Valentine NSW 2280

Valentine is a suburb in New South Wales, 139 km from Sydney CBD, around 1 hour 55 minutes by car. Population is 5,773; the median age is 46 and the median household income is $112,268 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 20% nationally. Population grew 4.7% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $490 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,096. The area shows no recorded bushfire exposure. All 1 school within the suburb boundary rank above the state average, and walkability is moderate.

Is Valentine a good suburb?

Valentine scores a A (71/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, safety, and community.

Schools

Mixed results

1 school · 1 above peer schools

Transit

Very walkable

Walkability 60/100 · 139.1 km · 113 min drive to Sydney

Prices

Around the state median

Median $1.3M

Safety

Low all-round risk

Fire 0/100 · Crime 29/100

Community

Very advantaged

SEIFA decile 9/10 · median age 46 · 5,773 residents

A

Liveability Rating

71 / 100 · Ranked #284 in NSW

Each bar is Valentine'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.

Schools quality no data
too few schools to rate
Safety
92
Bushfire None · Crime Low

No flood data is published for New South Wales — a blank here means we hold no data, not that there is no risk.

Socio-economic
70
Very advantaged
Walkability
57
Walkable
CBD access
44
139.1 km · 113 min drive to Sydney
How it's calculated: Safety rank 92 × 25% + Socio-economic rank 70 × 25% + Walkability rank 57 × 15% + CBD access rank 44 × 10% = 71 / 100. Missing components rebalance the remaining weights.

How do you rate the liveability in Valentine?

Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.

Our score

71 / 100

From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.

Residents say

…

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Median House Price

Public listings data

Valentine's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $1.3 million, roughly 15% above where it sat a year earlier.

Houses

$1,300,000

last 8 quarters

23% above its 4 neighbours (median $1,060,500)

↑ +15.2% year-on-year

Based on 128 recorded sales in the last 24 months.

Typically sold in 34 days — median across 67 sales that recorded a listing period

By bedrooms

  • 3 bed 34 sales $1.05M
  • 4 bed 60 sales $1.35M
  • 5 bed 23 sales $1.6M

Units

$840,000

Based on only 7 sales — small sample, take as indicative.

Currently for Sale

Last 6 months

Houses in Valentine are currently listed at around $1.33 million on average. Based on 6 houses listed in the past six months.

$1.33M

↓ −5.8% vs previous 6 months from $1.42M

6 houses listed in the last 6 months.

6 of the suburb's 2,086 dwellings (0.3%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.

Rental Market

Advertised rents · last 6 months

Houses in Valentine rent for around $810 a week on average, based on 8 houses listed for rent in the past six months.

$810/wk

↓ −9.5% vs previous 6 months from $895/wk
Since 2021: $599/wk → $871/wk (+45%)

8 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.

8 rentals advertised against an estimated 236 rented homes (3.4%) in the last 6 months.

Rent agreed on new leases

Jul–Sep 2026
3-bed houses
$730/wk
54 bonds
+41% since 2021
2-bed units
$518/wk
14 bonds
+34% since 2021

Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2280 (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 2025

87 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 34% of its income on the median rent in postcode 2280.

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.

Gross rental yield

Indicative
House
3.2% around the typical range

$810/week ($42,000 a year) on a $1.33 million median

Based on a small sample (6 listings) — indicative only.

Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.

Is Valentine safe? Crime statistics

2025

Crime in Valentine sits in the low band, with 107 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 55% on the prior year.

107 offences

55.1% since 2024
Theft 48 (44.9%)
Harassment & Stalking 19 (17.8%)
Assault 17 (15.9%)
Property Damage 10 (9.3%)
Sexual Offences 5 (4.7%)
Weapons Offences 4 (3.7%)
Disorderly Conduct 2 (1.9%)
Robbery 1 (0.9%)
Drug Offences 1 (0.9%)

Crime Trend

Serious Road Crashes

2021–2025

7 crashes

where someone was killed or admitted to hospital, 1 of them fatal

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

Lake Macquarie City Council has published 14 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.

All 14 on the portal

Schools

One school serve Valentine, and the cohort skews above peer-suburb performance. Valentine Public School leads the pack.

62
out of 100
Average
1 school in this suburb
1 above similar
  • • 510 students in one school (avg 510)

Primary

Government · K-6 · 510 students
ICSEA 1071 (higher than 76% of Australian schools) · 32% top-SEA students
Above similar

Walkability

Valentine is somewhat walkable on foot — at 60/100, a short cluster of errands work on foot but most trips still benefit from a car.

60
out of 100
Somewhat Walkable
Top 16% in NSW
Public Transport within 1 km 72
Schools within 1.5 km 60
Parks within 800 m 80
Supermarkets within 1 km 0
GPs within 1 km 60
Pharmacies within 1 km 60
Childcare within 1 km 80
Hospitals within 5 km 60

Public transport

Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Valentine.

78
out of 100
Bus
Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
119.2 arrivals/hr
Off-peak weekday
47.8 arrivals/hr
Saturday
20.2 arrivals/hr
Median peak wait
0 min
Span of service
16.8 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 Valentine.

65
connectivity score / 100
Most common
Fibre to the node
Full-fibre (FTTP) share
36%
Premises covered
2,289
Technology mix
Fibre to the node (FTTN) 64%
Fibre to the premises (FTTP) 36%

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

Supermarkets
None
Shopping Centres
None
Cafes & Restaurants
None
Parks & Reserves
6 in suburb
Sport & Recreation
1 in suburb
Beaches
None
Waterways
7 in suburb
Childcare
2 in suburb
GPs
1 in suburb
Pharmacies
1 in suburb
Hospitals
None
Police Stations
None
Banks & Bank@Post
1 in suburb
Fuel Stations
None
EV Chargers
None
Pubs & Bars
None
Arts & Culture
1 in suburb
Places of Worship
None

Lake Macquarie: council population

The whole council area, not just Valentine · estimated residents
at 30 June 2025
Residents
224,540
+1.1% in a year
Change
+2,396
people since 2024
Density
346
people per km² across the council area
What drove the change
Natural increase
+246
births minus deaths
Net internal migration
+1,535
moves within Australia
Net overseas migration
+615
arrivals minus departures

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

ABS SEIFA · ranked against every suburb in Australia, and within the state
2021 census
Advantage and disadvantage
9/10
9/10 within NSW
income, education, jobs and housing together
Economic resources
9/10
8/10 within NSW
income against housing cost and household size
Education and occupation
8/10
8/10 within NSW
qualifications and job type, income excluded
How evenly that is spread

The ABS scores 13 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.

Valentine is home to about 5,800 residents, with a median age of 46, a touch above the national 38. Median household income runs at $112,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.4%.

2021 Census · change since 2016

Population

5,773

4.7% since 2016

Median Age

46

2.2% since 2016

Median Household Income

$112,268/yr

20.3% since 2016
Top 22% in NSW

Census Median Rent

$490/wk

16.7% since 2016

Census Median Mortgage

$2,096/mo

4.8% since 2016

Avg Household Size

2.7

no change since 2016

Median Personal Income

$47,008/yr

27.9% since 2016

Unemployment Rate

3.4%

39.3% since 2016

Unoccupied Dwellings

4.5%

47.1% since 2016

Total Dwellings

2,086

5.2% since 2016

Owner-Occupier Rate

88.7%

0.3% since 2016

Houses

88.2%

0.3% since 2016

Rental Stress

22.7%

3.0% since 2016

Mortgage Stress

22.4%

12.8% since 2016

Work From Home

32.9%

439.3% since 2016

Dwelling Types

Houses 1,839 (88.2%)
Townhouses 238 (11.4%)
Flats / Apartments 9 (0.4%)

Property Ownership

Owned Outright 1,018 (49.3%)
Mortgage 813 (39.4%)
Renting 233 (11.3%)

Demographics

Born in Australia
86.7%
English Spoken at Home
94.0%
Employment Rate
60.3%
4.1% since 2016
Completed Year 12
43.8%

Occupations

Professionals 773 (27.4%)
Technicians & Trades 394 (14.0%)
Managers 387 (13.7%)
Clerical & Administrative 385 (13.7%)
Community & Personal Service 313 (11.1%)
Sales 253 (9.0%)
Labourers 168 (6.0%)
Machinery Operators & Drivers 114 (4.0%)

Religion

Christianity 2,954 (51.2%)
No Religion 2,500 (43.3%)
Buddhism 37 (0.6%)
Hinduism 26 (0.5%)
Other Religions 17 (0.3%)
Judaism 11 (0.2%)
Islam 10 (0.2%)
Sikhism 8 (0.1%)

Country of Birth (overseas)

Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.

England 187 (3.2%)
New Zealand 56 (1.0%)
South Africa 44 (0.8%)
Germany 37 (0.6%)
Scotland 33 (0.6%)
India 26 (0.5%)
China 14 (0.2%)
Malaysia 12 (0.2%)

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.

2016-2021 65 (1.1%)
2011-2015 57 (1.0%)
2001-2010 125 (2.2%)
1991-2000 61 (1.1%)
1981-1990 84 (1.5%)
Before 1981 231 (4.0%)

65 residents (1.1%) 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.

4.6% of residents (251) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (197).

Overseas 83 (1.5%)
Hunter Valley exc Newcastle 78 (1.4%)
Sydney - Northern Beaches 37 (0.7%)

Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 5,508 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.

Cantonese 9 (0.2%)
Italian 8 (0.1%)
Thai 8 (0.1%)
German 8 (0.1%)
Spanish 7 (0.1%)
Greek 6 (0.1%)
Mandarin 4 (0.1%)
Arabic 4 (0.1%)

Age Distribution

0-4 265 (4.6%)
5-14 837 (14.5%)
15-19 364 (6.3%)
20-24 287 (5.0%)
25-34 398 (6.9%)
35-44 655 (11.3%)
45-54 813 (14.1%)
55-64 800 (13.9%)
65-74 767 (13.3%)
75-84 464 (8.0%)
85+ 120 (2.1%)

Family & Household Composition

Couple Families 787 (55.6%)
Lone Person 375 (26.5%)
One Parent Families 217 (15.3%)
Group Household 22 (1.6%)
Other Families 15 (1.1%)

Commute to Work

Car (driver) 1,469 (62.7%)
Worked from Home 772 (32.9%)
Car (passenger) 68 (2.9%)
Walked Only 15 (0.6%)
Bicycle 9 (0.4%)
Bus 7 (0.3%)
Train 3 (0.1%)

1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (30 of 2,819).

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

Certificate III & IV 976 (16.9%)
Bachelor Degree 879 (15.2%)
Advanced Diploma / Diploma 578 (10.0%)
Postgraduate Degree 274 (4.7%)
Graduate Diploma / Certificate 137 (2.4%)

Cars per Dwelling

0 cars 32 (1.5%)
1 car 557 (26.8%)
2 cars 952 (45.8%)
3 cars 317 (15.3%)
4+ cars 218 (10.5%)

Council Rates

Lake Macquarie
FY 2024-25

Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,708 a year through Lake Macquarie based on 2024 figures.

Avg residential rate
$1,708/yr
39% above the NSW average of $1,230 · median of 128 councils
Valuation basis
Unimproved Value
land only

How this land is zoned

Share of Valentine's area by planning zone
2026-09
  • Environmental 51%
  • Residential 42%
  • Parks and recreation 6%
  • 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 suburb around it — the property page shows the zone for one address.

Building Approvals: Lake Macquarie

The whole council area, not just Valentine · new residential dwellings
to 2026-08

In the year to August 2026, 1,212 new dwellings were approved across Lake Macquarie. That mix is 846 houses and 366 units. Approvals are up 1.6% on the same period a year earlier.

Trailing 12 months
1,212dwellings
+1.6% YoY
Houses
846
detached dwellings
Units
366
townhouses + apartments

Aboriginal Land Council

Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Bahtabah 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

CLEAN

PM2.5 averaged 5 µg/m³ in 2025 — below the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³). 1 day exceeded the daily threshold of 25 µg/m³.

PM10 averaged 11.6 µg/m³ · NO₂ averaged 0.27 pphm. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 1 · NO₂ 0 · ozone 0.

From the Morisset monitoring station, 13.3 km away.

Climate & Setting

from Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS, 18.1 km

High rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.

Elevation
41 m
above sea level, at the suburb centre
Distance to the ocean
4.5 km
Annual rainfall
1,025 mm
91 rainy days
Summer max (Jan)
25.4°C
4 days ≥ 35°C
Winter min (Jul)
10.2°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

EV adoption

0.7%
of light vehicles are electric
Up from 0.07% in 2021
+0.2 points this year

In postcode 2280, 146 of 20,726 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.9% (604 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.6%.

Electric share, year by year
2021
0.07%
2022
0.09%
2023
0.19%
2024
0.47%
2025
0.70%

Rooftop solar

44
systems per 100 dwellings
Averaging 6.6 kW each

In postcode 2280, 4,867 rooftop-solar systems totalling 32.0 MW have been installed since 2001, against 11,097 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 349 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.

Systems installed, year by year
2019
271
2020
462
2021
423
2022
332
2023
498
2024
420
2025
310
2026
222

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).

Verify eligibility with Revenue NSW

Mortgage repayments

I'm looking for
Deposit
$
%
Monthly repayment
$6,780
Loan amount
$1,040,000
Total interest over 30 years
$1,400,808

1 mortgage broker is registered in this suburb, 17 across postcode 2280.

Deposit
$260,000
Stamp duty
$52,787
Cash needed at settlement
$312,787

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.

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

Division of Shortland

Currently held by Pat Conroy Australian Labor Party

Year Winner 2PP ALP 2PP LNP Swing
2025 Pat Conroy 61.5% 38.5% +5.5
2022 Pat Conroy 55.8% 44.2% -1.4
2019 Pat Conroy 54.5% 45.5% +5.5

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

Swansea District

Currently held by Yasmin Catley Labor

Next state election: 13 March 2027.

Year Winner Won with
2023 Yasmin Catley ALP 65.5%
2019 Yasmin Catley ALP 60.6%
2015 Yasmin Catley ALP 63.0%

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 Valentine?

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.

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Common questions about Valentine

Is Valentine a safe place to live?

Recorded crime in Valentine is low (29/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).

What natural hazards affect Valentine?

Valentine has no recorded bushfire history. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.

Is Valentine a good place to live?

Valentine has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of A (71/100), 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 Valentine?

Valentine, NSW had a population of 5,773 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.

What is the postcode for Valentine, NSW?

The postcode for Valentine, NSW is 2280.

How far is Valentine from Sydney?

Valentine is 139 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 113 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.

What is the median household income in Valentine?

At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Valentine was $112,268 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 Valentine?

The median advertised rent in Valentine is $810 a week for houses (8 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.

What is the median age in Valentine?

The median age of residents in Valentine was 46 at the 2021 ABS Census.

How are the schools in Valentine?

There is 1 school inside the Valentine boundary: 1 above similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).

Is Valentine walkable?

Valentine scores 60/100 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 Valentine?

The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Valentine (Morisset) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 5.0 µg/m³ and PM10 of 11.6 µg/m³. That puts Valentine below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.

What is the weather like in Valentine?

At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Valentine, Newcastle Nobbys Signal Station AWS (18.1 km away), summer days average 25.4°C, winter nights 10.2°C, 1,025 mm of rain a year over 91 rainy days, and 4 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.

Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Valentine?

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 Valentine belong to?

Valentine sits within the Lake Macquarie local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.

How much are council rates in Valentine?

The average residential rates bill through Lake Macquarie is $1,708 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.

How much is being built near Valentine?

Across Lake Macquarie, 1,212 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 1.6% 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 Valentine in?

Valentine sits within the federal Division of Shortland, currently held by Pat Conroy (Australian Labor Party).

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Data freshness

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.

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