Paterson sits 184 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 2 hours 20 minutes by car. Census data records 960 residents with a median age of 41 and a median household income of $99,164 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the top 40% nationally. The locality grew 7.6% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $300 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,000. 1 school sits within the locality boundary, and walkability is low.
Is Paterson a good place to live?
Paterson scores a C (41/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on transit.
Mixed results
1 school
Car-dependent
Walkability 10/100 · 184.4 km · 141 min drive to Sydney
Around the state median
Median $940K
Moderate bushfire risk
Fire 40/100 · Crime 54/100
Advantaged
SEIFA decile 8/10 · median age 41 · 960 residents
Liveability Rating
41 / 100 · Ranked #986 in NSWEach bar is Paterson'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 Paterson?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
41 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataPaterson's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $940,000, about 7% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$940,000
Based on 29 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 34 days — median across 6 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 12 sales $772K
- 4 bed 13 sales $990K
Land
$662,500
Based on 12 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Paterson are currently listed at around $1.45 million on average. Based on 3 houses listed in the past six months.
$1.45M
3 houses listed in the last 6 months.
3 of the suburb's 340 dwellings (0.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Is Paterson safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Paterson sits in the moderate band, with 59 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 146% on the prior year.
59 offences
145.8% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–2025No crash in Paterson killed anyone or put anyone in hospital in 2021–2025.
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the locality 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
Dungog Shire Council has published 6 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Schools
One school serve Paterson, and performance is broadly on par with peer-suburb schools.
- • 104 students in one school (avg 104)
Primary
Walkability
Paterson is very car-dependent on foot — at 10/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Paterson.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 10.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 4.0 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.4 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 2 min
- Span of service
- 14.6 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 Paterson.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 0%
- Premises covered
- 389
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
Dungog: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this locality alone — this locality's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
Paterson is home to 960 residents, with a median age of 41, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $99,000 a year, with unemployment at 2.6%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
960
Median Age
41
Median Household Income
$99,164/yr
Census Median Rent
$300/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,000/mo
Avg Household Size
2.7
Median Personal Income
$43,524/yr
Unemployment Rate
2.6%
Unoccupied Dwellings
5.3%
Total Dwellings
340
Owner-Occupier Rate
86.6%
Houses
97.9%
Rental Stress
15.7%
Mortgage Stress
24.2%
Work From Home
30.2%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 88.0%
- English Spoken at Home
- 94.8%
- Employment Rate
- 65.1%
- Completed Year 12
- 31.9%
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.
0 residents (0.0%) 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.
3.3% of residents (30) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (27).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 910 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (3 of 493).
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 $1,646 a year through Dungog based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Rural and farming 71%
- Environmental 19%
- Residential 9%
- 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 locality around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.
Building Approvals: Dungog
In the year to August 2026, 55 new dwellings were approved across Dungog. That mix is 53 houses and 2 units. Approvals are down 23.1% 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
MODERATEPM2.5 averaged 6.3 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 17.5 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.72 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 1 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.
From the Beresfield monitoring station, 23.5 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Paterson (Tocal AWS), 4.5 kmHigh rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 46 m
- above sea level, at the locality centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 31.1 km
- Annual rainfall
- 996 mm
- 89 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 30.0°C
- 20 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 7.1°C
- 0 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the locality 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
1 facility within 5 km- 3.1 km
EV adoption
In postcode 2421, 5 of 1,886 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.8% (53 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.1%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2421, 595 rooftop-solar systems totalling 4.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 762 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 57 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
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 Alison Penfold The Nationals
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Alison Penfold | 40.2% | 59.8% | +4.0 |
| 2022 | David Gillespie | 36.2% | 63.8% | -1.4 |
| 2019 | David Gillespie | 34.8% | 65.2% | +3.5 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact locality's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Dave Layzell The Nationals
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Dave Layzell NP | 53.8% |
| 2019 | Michael Johnsen NP | 52.6% |
| 2015 | Michael Johnsen NP | 52.2% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2021, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this locality's voters. Results: © State of New South Wales through the NSW Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0, adapted.
Looking at a specific address in Paterson?
Every figure above is a locality 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 960 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 Paterson 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 Paterson
Is Paterson a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Paterson is moderate (54/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Paterson?
Paterson has a moderate recorded bushfire history (40/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). These are locality-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Paterson a good place to live?
Paterson has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (41/100), 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 Paterson?
Paterson, NSW had a population of 960 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Paterson, NSW?
The postcode for Paterson, NSW is 2421.
How far is Paterson from Sydney?
Paterson is 184 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 141 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Paterson?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Paterson was $99,164 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 Paterson?
There are too few current rental listings in Paterson for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $300, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Paterson?
The median age of residents in Paterson was 41 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Paterson at risk of bushfire?
Paterson has a moderate recorded bushfire history (40/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the locality 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 Paterson?
There is 1 school inside the Paterson boundary: 1 at similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Paterson walkable?
Paterson scores 10/100 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 air quality in Paterson?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Paterson (Beresfield) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 6.3 µg/m³ and PM10 of 17.5 µg/m³. That puts Paterson 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 Paterson?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Paterson, Paterson (Tocal AWS) (4.5 km away), summer days average 30°C, winter nights 7.1°C, 996 mm of rain a year over 89 rainy days, and 20 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Paterson?
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 Paterson belong to?
Paterson sits within the Dungog local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Paterson?
The average residential rates bill through Dungog is $1,646 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Paterson?
Across Dungog, 55 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 23.1% 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 Paterson in?
Paterson sits within the federal Division of Lyne, currently held by Alison Penfold (The Nationals).
Search another suburb or address
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.