Forde ACT 2914
Forde is a suburb in Australian Capital Territory, 15 km from Canberra CBD, around 26 minutes by car. Population is 4,435; the median age is 35 and the median household income is $184,756 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 20% nationally. Population grew 2.9% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $590 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,481. The area shows high bushfire risk and high crime risk. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is Forde a good suburb?
Forde scores a C (45/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on safety.
Mixed results
1 school
Somewhat walkable
Walkability 54/100 · 15.4 km · 26 min drive to Canberra
Median available
Median $1.13M
High bushfire risk
Fire 94/100 · Crime 91/100 · Flood 0/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 10/10 · median age 35 · 4,435 residents
Liveability Rating
45 / 100 · Ranked #65 in ACTEach bar is Forde's rank among ACT suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
How do you rate the liveability in Forde?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
45 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataForde's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $1.13 million, about 10% below where it sat a year earlier.
$1,130,000
14% above its 3 neighbours (median $990,000)
Based on 86 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 21 days — median across 45 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 7 sales $785K
- 3 bed 24 sales $926K
- 4 bed 46 sales $1.22M
- 5 bed 9 sales $1.57M
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Forde are currently listed at around $974,000 on average. Based on 22 houses listed in the past six months.
$974K
22 houses listed in the last 6 months.
22 of the suburb's 1,373 dwellings (1.6%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Forde rent for around $840 a week on average, based on 18 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$840/wk
17% above its 3 neighbours (median $720/wk)
18 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
19 rentals advertised against an estimated 316 rented homes (6.0%) in the last 6 months.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025122 Acceptable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 25% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2914.
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$840/week ($44,000 a year) on a $974,000 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.
Is Forde safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Forde sits in the high band, with 112 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 23% on the prior year.
112 offences
23.1% since 2024Crime Trend
Schools
One school serves Forde, but none have published comparable ratings yet.
Combined
Universities nearby
2.7% of residents here are full-time university students aged 15–24.
Distance is measured to the suburb centre. A campus nearby does not by itself mean a student rental market — most suburbs within a few kilometres of one have a student share close to the national norm, and the figure above is what tells them apart.
Walkability
Forde is somewhat walkable on foot — at 54/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Forde.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 29.8 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 25.4 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 15.2 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 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 Forde.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 100%
- Premises covered
- 1,502
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
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 12 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 2 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
Forde is home to about 4,400 residents, with a median age of 35, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $185,000 a year, with unemployment at 2.7%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
4,435
Median Age
35
Median Household Income
$184,756/yr
Census Median Rent
$590/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,481/mo
Avg Household Size
3.2
Median Personal Income
$80,496/yr
Unemployment Rate
2.7%
Unoccupied Dwellings
2.6%
Total Dwellings
1,373
Owner-Occupier Rate
77.0%
Houses
84.7%
Rental Stress
16.6%
Mortgage Stress
16.1%
Work From Home
14.4%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
12 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 16 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 313 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 66.3%
- English Spoken at Home
- 66.1%
- Employment Rate
- 77.6%
- Completed Year 12
- 56.5%
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.
183 residents (4.1%) 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.
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 4,118 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
29% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (730 of 2,524).
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.
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 373 people work here; 2,524 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.1 jobs per working resident. At least 85% of employed residents must work outside the suburb.
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 $3,105 a year through Unincorporated ACT based on 2026 figures.
Building Approvals: Unincorporated ACT
In the year to August 2026, 3,750 new dwellings were approved across Unincorporated ACT. That mix is 813 houses and 2,937 units. Approvals are down 47.7% on the same period a year earlier.
Air Quality
MODERATEPM2.5 averaged 6.6 µg/m³ in 2025 — below Australia's NEPM annual standard (8 µg/m³), slightly above the stricter WHO guideline (5 µg/m³). 1 day exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 11 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.41 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 2 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.
From the Florey monitoring station, 11.0 km away. ACT Health publishes these readings unverified, so they may still be revised.
Climate & Setting
from Canberra Airport, 16.5 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, frosty winters.
- Elevation
- 647 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Annual rainfall
- 622 mm
- 69 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 28.5°C
- 10 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 0.8°C
- 61 frost days ≤ 0°C
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
1 facility within 5 km- 4.8 km
EV adoption
In postcode 2914, 791 of 21,560 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 6.4% (1,375 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 10.0%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2914, 5,268 rooftop-solar systems totalling 42.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 11,226 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 478 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
FY2026-27No First Home Owner Grant is available in this state — the scheme has been replaced with a separate stamp-duty concession.
The Home Buyer Concession Scheme (HBCS) instead provides a stamp-duty reduction of up to ~$34,000 for eligible buyers under the income threshold.
Mortgage repayments
2 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 16 across postcode 2914.
Conveyance 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 ACT Revenue Office
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 2026-10-26 — 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 Andrew Leigh Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Andrew Leigh | 72.1% | 27.9% | +6.4 |
| 2022 | Andrew Leigh | 65.7% | 34.3% | -5.1 |
| 2019 | Andrew Leigh | 60.6% | 39.4% | +1.3 |
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
Elected at the 2024 election:
- Michael Pettersson ACT Labor
- Suzanne Orr ACT Labor
- Leanne Castley Canberra Liberals
- James Milligan Canberra Liberals
- Andrew Braddock The ACT Greens
Next election: 21 October 2028.
| Year | Seats won |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 2 ACT Labor · 2 Canberra Liberals · 1 The ACT Greens |
| 2020 | 2 Canberra Liberals · 2 Australian Labor Party · 1 ACT Greens |
A vacancy here is filled by a recount of the original votes, not a by-election, so a member listed may since have been replaced. Boundaries were last redrawn in 2023. Results: Elections ACT.
Looking at a specific address in Forde?
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 4,435 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
- #2 in Canberra's highest-income suburbs
- #5 in Canberra suburbs where young families live
- #7 in Canberra suburbs where the most Tamil is spoken at home
- #9 in Canberra suburbs where the most Hindi is spoken at home
- #12 in Canberra suburbs with the best NBN connectivity
- #12 in Where the Sri Lankan community lives in Canberra
- #13 in Where the Korean community lives in Canberra
Checking the whole city?
Suburbs to avoid in Canberra There is no list of bad suburbs, but there are hazards the state measures and publishes — recorded crime, bushfire exposure, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Canberra suburbs ranked on them, with what the numbers do and don't mean.Nearby suburbs
Compare Forde to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other ACT suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Forde
Is Forde a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Forde is high (91/100, ranked against other ACT 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 Forde?
Forde has a high recorded bushfire history (94/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). No mapped flood overlay applies. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Forde a good place to live?
Forde has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (45/100), ranked against other ACT 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 Forde?
Forde, ACT had a population of 4,435 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Forde, ACT?
The postcode for Forde, ACT is 2914.
How far is Forde from Canberra?
Forde is 15 km from Canberra CBD by road, about 26 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Forde?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Forde was $184,756 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 Forde?
The median advertised rent in Forde is $840 a week for houses (18 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Forde?
The median age of residents in Forde was 35 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Forde at risk of bushfire?
Forde has a high recorded bushfire history (94/100). 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 Forde?
There is 1 school inside the Forde boundary, none of which has enough NAPLAN and ICSEA data for a quality band.
Is Forde walkable?
Forde scores 54/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it somewhat 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 Forde?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Forde (Florey) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 6.6 µg/m³ and PM10 of 11.0 µg/m³. That puts Forde below the Australian NEPM annual standard of 8 µg/m³ but above the stricter WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Forde?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Forde, Canberra Airport (16.5 km away), summer days average 28.5°C, winter nights 0.8°C, 622 mm of rain a year over 69 rainy days, and 10 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
What first-home buyer assistance is available in Forde?
ACT does not have a First Home Owner Grant — the scheme was replaced with the Home Buyer Concession Scheme, a stamp-duty reduction for eligible first-home buyers under the income threshold. Confirm eligibility with the ACT Revenue Office before signing a contract.
What council does Forde belong to?
Forde sits within the Unincorporated ACT local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Forde?
The average residential rates bill through Unincorporated ACT is $3,105 a year (2026). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Forde?
Across Unincorporated ACT, 3,750 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 47.7% 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 Forde in?
Forde sits within the federal Division of Fenner, currently held by Andrew Leigh (Australian Labor Party).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2026–27
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2025
- Air quality · 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- State electorate · 2024
- 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.