Karabar NSW 2620
Karabar sits 292 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 3 hours 15 minutes by car. Census data records 8,517 residents with a median age of 38 and a median household income of $103,428 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the middle range nationally. Population grew 3.3% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,950. The area shows high bushfire risk and high crime risk. 3 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is Karabar a good suburb?
Karabar scores a D (27/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit and prices, weaker on schools and safety.
Below the state average
3 schools
Very walkable
Walkability 63/100 · 292 km · 193 min drive to Sydney
More affordable than most
Median $835K · More affordable than 78% of NSW
High bushfire risk
Fire 88/100 · Crime 70/100
Mid-range socio-economic
SEIFA decile 5/10 · median age 38 · 8,517 residents
Liveability Rating
27 / 100 · Ranked #1337 in NSWEach bar is Karabar'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 Karabar?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
27 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataKarabar's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $835,000, about 1% below where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$835,000
25% below its 6 neighbours (median $1,120,000)
Based on 84 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 45 days — median across 33 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 45 sales $785K
- 4 bed 23 sales $915K
- 5 bed 10 sales $1.03M
Units
$448,250
Based on only 6 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Karabar are currently listed at around $869,000 on average. Based on 17 houses listed in the past six months.
$869K
17 houses listed in the last 6 months.
18 of the suburb's 3,075 dwellings (0.6%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Karabar rent for around $650 a week on average, based on 9 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$650/wk
9 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
10 rentals advertised against an estimated 898 rented homes (1.1%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $660/wk
- 59 bonds
- +18% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $470/wk
- 83 bonds
- +29% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2620 (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 2025100 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 30% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2620.
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$650/week ($34,000 a year) on a $869,000 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 Karabar safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Karabar sits in the high band, with 473 incidents recorded in 2025 — up about 9% on the prior year.
473 offences
8.7% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–2025No crash in Karabar killed anyone or put anyone in hospital in 2021–2025.
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
Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council has published 9 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Schools
Three schools serve Karabar, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 1,176 students across 3 schools (avg 392)
- • ICSEA 939-982, median 944 (below the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Karabar High School (723 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Walkability
Karabar is somewhat walkable on foot — at 63/100, 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 Karabar.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 91.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 51.7 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 30.5 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 16.5 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 Karabar.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 100%
- Premises covered
- 3,501
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
Queanbeyan-Palerang: 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 22 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 9 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Karabar is home to about 8,500 residents, with a median age of 38, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $103,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.4%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
8,517
Median Age
38
Median Household Income
$103,428/yr
Census Median Rent
$350/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,950/mo
Avg Household Size
2.6
Median Personal Income
$50,700/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.4%
Unoccupied Dwellings
5.7%
Total Dwellings
3,075
Owner-Occupier Rate
70.8%
Houses
80.4%
Rental Stress
17.6%
Mortgage Stress
22.6%
Work From Home
7.6%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
285 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 45 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 878 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 76.6%
- English Spoken at Home
- 79.3%
- Employment Rate
- 62.5%
- Completed Year 12
- 41.9%
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.
166 residents (1.9%) 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.
9.9% of residents (792) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Canberra (474).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 7,991 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
14% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (614 of 4,315).
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 986 people work here; 4,315 employed residents live here.
Mostly a place people commute from: 0.2 jobs per working resident. At least 77% 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 $1,751 a year through Queanbeyan-Palerang based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 45%
- Environmental 41%
- Parks and recreation 6%
- Infrastructure and transport 4%
- Rural and farming 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 suburb around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Queanbeyan-Palerang
In the year to August 2026, 510 new dwellings were approved across Queanbeyan-Palerang. That mix is 274 houses and 236 units. Approvals are up 230.9% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Ngambri 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 Canberra Airport, 8.0 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, frosty winters.
- Elevation
- 615 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Near high-voltage lines
- 2.1% of addresses
- 81 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- 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
2 facilities within 5 km- 3.2 kmGravel and Sand QuarryingTop reported: Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide
- 4.7 km
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2620, 8,575 rooftop-solar systems totalling 74.7 MW have been installed since 2001, against 17,989 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 840 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
14 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 2620.
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 $835,000 this is $235,000 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 Kristy Mcbain Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Kristy Mcbain | 57.2% | 42.8% | +1.1 |
| 2022 | Kristy Mcbain | 58.2% | 41.8% | -7.3 |
| 2019 | Mike Kelly | 50.9% | 49.1% | +2.1 |
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 Steven Whan Labor
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Steven Whan ALP | 52.3% |
| 2019 | John Barilaro NP | 61.6% |
| 2015 | John Barilaro NP | 52.5% |
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 Karabar?
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 8,517 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
Jerrabomberra NSW 2619
Googong NSW 2620
Queanbeyan NSW 2620
Queanbeyan West NSW 2620
Carwoola NSW 2620
Greenleigh NSW 2620
Compare Karabar 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 Karabar
Is Karabar a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Karabar is high (70/100, 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 Karabar?
Karabar has a high recorded bushfire history (88/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Karabar a good place to live?
Karabar has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (27/100), 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 Karabar?
Karabar, NSW had a population of 8,517 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Karabar, NSW?
The postcode for Karabar, NSW is 2620.
How far is Karabar from Sydney?
Karabar is 292 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 193 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Karabar?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Karabar was $103,428 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 Karabar?
The median advertised rent in Karabar is $650 a week for houses (9 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Karabar?
The median age of residents in Karabar was 38 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Karabar at risk of bushfire?
Karabar has a high recorded bushfire history (88/100). 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 Karabar?
There are 3 schools inside the Karabar boundary: 1 at and 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Karabar walkable?
Karabar scores 63/100 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 weather like in Karabar?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Karabar, Canberra Airport (8 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.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Karabar?
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 Karabar belong to?
Karabar sits within the Queanbeyan-Palerang local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Karabar?
The average residential rates bill through Queanbeyan-Palerang is $1,751 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Karabar?
Across Queanbeyan-Palerang, 510 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 230.9% 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 Karabar in?
Karabar sits within the federal Division of Eden-monaro, currently held by Kristy Mcbain (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 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
- 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.
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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.