Federal NSW 2480

Federal sits 763 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 8 hours 15 minutes by car. Census data records 784 residents with a median age of 47 and a median household income of $99,320 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 20% nationally. The locality grew 14.0% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $450 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,253. Federal is characterised by no recorded bushfire exposure. Walkability is low.

Is Federal a good place to live?

Federal scores a B (60/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on safety and community, weaker on prices.

Transit

Some car dependence

Walkability 30/100 · 763.4 km · 494 min drive to Sydney

Prices

Above the state median

Median $1.64M · Pricier than 78% of NSW

Safety

Low all-round risk

Fire 0/100 · Crime 33/100

Community

Very advantaged

SEIFA decile 9/10 · median age 47 · 784 residents

B

Liveability Rating

60 / 100 · Ranked #518 in NSW

Each bar is Federal'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
no schools mapped
Safety
90
Bushfire None · Crime Low

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
70
Very advantaged
Walkability
33
Car-dependent
CBD access
3
763.4 km · 494 min drive to Sydney
How it's calculated: Safety rank 90 × 25% + Socio-economic rank 70 × 25% + Walkability rank 33 × 15% + CBD access rank 3 × 10% = 60 / 100. Missing components rebalance the remaining weights.

How do you rate the liveability in Federal?

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

Our score

60 / 100

From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.

Residents say

…

AwfulPoorAverageGoodGreat
What applies here? (optional)

One rating per person. You can change yours at any time.

Median House Price

Public listings data

Federal's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $1.64 million, roughly 19% above where it sat a year earlier.

Houses

$1,640,000

last 4 quarters
Pricier than 78% of NSW
↑ +18.8% year-on-year

Based on 21 recorded sales in the last 24 months.

Typically sold in 77 days — median across 13 sales that recorded a listing period

By bedrooms

  • 3 bed 6 sales $1.9M
  • 4 bed 9 sales $1.6M

Land

$2,350,000

Based on only 3 sales — small sample, take as indicative.

Rental Market

Advertised rents · last 6 months

Houses in Federal rent for around $1,200 a week on average, based on 3 houses listed for rent in the past six months.

$1,200/wk

3 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.

3 rentals advertised against an estimated 60 rented homes (5.0%) in the last 6 months.

Rent agreed on new leases

Jul–Sep 2026
3-bed houses
$680/wk
79 bonds
+37% since 2021
2-bed units
$445/wk
30 bonds
+46% since 2021

Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2480 (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

103 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 29% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2480.

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

21 active Airbnb listings: 21 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 7.0% of the locality'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 Federal safe? Crime statistics

2025

Crime in Federal sits in the low band, with 18 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 64% on the prior year.

18 offences

63.6% since 2024
Theft 4 (22.2%)
Arson 3 (16.7%)
Harassment & Stalking 3 (16.7%)
Assault 2 (11.1%)
Sexual Offences 2 (11.1%)
Disorderly Conduct 1 (5.6%)
Drug Offences 1 (5.6%)
Property Damage 1 (5.6%)
Other Offences Against Person 1 (5.6%)

Crime Trend

Serious Road Crashes

2021–2025

2 crashes

where someone was killed or admitted to hospital

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

Byron Shire Council has published 5 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.

Schools

No schools in this locality boundary.

Walkability

Federal is car-dependent on foot — at 30/100, most errands require a car.

30
out of 100
Car-Dependent
Top 25% in NSW
Public Transport within 1 km 60
Schools within 1.5 km 0
Parks within 800 m 60
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 Federal.

25
out of 100
Bottom 21% in NSW
Bus
Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
7.8 arrivals/hr
Off-peak weekday
1.4 arrivals/hr
Saturday
0.0 arrivals/hr
Median peak wait
2 min
Span of service
8.8 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 Federal.

30
connectivity score / 100
Most common
Fixed wireless
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
0%
Premises covered
324
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
1 in locality
Parks & Reserves
1 in locality
Sport & Recreation
1 in locality
Beaches
None
Waterways
6 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

Byron: council population

The whole council area, not just Federal · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
38,784
+1.8% in a year
Change
+697
people since 2024
Density
68
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
+138
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
+219
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+340
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
9/10
9/10 within NSW
income, education, jobs and housing together
Economic resources
6/10
6/10 within NSW
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
9/10
9/10 within NSW
qualifications and job type, income excluded

Federal is home to 784 residents, with a median age of 47, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $99,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.7%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

784

14.0% since 2016

Median Age

47

no change since 2016

Median Household Income

$99,320/yr

61.3% since 2016

Census Median Rent

$450/wk

28.6% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

$2,253/mo

40.8% since 2016

Avg Household Size

2.5

4.2% since 2016

Median Personal Income

$41,444/yr

28.5% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

6.7%

8.1% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

10.6%

45.1% since 2016

Total Dwellings

273

14.7% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

77.9%

2.2% since 2016

Houses

99.3%

2.3% since 2016

Rental Stress

23.6%

20.3% since 2016

Mortgage Stress

27.2%

12.8% since 2016

Work From Home

38.3%

86.8% since 2016

Dwelling Types

Houses 271 (99.3%)
Flats / Apartments 2 (0.7%)

Property Ownership

Owned Outright 113 (42.3%)
Mortgage 95 (35.6%)
Renting 59 (22.1%)

Demographics

Born in Australia
66.8%
English Spoken at Home
81.6%
Employment Rate
55.7%
4.7% since 2016
Completed Year 12
51.7%

Occupations

Professionals 111 (30.1%)
Managers 70 (19.0%)
Technicians & Trades 50 (13.6%)
Community & Personal Service 43 (11.7%)
Sales 31 (8.4%)
Clerical & Administrative 28 (7.6%)
Labourers 24 (6.5%)
Machinery Operators & Drivers 15 (4.1%)

Religion

No Religion 490 (62.5%)
Christianity 149 (19.0%)
Buddhism 14 (1.8%)
Islam 5 (0.6%)
Judaism 3 (0.4%)

Country of Birth (overseas)

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.

England 36 (4.6%)
New Zealand 18 (2.3%)
South Africa 15 (1.9%)
Germany 10 (1.3%)
Japan 7 (0.9%)
Singapore 7 (0.9%)
Netherlands 7 (0.9%)
France 6 (0.8%)

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 7 (0.9%)
2011-2015 19 (2.4%)
2001-2010 22 (2.8%)
1991-2000 21 (2.7%)
1981-1990 27 (3.4%)
Before 1981 51 (6.5%)

7 residents (0.9%) 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.

12.6% of residents (95) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (67).

Overseas 25 (3.3%)
Sydney - Eastern Suburbs 20 (2.7%)

Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 752 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.

German 4 (0.5%)
French 4 (0.5%)

Age Distribution

0-4 32 (4.1%)
5-14 95 (12.1%)
15-19 46 (5.9%)
20-24 21 (2.7%)
25-34 78 (9.9%)
35-44 106 (13.5%)
45-54 114 (14.5%)
55-64 156 (19.9%)
65-74 114 (14.5%)
75-84 25 (3.2%)
85+ 9 (1.1%)

Family & Household Composition

Couple Families 81 (43.1%)
Lone Person 66 (35.1%)
One Parent Families 29 (15.4%)
Group Household 12 (6.4%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 169 (53.5%)
Worked from Home 121 (38.3%)
Walked Only 23 (7.3%)
Car (passenger) 3 (0.9%)

2% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (8 of 369).

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

Bachelor Degree 143 (18.2%)
Certificate III & IV 93 (11.9%)
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 79 (10.1%)
Postgraduate Degree 45 (5.7%)
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 27 (3.4%)

Cars per Dwelling

0 cars 3 (1.1%)
1 car 78 (28.8%)
2 cars 106 (39.1%)
3 cars 49 (18.1%)
4+ cars 33 (12.2%)

Council Rates

Byron
FY 2024-25

Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,577 a year through Byron based on 2024 figures.

Avg residential rate
$1,577/yr
28% above the NSW average of $1,230 · median of 128 councils
Valuation basis
Unimproved Value
land only

How this land is zoned

Share of Federal's area by planning zone
2026-09
  • Rural and farming 91%
  • Residential 5%
  • Environmental 4%

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: Byron

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

In the year to August 2026, 129 new dwellings were approved across Byron. That mix is 109 houses and 20 units. Approvals are down 65.4% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
129dwellings
-65.4% YoY
Houses
109
detached dwellings
Units
20
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.

Climate & Setting

from Murwillumbah (Bray Park), 35.6 km

High rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.

Elevation
153 m
above sea level, at the locality centre
Distance to the ocean
13.1 km
Annual rainfall
1,569 mm
108 rainy days
Summer max (Jan)
29.1°C
4 days ≥ 35°C
Winter min (Jul)
9.1°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

0.6%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.06% in 2021
+0.1 points this year

In postcode 2480, 213 of 37,524 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.3% (1,250 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.9%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.06%
2022
0.11%
2023
0.19%
2024
0.41%
2025
0.57%

Rooftop solar

69
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 6.1 kW each

In postcode 2480, 13,200 rooftop-solar systems totalling 80.8 MW have been installed since 2001, against 19,120 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 817 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
1,029
2020
1,313
2021
1,069
2022
712
2023
745
2024
721
2025
654
2026
510

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
$8,553
Loan amount
$1,312,000
Total interest over 30 years
$1,767,173

6 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 2480.

Deposit
$328,000
Stamp duty
$71,487
Cash needed at settlement
$399,487

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 Richmond

Currently held by Justine Elliot Australian Labor Party

Year Winner 2PP ALP 2PP LNP Swing
2025 Justine Elliot 60.0% 40.0% +1.8
2022 Justine Elliot 58.2% 41.8% -4.2
2019 Justine Elliot 54.1% 45.9% -0.1

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

Lismore District

Currently held by Janelle Saffin Labor

Next state election: 13 March 2027.

Year Winner Won with
2023 Janelle Saffin ALP 65.0%
2019 Janelle Saffin ALP 51.4%
2015 Thomas George NP 52.9%

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 Federal?

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 Federal 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 Federal

Is Federal a safe place to live?

Recorded crime in Federal is low (33/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).

What natural hazards affect Federal?

Federal has no recorded bushfire history. These are locality-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.

Is Federal a good place to live?

Federal has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (60/100), 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 Federal?

Federal, NSW had a population of 784 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for Federal, NSW?

The postcode for Federal, NSW is 2480.

How far is Federal from Sydney?

Federal is 763 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 494 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in Federal?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Federal was $99,320 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 Federal?

The median advertised rent in Federal is $1,200 a week for houses (3 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.

What is the median age in Federal?

The median age of residents in Federal was 47 at the 2021 ABS Census.

Is Federal walkable?

Federal scores 30/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it 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 Federal?

At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Federal, Murwillumbah (Bray Park) (35.6 km away), summer days average 29.1°C, winter nights 9.1°C, 1,569 mm of rain a year over 108 rainy days, and 4 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Federal?

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 Federal belong to?

Federal sits within the Byron local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in Federal?

The average residential rates bill through Byron is $1,577 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near Federal?

Across Byron, 129 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 65.4% 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 Federal in?

Federal sits within the federal Division of Richmond, currently held by Justine Elliot (Australian Labor Party).

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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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