Located in New South Wales, Murwillumbah sits 798 km from Sydney CBD, around 8 hours 40 minutes by car. The town has 7,616 residents, a median age of 46, and a median household income of $59,644 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. The town grew 8.3% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $346 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,733. Murwillumbah is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. Of 9 schools within the town boundary, 2 rank above the state average, and walkability is moderate.
Is Murwillumbah a good town?
Murwillumbah scores a C (40/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on safety and community.
Mixed results
9 schools · 2 above peer schools
Some car dependence
Walkability 52/100 · 798.1 km · 521 min drive to Sydney
Around the state median
Median $940K
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 73/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 46 · 7,616 residents
Liveability Rating
40 / 100 · Ranked #1032 in NSWEach bar is Murwillumbah'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 Murwillumbah?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
40 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataMurwillumbah's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $940,000, roughly 10% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$940,000
Based on 167 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 37 days — median across 86 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 24 sales $822K
- 3 bed 84 sales $938K
- 4 bed 49 sales $1.05M
- 5 bed 7 sales $1.15M
Units
$626,000
Based on 11 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 38 days — median across 6 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 10 sales $619K
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Murwillumbah are currently listed at around $1.06 million on average. Based on 64 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$1.06M
64 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$674K
3 units listed in the last 6 months.
67 of the suburb's 2,972 dwellings (2.3%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Murwillumbah rent for around $885 a week on average, based on 15 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$885/wk
15 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$470/wk
6 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
21 rentals advertised against an estimated 933 rented homes (2.3%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $790/wk
- 16 bonds
- +46% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2484 (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 202590 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 33% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2484.
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$885/week ($46,000 a year) on a $1.06 million median
$470/week ($24,000 a year) on a $674,000 median
Based on a small sample (3 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
18 active Airbnb listings: 17 whole homes and 1 room. Whole homes are about 0.5% of the town'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 Murwillumbah safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Murwillumbah sits in the high band, with 478 incidents recorded in 2025 — down 0.6% on the prior year.
478 offences
0.6% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20258 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
Tweed Shire Council has published 8 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Schools
Nine schools serve Murwillumbah, and results are mixed — some outperforming peer-suburb schools, some below. Murwillumbah Public School and Sathya Sai College lead the pack.
- • 2,733 students across 9 schools (avg 304)
- • Sectors: 4 Government, 3 Independent, 2 Catholic
- • ICSEA 935-1071, median 1039 (above the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Mount St Patrick College (823 students)
Primary
Secondary
Combined
Walkability
Murwillumbah is somewhat walkable on foot — at 52/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car. Within the town there are 2 supermarkets, 10 parks and 10 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Murwillumbah.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 96.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 50.8 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 6.6 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 15.8 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 Murwillumbah.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 28%
- Premises covered
- 3,811
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
Tweed: 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 15 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 5 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this town rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Murwillumbah is home to about 7,600 residents, with a median age of 46, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $60,000 a year, with unemployment at 5.5%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
7,616
Median Age
46
Median Household Income
$59,644/yr
Census Median Rent
$346/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,733/mo
Avg Household Size
2.4
Median Personal Income
$31,408/yr
Unemployment Rate
5.5%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.7%
Total Dwellings
2,972
Owner-Occupier Rate
68.6%
Houses
75.8%
Rental Stress
30.2%
Mortgage Stress
34.9%
Work From Home
11.8%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
100 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 38 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 894 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 80.4%
- English Spoken at Home
- 87.2%
- Employment Rate
- 48.3%
- Completed Year 12
- 34.0%
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.
60 residents (0.8%) 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.
5.0% of residents (362) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (158).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 7,254 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 (17 of 3,008).
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 town against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 3,467 people work here; 3,008 employed residents live here.
Roughly as many jobs as working residents (1.2 per resident). At least 11% of the people who work here must live elsewhere.
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 $1,745 a year through Tweed based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 46%
- Residential 33%
- Parks and recreation 11%
- Environmental 5%
- Infrastructure and transport 3%
- Commercial 2%
- 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: Tweed
In the year to August 2026, 331 new dwellings were approved across Tweed. That mix is 187 houses and 144 units. Approvals are down 49.7% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Tweed Byron 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 Murwillumbah (Bray Park), 0.8 kmHigh rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 4 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 18.5 km
- Annual rainfall
- 1,569 mm
- 108 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 29.1°C
- 4 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 9.1°C
- 0 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
2 facilities within 5 km- 3.0 kmReconstituted Wood Product ManufacturingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 4.0 kmBeer ManufacturingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 2484, 100 of 15,591 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.7% (415 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.3%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2484, 6,039 rooftop-solar systems totalling 38.8 MW have been installed since 2001, against 7,901 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 357 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 town, 5 across postcode 2484.
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 $940,000 this is $340,000 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 Justine Elliot Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Justine Elliot | 60.0% | 40.0% | +1.8 |
| 2022 | Justine Elliot | 58.2% | 41.8% | -4.2 |
| 2019 | Justine Elliot | 54.1% | 45.9% | -0.1 |
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 Janelle Saffin Labor
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Janelle Saffin ALP | 65.0% |
| 2019 | Janelle Saffin ALP | 51.4% |
| 2015 | Thomas George NP | 52.9% |
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 Murwillumbah?
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 7,616 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 Murwillumbah 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 Murwillumbah
Is Murwillumbah a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Murwillumbah is high (73/100, 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 Murwillumbah?
Murwillumbah has no recorded bushfire history. These are town-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Murwillumbah a good place to live?
Murwillumbah has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (40/100), 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 Murwillumbah?
Murwillumbah, NSW had a population of 7,616 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Murwillumbah, NSW?
The postcode for Murwillumbah, NSW is 2484.
How far is Murwillumbah from Sydney?
Murwillumbah is 798 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 521 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Murwillumbah?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Murwillumbah was $59,644 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 Murwillumbah?
The median advertised rent in Murwillumbah is $885 a week for houses (15 listings) and $470 a week for units (6 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Murwillumbah?
The median age of residents in Murwillumbah was 46 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Murwillumbah?
There are 9 schools inside the Murwillumbah boundary: 2 above, 3 at, and 3 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Murwillumbah walkable?
Murwillumbah scores 52/100 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 Murwillumbah?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Murwillumbah, Murwillumbah (Bray Park) (0.8 km away), summer days average 29.1°C, winter nights 9.1°C, 1,569 mm of rain a year over 108 rainy days, and 4 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Murwillumbah?
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 Murwillumbah belong to?
Murwillumbah sits within the Tweed local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Murwillumbah?
The average residential rates bill through Tweed is $1,745 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Murwillumbah?
Across Tweed, 331 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 49.7% 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 Murwillumbah in?
Murwillumbah sits within the federal Division of Richmond, currently held by Justine Elliot (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
- 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.