Orchard Hills sits 51 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 51 minutes by car. Census data records 1,798 residents with a median age of 47 and a median household income of $118,508 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 40% nationally. Population fell 4.2% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $450 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,550. The area shows high bushfire risk and high crime risk. Of 4 schools within the suburb boundary, 1 ranks above the state average, and walkability is low.
Is Orchard Hills a good suburb?
Orchard Hills scores a C (38/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on transit and prices.
Mixed results
4 schools · 1 above peer schools
Car-dependent
Walkability 0/100 · 51.4 km · 51 min drive to Sydney
Above the state median
Median $3.1M · Less affordable than 92% of NSW
Moderate bushfire risk
Fire 66/100 · Crime 66/100
Advantaged
SEIFA decile 7/10 · median age 47 · 1,798 residents
Liveability Rating
38 / 100 · Ranked #1059 in NSWEach bar is Orchard Hills'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 Orchard Hills?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
38 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median Land Price
Public listings dataOrchard Hills's land market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $905,000, roughly 15% below where it sat a year earlier.
Land
$905,000
Based on 23 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Houses
$3,105,000
164% above its 11 neighbours (median $1,175,000)
Based on 20 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 26 days — median across 5 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 4 bed 6 sales $4.04M
- 5 bed 8 sales $4.25M
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Orchard Hills rent for around $1,300 a week on average, based on 3 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$1,300/wk
3 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
3 rentals advertised against an estimated 81 rented homes (3.7%) in the last 6 months.
Short-Stay Rentals
1 active Airbnb listing: 1 whole home and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.2% 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 Orchard Hills safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Orchard Hills sits in the moderate band, with 88 incidents recorded in 2025 — up about 2% on the prior year.
88 offences
2.3% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202525 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
Penrith City Council has published 13 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
- Rickabys Creek Catchment Flood Study 2025
- Peach Tree & Lower Surveyors Creeks Catchment Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2025
- College, Orth and Werrington Creeks Catchment Floodplain Risk Management Study & Plan 2021 2022
- Little Creek Catchment Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2022
- South Creek Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2020
Schools
Four schools serve Orchard Hills, and performance is broadly at peer-suburb levels with one standout. Montgrove College leads the pack.
- • 2,875 students across 4 schools (avg 719)
- • Sectors: 3 Independent, 1 Government
- • ICSEA 995-1106, median 1074 (above the national baseline of 1000)
- • Largest: Penrith Anglican College (1,214 students)
Primary
Combined
Universities nearby
2.8% 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
Orchard Hills is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car.
We hold no public transport timetable data for this area, so public transport is not rated here and the score is spread across the remaining components. It is not counted as zero.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Orchard Hills.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 52.8 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 35.3 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 27.6 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 19.2 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 Orchard Hills.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 38%
- Premises covered
- 711
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
Penrith: 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 6 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.
Orchard Hills is home to about 1,800 residents, with a median age of 47, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $119,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.3%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,798
Median Age
47
Median Household Income
$118,508/yr
Census Median Rent
$450/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,550/mo
Avg Household Size
3.1
Median Personal Income
$43,888/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.3%
Unoccupied Dwellings
5.6%
Total Dwellings
558
Owner-Occupier Rate
85.4%
Houses
96.8%
Rental Stress
19.7%
Mortgage Stress
25.8%
Work From Home
36.4%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 74.2%
- English Spoken at Home
- 73.2%
- Employment Rate
- 57.2%
- Completed Year 12
- 38.2%
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.
10 residents (0.6%) 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.
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,735 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
4% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (37 of 887).
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 $1,547 a year through Penrith based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Environmental 43%
- Rural and farming 33%
- Infrastructure and transport 11%
- Parks and recreation 6%
- Industrial 3%
- Residential 3%
- Not zoned 1%
Planning zones cover 99% of the suburb's area. The rest is unzoned land such as water or road reserve.
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: Penrith
In the year to August 2026, 1,063 new dwellings were approved across Penrith. That mix is 674 houses and 389 units. Approvals are down 77.5% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Deerubbin 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 5.6 µg/m³ in 2025 — below Australia's NEPM annual standard (8 µg/m³), slightly above the stricter WHO guideline (5 µg/m³). 1 day exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 17.6 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.55 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 2 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.
From the St Marys monitoring station, 3.7 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Orchard Hills Treatment Works, 2.3 kmModerate rainfall.
- Elevation
- 49 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 42.8 km
- Near high-voltage lines
- 4.4% of addresses
- 48 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- Annual rainfall
- 822 mm
- 81 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- —
- Winter min (Jul)
- —
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- 1.7 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Manganese & compounds · Fluoride compounds · Zinc and compounds
- 4.4 kmMilk and Cream ProcessingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
- 4.6 kmPotato, Corn and Other Crisp ManufacturingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 4.8 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10) · Oxides of Nitrogen
EV adoption
In postcode 2748, 14 of 1,772 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.7% (48 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.5%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2748, 334 rooftop-solar systems totalling 4.0 MW have been installed since 2001, against 591 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 20 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
1 mortgage broker is registered in this suburb.
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 $905,000 this is $305,000 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 2026-10-26 — 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 Melissa Mcintosh Liberal
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Melissa Mcintosh | 47.2% | 52.8% | +3.3 |
| 2022 | Melissa Mcintosh | 43.7% | 56.3% | +1.3 |
| 2019 | Melissa Mcintosh | 45.0% | 55.0% | +6.2 |
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 Tanya Davies Liberal
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Tanya Davies LP | 60.5% |
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 Orchard Hills?
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 1,798 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.
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Checking the whole city?
Suburbs to avoid in Sydney There is no list of bad suburbs, but there are hazards the state measures and publishes — recorded crime, bushfire exposure, flood overlays and aircraft noise. Sydney suburbs ranked on them, with what the numbers do and don't mean.Nearby suburbs
Glenmore Park NSW 2745
St Clair NSW 2759
St Marys NSW 2760
South Penrith NSW 2750
Kingswood NSW 2747
Erskine Park NSW 2759
Compare Orchard Hills 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 Orchard Hills
Is Orchard Hills a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Orchard Hills is moderate (66/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Orchard Hills?
Orchard Hills has a moderate recorded bushfire history (66/100, 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 Orchard Hills a good place to live?
Orchard Hills has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (38/100), 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 Orchard Hills?
Orchard Hills, NSW had a population of 1,798 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Orchard Hills, NSW?
The postcode for Orchard Hills, NSW is 2748.
How far is Orchard Hills from Sydney?
Orchard Hills is 51 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 51 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Orchard Hills?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Orchard Hills was $118,508 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 Orchard Hills?
The median advertised rent in Orchard Hills is $1,300 a week for houses (3 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Orchard Hills?
The median age of residents in Orchard Hills was 47 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Orchard Hills at risk of bushfire?
Orchard Hills has a moderate recorded bushfire history (66/100). 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 Orchard Hills?
There are 4 schools inside the Orchard Hills boundary: 1 above and 3 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
What is the air quality in Orchard Hills?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Orchard Hills (St Marys) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 5.6 µg/m³ and PM10 of 17.6 µg/m³. That puts Orchard Hills 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 Orchard Hills?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Orchard Hills, Orchard Hills Treatment Works (2.3 km away), 822 mm of rain a year over 81 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Orchard Hills?
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 Orchard Hills belong to?
Orchard Hills sits within the Penrith local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Orchard Hills?
The average residential rates bill through Penrith is $1,547 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Orchard Hills?
Across Penrith, 1,063 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 77.5% 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 Orchard Hills in?
Orchard Hills sits within the federal Division of Lindsay, currently held by Melissa Mcintosh (Liberal).
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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
- 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.