Russell Vale sits 77 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 1 hour 15 minutes by car. Census data records 1,593 residents with a median age of 39 and a median household income of $89,180 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the middle range nationally. The suburb grew 3.0% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $400 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,167. Russell Vale is characterised by high bushfire risk and high crime risk. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is moderate.
Is Russell Vale a good suburb?
Russell Vale scores a C (34/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on safety.
Mixed results
1 school
Some car dependence
Walkability 52/100 · 76.6 km · 77 min drive to Sydney
Around the state median
Median $1.35M
High bushfire risk
Fire 87/100 · Crime 65/100
Mid-range socio-economic
SEIFA decile 5/10 · median age 39 · 1,593 residents
Liveability Rating
34 / 100 · Ranked #1178 in NSWEach bar is Russell Vale'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 Russell Vale?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
34 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataRussell Vale's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $1.35 million, roughly 26% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,350,000
9% below its 3 neighbours (median $1,483,000)
Based on 31 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 16 days — median across 4 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 17 sales $1.3M
- 4 bed 9 sales $1.58M
Units
$1,045,000
Based on only 3 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Rental Market
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $825/wk
- 17 bonds
- +25% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2517 (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 202573 Severely unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 41% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2517.
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.
Is Russell Vale safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Russell Vale sits in the moderate band, with 77 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 45% on the prior year.
77 offences
45.3% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20257 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
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
Wollongong City Council has published 22 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
- Hewitts Creek Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan July 2026 2026
- Collins Creek Floodplain Risk Management Study & Plan 2025
- Fairy & Cabbage Tree Creeks FRMS&P 2024 2024
- Allans Creek Flood Study & Floodplain Risk Management Study and Plan 2024 2024
- Towradgi Creek Flood Study, Floodplain Risk Management Study & Plan 2023 2023
Schools
One school serve Russell Vale, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 262 students in one school (avg 262)
Primary
Universities nearby
1.8% 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
Russell Vale is somewhat walkable on foot — at 52/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Russell Vale.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 33.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 19.8 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 11.9 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 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 Russell Vale.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 100%
- Premises covered
- 681
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
Wollongong: 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 4 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
Russell Vale is home to about 1,600 residents, with a median age of 39, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $89,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.0%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,593
Median Age
39
Median Household Income
$89,180/yr
Census Median Rent
$400/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,167/mo
Avg Household Size
2.7
Median Personal Income
$39,988/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.0%
Unoccupied Dwellings
4.7%
Total Dwellings
572
Owner-Occupier Rate
78.4%
Houses
80.1%
Rental Stress
23.3%
Mortgage Stress
29.2%
Work From Home
31.5%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
34 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 6 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 123 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 87.0%
- English Spoken at Home
- 91.7%
- Employment Rate
- 58.3%
- Completed Year 12
- 32.3%
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.
8 residents (0.5%) 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.
3.9% of residents (58) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (55).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,492 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 (29 of 713).
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 $1,751 a year through Wollongong based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Environmental 40%
- Parks and recreation 24%
- Residential 24%
- Industrial 6%
- Infrastructure and transport 5%
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: Wollongong
In the year to August 2026, 1,476 new dwellings were approved across Wollongong. That mix is 422 houses and 1,054 units. Approvals are down 31.3% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Illawarra 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 6.2 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 18.2 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.66 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 2 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 2.
From the Wollongong monitoring station, 6.9 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Lucas Heights (Ansto), 34.7 kmHigh rainfall.
- Elevation
- 55 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 2.2 km
- 2.3 km to a named beach
- Annual rainfall
- 1,038 mm
- 89 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
1 facility within 5 km- 3.3 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Ammonia (total) · Total Phosphorus
EV adoption
In postcode 2517, 115 of 9,684 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.1% (299 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 4.3%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2517, 1,997 rooftop-solar systems totalling 12.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 5,497 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 159 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
6 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 2517.
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 $1,350,000 this is $750,000 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 Byrnes Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Alison Byrnes | 67.5% | 32.5% | +2.5 |
| 2022 | Alison Byrnes | 64.7% | 35.3% | -1.3 |
| 2019 | Sharon Bird | 63.4% | 36.6% | -0.1 |
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 Ryan Park Labor
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Ryan Park ALP | 74.2% |
| 2019 | Ryan Park ALP | 69.8% |
| 2015 | Ryan Park ALP | 67.4% |
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 Russell Vale?
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 1,593 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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Common questions about Russell Vale
Is Russell Vale a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Russell Vale is moderate (65/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect Russell Vale?
Russell Vale has a high recorded bushfire history (87/100, 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 Russell Vale a good place to live?
Russell Vale has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (34/100), 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 Russell Vale?
Russell Vale, NSW had a population of 1,593 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Russell Vale, NSW?
The postcode for Russell Vale, NSW is 2517.
How far is Russell Vale from Sydney?
Russell Vale is 77 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 77 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Russell Vale?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Russell Vale was $89,180 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 Russell Vale?
There are too few current rental listings in Russell Vale for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $400, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Russell Vale?
The median age of residents in Russell Vale was 39 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Russell Vale at risk of bushfire?
Russell Vale has a high recorded bushfire history (87/100). 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 Russell Vale?
There is 1 school inside the Russell Vale boundary: 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Russell Vale walkable?
Russell Vale 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 air quality in Russell Vale?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Russell Vale (Wollongong) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 6.2 µg/m³ and PM10 of 18.2 µg/m³. That puts Russell Vale 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 Russell Vale?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Russell Vale, Lucas Heights (Ansto) (34.7 km away), 1,038 mm of rain a year over 89 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Russell Vale?
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 Russell Vale belong to?
Russell Vale sits within the Wollongong local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Russell Vale?
The average residential rates bill through Wollongong is $1,751 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Russell Vale?
Across Wollongong, 1,476 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 31.3% 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 Russell Vale in?
Russell Vale sits within the federal Division of Cunningham, currently held by Alison Byrnes (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.