Kotara NSW 2289
Located in New South Wales, Kotara sits 157 km from Sydney CBD, around 2 hours by car. The suburb has 3,980 residents, a median age of 39, and a median household income of $108,004 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 20% nationally. The suburb grew 1.3% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $460 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,167. Kotara is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. 3 schools sit within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is Kotara a good suburb?
Kotara scores a C (45/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, prices, and community, weaker on schools and safety.
Below the state average
3 schools · Bottom 21% in NSW
Very walkable
Walkability 66/100 · 157.2 km · 120 min drive to Sydney
More affordable than most
Median $1.05M
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 94/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 9/10 · median age 39 · 3,980 residents
Liveability Rating
45 / 100 · Ranked #881 in NSWEach bar is Kotara'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 Kotara?
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 dataKotara's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $1.05 million, about 10% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,050,000
19% below its 6 neighbours (median $1,300,000)
Based on 89 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 22 days — median across 33 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 6 sales $1.1M
- 3 bed 54 sales $1M
- 4 bed 12 sales $1.4M
- 5 bed 8 sales $1.57M
Units
$745,000
Based on only 8 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Typically sold in 78 days — median across 3 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Kotara are currently listed at around $1.02 million on average. Based on 17 houses listed in the past six months.
$1.02M
17 houses listed in the last 6 months.
17 of the suburb's 1,476 dwellings (1.2%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Kotara rent for around $760 a week on average, based on 14 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$760/wk
In line with its 3 neighbours (median $772/wk)
14 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$800/wk
3 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
17 rentals advertised against an estimated 319 rented homes (5.3%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $750/wk
- 57 bonds
- +36% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $580/wk
- 17 bonds
- +47% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2289 (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 202579 Severely unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 38% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2289.
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$760/week ($40,000 a year) on a $1.02 million median
Not enough unit sales and rentals in the window to calculate a yield.
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 Kotara safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Kotara sits in the high band, with 651 incidents recorded in 2025 — up about 5% on the prior year.
651 offences
4.8% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20255 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
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
Newcastle City Council has published 2 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 Kotara, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 668 students across 3 schools (avg 223)
- • Sectors: 2 Government, 1 Catholic
- • ICSEA 816-1104, median 1069 (above the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: St James' Primary School (334 students)
Primary
Combined
Universities nearby
- 5.7 kmThe University of Newcastle (Callaghan)University of Newcastle · 326 courses
- 7.8 kmThe University of Newcastle (Newcastle City)University of Newcastle · 108 courses
2.4% 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
Kotara is somewhat walkable on foot — at 66/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car. Within the suburb there are 3 supermarkets, 9 parks and 17 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Kotara.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 136.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 87.7 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 64.7 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 23.8 hours
- Direct to CBD (peak)
- 330 min wait
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 Kotara.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 30%
- Premises covered
- 2,216
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
Newcastle: 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 11 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 4 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Kotara is home to about 4,000 residents, with a median age of 39, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $108,000 a year, with unemployment at 4.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
3,980
Median Age
39
Median Household Income
$108,004/yr
Census Median Rent
$460/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,167/mo
Avg Household Size
2.6
Median Personal Income
$48,204/yr
Unemployment Rate
4.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
4.6%
Total Dwellings
1,476
Owner-Occupier Rate
78.4%
Houses
88.1%
Rental Stress
22.1%
Mortgage Stress
24.1%
Work From Home
33.8%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
8 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 10 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 315 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 84.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 89.6%
- Employment Rate
- 65.7%
- Completed Year 12
- 47.7%
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.
90 residents (2.3%) 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.
4.7% of residents (177) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (121).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 3,749 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
1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (29 of 2,114).
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
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,783 a year through Newcastle based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 56%
- Parks and recreation 12%
- Environmental 9%
- Commercial 8%
- Infrastructure and transport 8%
- Industrial 5%
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: Newcastle
In the year to August 2026, 912 new dwellings were approved across Newcastle. That mix is 266 houses and 646 units. Approvals are up 77.4% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Awabakal 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 6.5 µg/m³ in 2025 — below Australia's NEPM annual standard (8 µg/m³), slightly above the stricter WHO guideline (5 µg/m³). 3 days exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 21.7 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.64 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 8 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 1.
From the Newcastle monitoring station, 5.9 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS, 9.8 kmHigh rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 54 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 4.3 km
- Annual rainfall
- 1,025 mm
- 91 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 25.4°C
- 4 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 10.2°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
3 facilities within 5 km- 3.4 kmRailway Rolling Stock Manufacturing and Repair ServicesTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Xylenes (individual or mixed isomers) · Cumene (1-methylethylbenzene)
- 4.2 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Ammonia (total) · Total Phosphorus
- 4.6 kmPrepared Animal and Bird Feed ManufacturingTop reported: Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide
EV adoption
In postcode 2289, 152 of 14,646 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.8% (550 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 4.8%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2289, 2,789 rooftop-solar systems totalling 18.2 MW have been installed since 2001, against 7,793 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 246 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
3 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 10 across postcode 2289.
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 $1,050,000 this is $450,000 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 Sharon Claydon Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Sharon Claydon | 70.8% | 29.2% | +2.9 |
| 2022 | Sharon Claydon | 68.0% | 32.0% | -4.2 |
| 2019 | Sharon Claydon | 63.8% | 36.2% | +0.0 |
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 Jodie Harrison Labor
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Jodie Harrison ALP | 71.1% |
| 2019 | Jodie Harrison ALP | 62.4% |
| 2015 | Jodie Harrison ALP | 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 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 Kotara?
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 3,980 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
Nearby suburbs
New Lambton NSW 2305
Adamstown NSW 2289
Adamstown Heights NSW 2289
New Lambton Heights NSW 2305
Garden Suburb NSW 2289
Kotara South NSW 2289
Compare Kotara to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other NSW suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about Kotara
Is Kotara a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Kotara is high (94/100, 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 Kotara?
Kotara has no recorded bushfire history. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Kotara a good place to live?
Kotara has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (45/100), 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 Kotara?
Kotara, NSW had a population of 3,980 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Kotara, NSW?
The postcode for Kotara, NSW is 2289.
How far is Kotara from Sydney?
Kotara is 157 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 120 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Kotara?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Kotara was $108,004 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 Kotara?
The median advertised rent in Kotara is $760 a week for houses (14 listings) and $800 a week for units (3 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Kotara?
The median age of residents in Kotara was 39 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Kotara?
There are 3 schools inside the Kotara boundary: 2 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Kotara walkable?
Kotara scores 66/100 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 Kotara?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Kotara (Newcastle) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 6.5 µg/m³ and PM10 of 21.7 µg/m³. That puts Kotara 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 Kotara?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Kotara, Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS (9.8 km away), summer days average 25.4°C, winter nights 10.2°C, 1,025 mm of rain a year over 91 rainy days, and 4 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Kotara?
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 Kotara belong to?
Kotara sits within the Newcastle local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Kotara?
The average residential rates bill through Newcastle is $1,783 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Kotara?
Across Newcastle, 912 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 77.4% 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 Kotara in?
Kotara sits within the federal Division of Newcastle, currently held by Sharon Claydon (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
- 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.
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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.