Forest Hill NSW 2651
Forest Hill sits 457 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 5 hours 10 minutes by car. Census data records 3,081 residents with a median age of 25 and a median household income of $92,976 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the lower-middle tier nationally. Population grew 35.5% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $310 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,300. The area shows high crime risk. 1 school sits within the town boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is Forest Hill a good town?
Forest Hill scores a C (39/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on prices.
Mixed results
1 school
Some car dependence
Walkability 58/100 · 456.9 km · 308 min drive to Sydney
More affordable than most
Median $602K · More affordable than 89% of NSW
Moderate crime risk
Fire 28/100 · Crime 66/100
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 4/10 · median age 25 · 3,081 residents
Liveability Rating
39 / 100 · Ranked #1056 in NSWEach bar is Forest Hill'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.
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 Forest Hill?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
39 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataForest Hill's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $602,000, roughly 12% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$602,500
15% below its 3 neighbours (median $712,000)
Based on 50 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 32 days — median across 18 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 26 sales $558K
- 4 bed 23 sales $708K
Land
$281,500
Based on 10 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 65 days — median across 5 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Forest Hill are currently listed at around $681,000 on average. Based on 16 houses listed in the past six months.
$681K
16 houses listed in the last 6 months.
16 of the suburb's 831 dwellings (1.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Forest Hill rent for around $580 a week on average, based on 11 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$580/wk
11 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
11 rentals advertised against an estimated 300 rented homes (3.7%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $520/wk
- 10 bonds
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2651 (NSW publishes bonds by postcode, which can cover several suburbs). Asking rents above come from advertised listings.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025117 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 26% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2651.
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$580/week ($30,000 a year) on a $681,000 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 Forest Hill safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Forest Hill sits in the moderate band, with 151 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 45% on the prior year.
151 offences
45.2% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20252 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
Wagga Wagga City Council has published 6 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
- Tarcutta, Ladysmith and Uranquinty Floodplain Risk Management Studies and Plans 2021
- Wagga Wagga Major Overland Flow Floodplain Risk management Study and Plan 2021
- Wagga Wagga Revised Murrumbidgee River Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2018
- Tarcutta, Ladysmith & Uranquinty Flood Studies 2014
- Murrumbidgee River - Flood Modelling 2011
Schools
One school serve Forest Hill, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 159 students in one school (avg 159)
Primary
Walkability
Forest Hill is somewhat walkable on foot — at 58/100, 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 Forest Hill.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 12.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 5.1 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 5.7 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 10.3 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 Forest Hill.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 58%
- Premises covered
- 1,024
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
Wagga Wagga: 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 6 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 4 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this town rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Forest Hill is home to about 3,100 residents, and skews young, with a median age of 25 against the national 38. Median household income runs at $93,000 a year, with unemployment at 2.5%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
3,081
Median Age
25
Median Household Income
$92,976/yr
Census Median Rent
$310/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,300/mo
Avg Household Size
2.8
Median Personal Income
$48,464/yr
Unemployment Rate
2.5%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.7%
Total Dwellings
831
Owner-Occupier Rate
63.9%
Houses
89.9%
Rental Stress
17.3%
Mortgage Stress
16.8%
Work From Home
6.0%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 80.3%
- English Spoken at Home
- 81.6%
- Employment Rate
- 68.9%
- Completed Year 12
- 40.5%
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.
61 residents (2.0%) 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.
13.9% of residents (396) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Brisbane (121).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 2,855 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 1,667 people work here; 1,667 employed residents live here.
Roughly as many jobs as working residents (1.0 per resident).
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 $1,254 a year through Wagga Wagga based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 83%
- Infrastructure and transport 12%
- Residential 4%
- 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: Wagga Wagga
In the year to August 2026, 548 new dwellings were approved across Wagga Wagga. That mix is 346 houses and 202 units. Approvals are up 139.1% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Wagga Wagga 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
MODERATEPM2.5 averaged 7.7 µg/m³ in 2025 — below Australia's NEPM annual standard (8 µg/m³), slightly above the stricter WHO guideline (5 µg/m³). 7 days exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 23.1 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 14 · ozone 0.
From the Wagga Wagga North monitoring station, 10.9 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Wagga Wagga AMO, 1.0 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, cold winters with occasional frost.
- Elevation
- 204 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Annual rainfall
- 565 mm
- 67 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 31.8°C
- 26 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 3.4°C
- 24 frost days ≤ 0°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
1 facility within 5 km- 0.9 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · n-Hexane · Benzene
EV adoption
In postcode 2651, 3 of 1,781 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 1.9% (34 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.1%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2651, 372 rooftop-solar systems totalling 2.4 MW have been installed since 2001, against 890 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 22 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 $602,500 this is $2,500 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 Michael Mccormack The Nationals
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Michael Mccormack | 37.4% | 62.6% | -2.9 |
| 2022 | Michael Mccormack | 35.1% | 64.8% | -4.6 |
| 2019 | Michael Mccormack | 30.5% | 69.5% | +3.0 |
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 Joe McGirr Independent
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Joe McGirr IND | 72.4% |
| 2019 | Joe McGirr IND | 65.5% |
| 2015 | Daryl Maguire LP | 62.9% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this 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 Forest Hill?
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 3,081 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 Forest Hill 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 Forest Hill
Is Forest Hill a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Forest Hill is moderate (66/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Forest Hill?
Forest Hill 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 Forest Hill a good place to live?
Forest Hill has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (39/100), 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 Forest Hill?
Forest Hill, NSW had a population of 3,081 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Forest Hill, NSW?
The postcode for Forest Hill, NSW is 2651.
How far is Forest Hill from Sydney?
Forest Hill is 457 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 308 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Forest Hill?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Forest Hill was $92,976 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 Forest Hill?
The median advertised rent in Forest Hill is $580 a week for houses (11 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Forest Hill?
The median age of residents in Forest Hill was 25 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Forest Hill at risk of bushfire?
Forest Hill 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 Forest Hill?
There is 1 school inside the Forest Hill boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Forest Hill walkable?
Forest Hill scores 58/100 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 Forest Hill?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Forest Hill (Wagga Wagga North) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 7.7 µg/m³ and PM10 of 23.1 µg/m³. That puts Forest Hill 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 Forest Hill?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Forest Hill, Wagga Wagga AMO (1 km away), summer days average 31.8°C, winter nights 3.4°C, 565 mm of rain a year over 67 rainy days, and 26 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Forest Hill?
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 Forest Hill belong to?
Forest Hill sits within the Wagga Wagga local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Forest Hill?
The average residential rates bill through Wagga Wagga is $1,254 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Forest Hill?
Across Wagga Wagga, 548 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 139.1% 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 Forest Hill in?
Forest Hill sits within the federal Division of Riverina, currently held by Michael Mccormack (The Nationals).
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
- 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 · 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.
Was the information on this page useful to you?
Thanks! Anything we could improve?
We hate spam as much as you do — we'll never use your email for marketing, and we might not be able to reply to everyone.
Thanks for your feedback! 🙏
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.