North Rothbury NSW 2335
Located in New South Wales, North Rothbury sits 182 km from Sydney CBD, around 2 hours 10 minutes by car. The town has 2,502 residents, a median age of 30, and a median household income of $114,712 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the middle range nationally. The town more than tripled between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $450 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,000. North Rothbury is characterised by high crime risk. Walkability is low.
Is North Rothbury a good town?
North Rothbury scores a D (27/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on prices, weaker on transit and safety.
Car-dependent
Walkability 14/100 · 182 km · 129 min drive to Sydney
More affordable than most
Median $875K · More affordable than 85% of NSW
High crime risk
Fire 47/100 · Crime 92/100
Mid-range socio-economic
SEIFA decile 6/10 · median age 30 · 2,502 residents
Liveability Rating
27 / 100 · Ranked #1340 in NSWEach bar is North Rothbury'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 North Rothbury?
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 dataNorth Rothbury's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $875,000, roughly 11% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$875,000
Based on 163 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 34 days — median across 119 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 15 sales $795K
- 4 bed 129 sales $885K
- 5 bed 14 sales $1.06M
Land
$765,000
Based on only 3 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Typically sold in 11 days — median across 3 sales that recorded a listing period
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in North Rothbury are currently listed at around $919,000 on average. Based on 67 houses listed in the past six months.
$919K
67 houses listed in the last 6 months.
67 of the suburb's 855 dwellings (7.8%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in North Rothbury rent for around $740 a week on average, based on 100 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$740/wk
100 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$480/wk
8 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
108 rentals advertised against an estimated 311 rented homes (34.7%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $635/wk
- 18 bonds
- +41% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $480/wk
- 11 bonds
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2335 (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 202578 Severely unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 38% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2335.
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$740/week ($38,000 a year) on a $919,000 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 North Rothbury safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in North Rothbury sits in the high band, with 330 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 54% on the prior year.
330 offences
53.5% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20253 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 1 of them fatal
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
Cessnock City 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.
- Black Creek Nulkaba to Branxton (Stage 2) Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2026
- Greta Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2025
- Greta Flood Study 2019
- Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan Report Cessnock City (Black Creek Stage 1) 2016
- Black Creek Flood Study: Nulkaba to Branxton (Stage 2) 2015
Schools
Walkability
North Rothbury is very car-dependent on foot — at 14/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside North Rothbury.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 42.2 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 22.9 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 11.4 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 22.8 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 North Rothbury.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 84%
- Premises covered
- 2,189
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
Cessnock: 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 5 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the town closely.
North Rothbury is home to about 2,500 residents, and skews young, with a median age of 30 against the national 38. Median household income runs at $115,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.8%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
2,502
Median Age
30
Median Household Income
$114,712/yr
Census Median Rent
$450/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,000/mo
Avg Household Size
2.9
Median Personal Income
$53,300/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.8%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.3%
Total Dwellings
855
Owner-Occupier Rate
63.6%
Houses
96.5%
Rental Stress
20.4%
Mortgage Stress
20.9%
Work From Home
17.3%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 87.1%
- English Spoken at Home
- 91.6%
- Employment Rate
- 71.8%
- Completed Year 12
- 34.9%
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.
28 residents (1.1%) 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.
10.8% of residents (242) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (228).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 2,231 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
2% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (24 of 1,297).
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 $1,405 a year through Cessnock based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 42%
- Residential 35%
- Environmental 19%
- Infrastructure and transport 4%
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: Cessnock
In the year to August 2026, 719 new dwellings were approved across Cessnock. That mix is 560 houses and 159 units. Approvals are down 31.1% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Mindaribba 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
This station does not measure fine particles (PM2.5).
PM10 averaged 19.5 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 6.
From the Singleton South monitoring station, 17.3 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Cessnock Airport AWS, 11.4 kmModerate rainfall — hot summers, cold winters with occasional frost.
- Elevation
- 70 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 43.3 km
- Annual rainfall
- 804 mm
- 80 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 30.0°C
- 20 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 5.1°C
- 11 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- 2.6 kmRail Freight TransportTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Benzene · Cumene (1-methylethylbenzene)
- 3.4 km
EV adoption
In postcode 2335, 25 of 8,193 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.5% (204 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.8%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2335, 2,434 rooftop-solar systems totalling 19.8 MW have been installed since 2001, against 2,964 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 247 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, 7 across postcode 2335.
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 $875,000 this is $275,000 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 Dan Repacholi Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dan Repacholi | 59.5% | 40.5% | +4.7 |
| 2022 | Dan Repacholi | 54.0% | 46.0% | -1.1 |
| 2019 | Joel Fitzgibbon | 53.0% | 47.0% | +9.5 |
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 Clayton Barr Labor
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Clayton Barr ALP | 73.4% |
| 2019 | Clayton Barr ALP | 69.3% |
| 2015 | Clayton Barr ALP | 72.0% |
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 North Rothbury?
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 2,502 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 North Rothbury 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 North Rothbury
Is North Rothbury a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in North Rothbury 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 North Rothbury?
North Rothbury has a moderate recorded bushfire history (47/100, 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 North Rothbury a good place to live?
North Rothbury 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 North Rothbury?
North Rothbury, NSW had a population of 2,502 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for North Rothbury, NSW?
The postcode for North Rothbury, NSW is 2335.
How far is North Rothbury from Sydney?
North Rothbury is 182 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 129 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in North Rothbury?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in North Rothbury was $114,712 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 North Rothbury?
The median advertised rent in North Rothbury is $740 a week for houses (100 listings) and $480 a week for units (8 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in North Rothbury?
The median age of residents in North Rothbury was 30 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is North Rothbury at risk of bushfire?
North Rothbury has a moderate recorded bushfire history (47/100). 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.
Is North Rothbury walkable?
North Rothbury scores 14/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very car-dependent. 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 North Rothbury?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to North Rothbury, Cessnock Airport AWS (11.4 km away), summer days average 30°C, winter nights 5.1°C, 804 mm of rain a year over 80 rainy days, and 20 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in North Rothbury?
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 North Rothbury belong to?
North Rothbury sits within the Cessnock local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in North Rothbury?
The average residential rates bill through Cessnock is $1,405 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near North Rothbury?
Across Cessnock, 719 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 31.1% 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 North Rothbury in?
North Rothbury sits within the federal Division of Hunter, currently held by Dan Repacholi (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.