Grafton NSW 2460
Grafton is a suburb in New South Wales, 611 km from Sydney CBD, around 6 hours 40 minutes by car. Population is 10,563; the median age is 44 and the median household income is $61,308 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. The suburb grew 1.5% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $300 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,348. Grafton is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. 5 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is high.
Is Grafton a good suburb?
Grafton scores a C (33/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit and prices, weaker on schools, safety, and community.
Below the state average
5 schools · Bottom 11% in NSW
Very walkable
Walkability 83/100 · 610.9 km · 402 min drive to Sydney
More affordable than most
Median $530K · Cheaper than 82% of NSW
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 92/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 44 · 10,563 residents
Liveability Rating
33 / 100 · Ranked #1187 in NSWEach bar is Grafton'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 Grafton?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
33 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataGrafton's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $530,000, about 7% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$530,000
Based on 306 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 26 days — median across 179 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 32 sales $414K
- 3 bed 158 sales $505K
- 4 bed 73 sales $675K
- 5 bed 14 sales $740K
- 6 bed 5 sales $712K
Units
$390,000
Based on 45 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 28 days — median across 24 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 25 sales $365K
- 3 bed 12 sales $504K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Grafton are currently listed at around $605,000 on average. Based on 45 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$605K
45 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$405K
7 units listed in the last 6 months.
52 of the suburb's 4,309 dwellings (1.2%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Grafton rent for around $565 a week on average, based on 32 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$565/wk
32 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$400/wk
10 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
42 rentals advertised against an estimated 1,508 rented homes (2.8%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $470/wk
- 75 bonds
- +34% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $450/wk
- 20 bonds
- +37% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2460 (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 2025122 Acceptable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 25% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2460.
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$565/week ($29,000 a year) on a $605,000 median
$400/week ($21,000 a year) on a $405,000 median
Based on a small sample (7 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.
Short-Stay Rentals
27 active Airbnb listings: 21 whole homes and 6 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.5% of the suburb'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 Grafton safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Grafton sits in the high band, with 1,428 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 14% on the prior year.
1,428 offences
13.9% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202519 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 1 of them fatal
Where they happened
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the suburb 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
Clarence Valley Council has published 10 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Schools
Five schools serve Grafton, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 1,970 students across 4 schools (avg 492)
- • Sectors: 3 Government, 1 Independent, 1 Catholic
- • ICSEA 907-1020, median 940 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Grafton High School (768 students)
Primary
Secondary
Walkability
Grafton is very walkable on foot — at 83/100, most daily errands can be done on foot. Within the suburb there are 3 supermarkets, 18 parks and 5 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Grafton.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 93.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 49.9 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 19.0 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 15.3 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 Grafton.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 40%
- Premises covered
- 5,999
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
Clarence Valley: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 26 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Grafton is home to about 10,600 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 6.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
10,563
Median Age
44
Median Household Income
$61,308/yr
Census Median Rent
$300/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,348/mo
Avg Household Size
2.2
Median Personal Income
$33,332/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
7.2%
Total Dwellings
4,309
Owner-Occupier Rate
65.0%
Houses
76.1%
Rental Stress
25.4%
Mortgage Stress
26.4%
Work From Home
8.3%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
74 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 105 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 1,458 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 88.1%
- English Spoken at Home
- 91.1%
- Employment Rate
- 48.2%
- Completed Year 12
- 30.1%
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.
100 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.
3.5% of residents (352) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Brisbane (157).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 9,974 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
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,380 a year through Clarence Valley based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 44%
- Environmental 22%
- Parks and recreation 13%
- Rural and farming 11%
- Infrastructure and transport 6%
- Commercial 3%
- Industrial 2%
Zoning sets what may be built, not what is there today. A single address can sit in a different zone to the suburb around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Clarence Valley
In the year to August 2026, 246 new dwellings were approved across Clarence Valley. That mix is 213 houses and 33 units. Approvals are down 80.4% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Grafton-Ngerrie 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 Grafton Research Stn, 7.1 kmHigh rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 10 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 35.5 km
- Annual rainfall
- 1,060 mm
- 89 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 30.0°C
- 12 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 8.3°C
- 0 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
4 facilities within 5 km- 1.0 kmOther Construction Material MiningTop reported: Manganese & compounds · Fluoride compounds · Zinc and compounds
- 1.3 km
- 1.9 kmPetroleum Product WholesalingTop reported: n-Hexane · Toluene (methylbenzene) · Benzene
- 2.5 kmRailway Rolling Stock Manufacturing and Repair ServicesTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Cumene (1-methylethylbenzene)
EV adoption
In postcode 2460, 53 of 24,792 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.1% (514 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.3%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2460, 7,626 rooftop-solar systems totalling 49.4 MW have been installed since 2001, against 12,604 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 416 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 $530,000 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 Kevin Hogan The Nationals
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kevin Hogan | 40.7% | 59.3% | +1.4 |
| 2022 | Kevin Hogan | 39.3% | 60.7% | +1.3 |
| 2019 | Kevin Hogan | 40.5% | 59.5% | +7.2 |
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
Currently held by Richie Williamson The Nationals
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Richie Williamson NP | 64.2% |
| 2019 | Chris Gulaptis NP | 64.5% |
| 2015 | Chris Gulaptis NP | 59.7% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: © State of New South Wales through the NSW Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0, adapted.
Looking at a specific address in Grafton?
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 10,563 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 Grafton 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 Grafton
Is Grafton a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Grafton is high (92/100, ranked against other NSW 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 Grafton?
Grafton has no recorded bushfire history. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Grafton a good place to live?
Grafton has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (33/100), 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 Grafton?
Grafton, NSW had a population of 10,563 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Grafton, NSW?
The postcode for Grafton, NSW is 2460.
How far is Grafton from Sydney?
Grafton is 611 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 402 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Grafton?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Grafton was $61,308 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 Grafton?
The median advertised rent in Grafton is $565 a week for houses (32 listings) and $400 a week for units (10 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Grafton?
The median age of residents in Grafton was 44 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Grafton?
There are 5 schools inside the Grafton boundary: 3 at and 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Grafton walkable?
Grafton scores 83/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very walkable. 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 Grafton?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Grafton, Grafton Research Stn (7.1 km away), summer days average 30°C, winter nights 8.3°C, 1,060 mm of rain a year over 89 rainy days, and 12 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Grafton?
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 Grafton belong to?
Grafton sits within the Clarence Valley local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Grafton?
The average residential rates bill through Clarence Valley is $1,380 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Grafton?
Across Clarence Valley, 246 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 80.4% 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 Grafton in?
Grafton sits within the federal Division of Page, currently held by Kevin Hogan (The Nationals).
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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
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- 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.