Infrastructure and transport 3%
  • Parks and recreation 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: Shoalhaven

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

In the year to August 2026, 854 new dwellings were approved across Shoalhaven. That mix is 513 houses and 341 units. Approvals are down 9.5% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
854dwellings
-9.5% YoY
Houses
513
detached dwellings
Units
341
townhouses + apartments

Aboriginal Land Council

Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Jerrinja 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 Ulladulla AWS, 41.9 km

High rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.

Elevation
68 m
above sea level, at the locality centre
Distance to the ocean
7.9 km
Near high-voltage lines
4.2% of addresses
18 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
Annual rainfall
1,302 mm
100 rainy days
Summer max (Jan)
23.9°C
2 days ≥ 35°C
Winter min (Jul)
9.6°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.

EV adoption

0.5%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.03% in 2021
+0.2 points this year

In postcode 2540, 206 of 40,088 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.3% (940 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.9%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.03%
2022
0.07%
2023
0.14%
2024
0.34%
2025
0.51%

Rooftop solar

44
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 6.4 kW each

In postcode 2540, 11,477 rooftop-solar systems totalling 73.5 MW have been installed since 2001, against 26,038 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 786 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
977
2020
1,048
2021
1,175
2022
960
2023
910
2024
878
2025
701
2026
479

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
$6,519
Loan amount
$1,000,000
Total interest over 30 years
$1,346,931

6 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 2540.

Deposit
$250,000
Stamp duty
$50,437
Cash needed at settlement
$300,437

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 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.

Federal Electorate

Division of Gilmore

Currently held by Fiona Phillips Australian Labor Party

Year Winner 2PP ALP 2PP LNP Swing
2025 Fiona Phillips 55.1% 44.9% +5.0
2022 Fiona Phillips 50.2% 49.8% +2.4
2019 Fiona Phillips 52.6% 47.4% -3.3

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

Kiama District

Currently held by Katelin McInerney Labor — elected at the Sep 2025 by-election, after the results below

Next state election: 13 March 2027.

Year Winner Won with
2023 Gareth Ward IND 50.8%
2019 Gareth Ward LP 62.0%
2015 Gareth Ward LP 58.7%

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 Falls Creek?

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.

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Nearby suburbs

Compare Falls Creek 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 Falls Creek

Is Falls Creek a safe place to live?

Recorded crime in Falls Creek is moderate (45/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).

What natural hazards affect Falls Creek?

Falls Creek has a high recorded bushfire history (90/100, 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 Falls Creek a good place to live?

Falls Creek has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (26/100), 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 Falls Creek?

Falls Creek, NSW had a population of 939 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for Falls Creek, NSW?

The postcode for Falls Creek, NSW is 2540.

How far is Falls Creek from Sydney?

Falls Creek is 176 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 147 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in Falls Creek?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Falls Creek was $78,416 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 Falls Creek?

There are too few current rental listings in Falls Creek for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $350, across all dwelling types.

What is the median age in Falls Creek?

The median age of residents in Falls Creek was 49 at the 2021 ABS Census.

Is Falls Creek at risk of bushfire?

Falls Creek has a high recorded bushfire history (90/100). 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 Falls Creek?

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

Is Falls Creek walkable?

Falls Creek scores 23/100 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 Falls Creek?

At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Falls Creek, Ulladulla AWS (41.9 km away), summer days average 23.9°C, winter nights 9.6°C, 1,302 mm of rain a year over 100 rainy days, and 2 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Falls Creek?

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 Falls Creek belong to?

Falls Creek sits within the Shoalhaven local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in Falls Creek?

The average residential rates bill through Shoalhaven is $1,501 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near Falls Creek?

Across Shoalhaven, 854 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 9.5% 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 Falls Creek in?

Falls Creek sits within the federal Division of Gilmore, currently held by Fiona Phillips (Australian Labor Party).

Search another suburb or address

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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