Prairiewood NSW 2176
Prairiewood sits 36 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 41 minutes by car. Census data records 3,457 residents with a median age of 43 and a median household income of $76,856 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the lower-middle tier nationally. The suburb grew 6.5% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $433 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,167. Prairiewood is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. All 1 school within the suburb boundary rank above the state average, and walkability is high.
Is Prairiewood a good suburb?
Prairiewood scores a B (54/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on prices and safety.
Mixed results
1 school · 1 above peer schools
Very walkable
Walkability 88/100 · 35.8 km · 41 min drive to Sydney
Above the state median
Median $1.4M · Less affordable than 77% of NSW
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 79/100
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 3/10 · median age 43 · 3,457 residents
Liveability Rating
54 / 100 · Ranked #647 in NSWEach bar is Prairiewood'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 Prairiewood?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
54 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataPrairiewood's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $1.4 million, about 2% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,400,500
5% above its 7 neighbours (median $1,330,000)
Based on 50 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 25 days — median across 16 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 13 sales $1.23M
- 4 bed 25 sales $1.44M
Units
$750,000
Based on only 7 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Prairiewood rent for around $950 a week on average, based on 6 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$950/wk
6 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
6 rentals advertised against an estimated 359 rented homes (1.7%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $730/wk
- 65 bonds
- +38% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $560/wk
- 17 bonds
- +37% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2176 (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 2025107 Moderately unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 28% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2176.
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.
Short-Stay Rentals
5 active Airbnb listings: 5 whole homes and 0 rooms. Whole homes are about 0.4% 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 Prairiewood safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Prairiewood sits in the high band, with 229 incidents recorded in 2025 — up about 6% on the prior year.
229 offences
5.5% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202512 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
Fairfield City Council has published 5 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 Prairiewood, and the cohort skews above peer-suburb performance. Prairiewood High School leads the pack.
- • 1,288 students in one school (avg 1,288)
Secondary
Universities nearby
2.5% 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
Prairiewood is very walkable on foot — at 88/100, most daily errands can be done on foot.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Prairiewood.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 88.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 49.4 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 36.2 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 17.9 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 Prairiewood.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 24%
- Premises covered
- 1,587
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
Fairfield: 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 8 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.
Prairiewood is home to about 3,500 residents, with a median age of 43, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $77,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
3,457
Median Age
43
Median Household Income
$76,856/yr
Census Median Rent
$433/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,167/mo
Avg Household Size
3.1
Median Personal Income
$25,792/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.7%
Total Dwellings
1,059
Owner-Occupier Rate
66.1%
Houses
75.6%
Rental Stress
29.3%
Mortgage Stress
33.8%
Work From Home
37.3%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
133 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 11 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 352 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 43.8%
- English Spoken at Home
- 28.6%
- Employment Rate
- 38.1%
- Completed Year 12
- 42.1%
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.
227 residents (6.6%) 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 3,300 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
9% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (98 of 1,101).
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 suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 2,817 people work here; 1,101 employed residents live here.
A jobs hub: 2.6 jobs for every working resident. At least 61% 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 $990 a year through Fairfield based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Residential 54%
- Parks and recreation 32%
- Environmental 8%
- Infrastructure and transport 7%
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: Fairfield
In the year to August 2026, 1,095 new dwellings were approved across Fairfield. That mix is 632 houses and 463 units. Approvals are up 28.7% 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 6.8 µg/m³ in 2025 — below Australia's NEPM annual standard (8 µg/m³), slightly above the stricter WHO guideline (5 µg/m³).
PM10 averaged 18.2 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.72 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 1 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.
From the Liverpool monitoring station, 7.6 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Prospect Reservoir, 4.9 kmHigh rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 32 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 25.6 km
- Annual rainfall
- 931 mm
- 89 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 28.9°C
- 15 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 6.9°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
20 facilities within 5 km- 2.1 kmMilk and Cream ProcessingTop reported: Oxides of Nitrogen · Carbon monoxide · Particulate Matter ≤2.5 µm (PM2.5)
- 2.2 kmPlaster Product ManufacturingTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Particulate Matter ≤10.0 µm (PM10)
- 2.2 kmIndustrial Gas ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Acetone
- 2.4 kmBasic Organic Chemical ManufacturingTop reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Ethanol · Benzene
- 2.7 kmPlaster Product ManufacturingTop reported: Ethanol · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
EV adoption
In postcode 2176, 204 of 32,914 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.6% (1,183 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 4.2%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2176, 6,567 rooftop-solar systems totalling 45.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 14,814 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 410 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, 25 across postcode 2176.
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 $1,400,500 this is $800,500 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 Dai Le Independent
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Dai Le | 68.2% | 31.8% | +12.3 |
| 2022 | Dai Le | 55.7% | 44.3% | +8.3 |
| 2019 | Chris Hayes | 64.0% | 36.0% | +3.5 |
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 Hugh McDermott Labor
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Hugh McDermott ALP | 58.7% |
| 2019 | Hugh McDermott ALP | 60.7% |
| 2015 | Hugh McDermott ALP | 53.4% |
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 Prairiewood?
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 3,457 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
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
Bossley Park NSW 2176
Smithfield NSW 2164
Fairfield West NSW 2165
Wetherill Park NSW 2164
St Johns Park NSW 2176
Greenfield Park NSW 2176
Compare Prairiewood 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 Prairiewood
Is Prairiewood a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Prairiewood is high (79/100, 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 Prairiewood?
Prairiewood has no recorded bushfire history. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Prairiewood a good place to live?
Prairiewood has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (54/100), 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 Prairiewood?
Prairiewood, NSW had a population of 3,457 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Prairiewood, NSW?
The postcode for Prairiewood, NSW is 2176.
How far is Prairiewood from Sydney?
Prairiewood is 36 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 41 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Prairiewood?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Prairiewood was $76,856 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 Prairiewood?
The median advertised rent in Prairiewood is $950 a week for houses (6 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Prairiewood?
The median age of residents in Prairiewood was 43 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in Prairiewood?
There is 1 school inside the Prairiewood boundary: 1 above similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Prairiewood walkable?
Prairiewood scores 88/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very 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 Prairiewood?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Prairiewood (Liverpool) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 6.8 µg/m³ and PM10 of 18.2 µg/m³. That puts Prairiewood 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 Prairiewood?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Prairiewood, Prospect Reservoir (4.9 km away), summer days average 28.9°C, winter nights 6.9°C, 931 mm of rain a year over 89 rainy days, and 15 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Prairiewood?
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 Prairiewood belong to?
Prairiewood sits within the Fairfield local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Prairiewood?
The average residential rates bill through Fairfield is $990 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Prairiewood?
Across Fairfield, 1,095 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 28.7% 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 Prairiewood in?
Prairiewood sits within the federal Division of Fowler, currently held by Dai Le (Independent).
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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.