Salt Ash NSW 2318
Salt Ash sits 183 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 2 hours 20 minutes by car. Census data records 1,103 residents with a median age of 46 and a median household income of $75,972 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the lower-middle tier nationally. Population fell 2.2% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $310 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,950. The area shows high aircraft noise risk and high crime risk. 1 school sits within the suburb boundary, and walkability is low.
Is Salt Ash a good suburb?
Salt Ash scores a D (19/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — weaker on transit and safety.
Mixed results
1 school
Car-dependent
Walkability 18/100 · 183.1 km · 138 min drive to Sydney
Around the state median
Median $1.09M
High crime risk
Fire 68/100 · Crime 80/100
Below-average income
SEIFA decile 3/10 · median age 46 · 1,103 residents
Liveability Rating
19 / 100 · Ranked #1472 in NSWEach bar is Salt Ash'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 Salt Ash?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
19 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataSalt Ash's house market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $1.09 million, about 8% below where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,089,000
9% above its 4 neighbours (median $995,000)
Based on 22 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 42 days — median across 11 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 6 sales $1.05M
- 4 bed 8 sales $1.09M
Land
$1,035,000
Based on only 6 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Typically sold in 255 days — median across 3 sales that recorded a listing period
Rental Market
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $625/wk
- 24 bonds
- +26% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2318 (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 202584 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 36% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2318.
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 Salt Ash safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Salt Ash sits in the high band, with 87 incidents recorded in 2025.
87 offences
no change since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–202516 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
Port Stephens Council has published 7 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Aircraft Noise
ANEF Contour Details
Unacceptable for residential
Significant impact — conditional building
Significant impact — conditional building
Significant impact — conditional building
Moderate impact — noise insulation required
Moderate impact — noise insulation required
Noticeable aircraft noise
Noticeable aircraft noise
Coastal Erosion
Shoreline Change Summary
1991–2025Nearest Eroding Coastline
- Distance
- 3.4 km
- Rate
- -0.54 m/yr
- Net Movement
- -14.7 m
- Certainty
- good
Data Quality
Schools
One school serve Salt Ash, and the cohort is trailing peer-suburb performance.
- • 142 students in one school (avg 142)
Primary
Walkability
Salt Ash is very car-dependent on foot — at 18/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Salt Ash.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 91.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 30.0 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 11.4 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 15.9 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 Salt Ash.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 6%
- Premises covered
- 468
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
Port Stephens: 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
Salt Ash is home to about 1,100 residents, with a median age of 46, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $76,000 a year, with unemployment at 6.8%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,103
Median Age
46
Median Household Income
$75,972/yr
Census Median Rent
$310/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,950/mo
Avg Household Size
2.7
Median Personal Income
$31,720/yr
Unemployment Rate
6.8%
Unoccupied Dwellings
9.3%
Total Dwellings
376
Owner-Occupier Rate
87.5%
Houses
97.6%
Rental Stress
21.2%
Mortgage Stress
30.8%
Work From Home
20.9%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 84.7%
- English Spoken at Home
- 90.5%
- Employment Rate
- 51.3%
- Completed Year 12
- 22.8%
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.
3 residents (0.3%) 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 1,056 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
1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (5 of 465).
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 $1,359 a year through Port Stephens based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Environmental 61%
- Rural and farming 30%
- Infrastructure and transport 8%
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: Port Stephens
In the year to August 2026, 495 new dwellings were approved across Port Stephens. That mix is 294 houses and 201 units. Approvals are down 72.1% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Worimi 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 7.5 µg/m³ in 2025 — below Australia's NEPM annual standard (8 µg/m³), slightly above the stricter WHO guideline (5 µg/m³). 3 days exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.
PM10 averaged 30.4 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.73 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 27 · NO₂ 0.
From the Stockton monitoring station, 17.9 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Williamtown RAAF, 7.9 kmHigh rainfall — hot summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 3 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 3.0 km
- 4.4 km to a named beach
- Annual rainfall
- 1,181 mm
- 95 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 28.7°C
- 13 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 7.5°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
1 facility within 5 km- 1.5 km
EV adoption
In postcode 2318, 69 of 12,114 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.6% (309 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.1%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2318, 3,902 rooftop-solar systems totalling 26.9 MW have been installed since 2001, against 4,939 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 325 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 postcode 2318.
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 $1,089,000 this is $489,000 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 Meryl Swanson Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Meryl Swanson | 56.9% | 43.1% | +4.3 |
| 2022 | Meryl Swanson | 53.3% | 46.7% | +1.7 |
| 2019 | Meryl Swanson | 55.0% | 45.0% | +5.7 |
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 Kate Washington Labor
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Kate Washington ALP | 69.0% |
| 2019 | Kate Washington ALP | 55.8% |
| 2015 | Kate Washington ALP | 54.7% |
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 Salt Ash?
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 1,103 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
Medowie NSW 2318
Tanilba Bay NSW 2319
Williamtown NSW 2318
Fullerton Cove NSW 2318
Bobs Farm NSW 2316
Oyster Cove NSW 2318
Compare Salt Ash 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 Salt Ash
Is Salt Ash a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Salt Ash is high (80/100, 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 Salt Ash?
Salt Ash has a moderate recorded bushfire history (68/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). Part of it sits inside an aircraft noise contour. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Salt Ash a good place to live?
Salt Ash has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (19/100), 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 Salt Ash?
Salt Ash, NSW had a population of 1,103 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Salt Ash, NSW?
The postcode for Salt Ash, NSW is 2318.
How far is Salt Ash from Sydney?
Salt Ash is 183 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 138 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Salt Ash?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Salt Ash was $75,972 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 Salt Ash?
There are too few current rental listings in Salt Ash for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $310, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Salt Ash?
The median age of residents in Salt Ash was 46 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Salt Ash at risk of bushfire?
Salt Ash has a moderate recorded bushfire history (68/100). 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 Salt Ash?
There is 1 school inside the Salt Ash boundary: 1 below similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is Salt Ash walkable?
Salt Ash scores 18/100 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 Salt Ash?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Salt Ash (Stockton) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 7.5 µg/m³ and PM10 of 30.4 µg/m³. That puts Salt Ash 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 Salt Ash?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Salt Ash, Williamtown RAAF (7.9 km away), summer days average 28.7°C, winter nights 7.5°C, 1,181 mm of rain a year over 95 rainy days, and 13 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Salt Ash?
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 Salt Ash belong to?
Salt Ash sits within the Port Stephens local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Salt Ash?
The average residential rates bill through Port Stephens is $1,359 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Salt Ash?
Across Port Stephens, 495 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 72.1% 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 Salt Ash in?
Salt Ash sits within the federal Division of Paterson, currently held by Meryl Swanson (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.