West Nowra NSW 2541
West Nowra sits 166 km from Sydney CBD in New South Wales, around 2 hours 20 minutes by car. Census data records 1,504 residents with a median age of 33 and a median household income of $77,636 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the bottom 20% nationally. Population grew 7.0% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $350 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,707. Walkability is low.
Is West Nowra a good suburb?
West Nowra scores a D (28/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on prices, weaker on transit and community.
Car-dependent
Walkability 23/100 · 166.5 km · 142 min drive to Sydney
Below the state median
Median $740K · Cheaper than 75% of NSW
Moderate bushfire risk
Fire 47/100 · Crime 55/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 2/10 · median age 33 · 1,504 residents
Liveability Rating
28 / 100 · Ranked #1309 in NSWEach bar is West Nowra'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 West Nowra?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
28 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataWest Nowra's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $740,000, roughly 16% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$740,000
9% above its 3 neighbours (median $680,000)
Based on 44 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 56 days — median across 12 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 5 sales $912K
- 3 bed 26 sales $680K
- 4 bed 10 sales $796K
Units
$665,000
Based on only 4 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in West Nowra are currently listed at around $665,000 on average. Based on 3 houses listed in the past six months.
$665K
3 houses listed in the last 6 months.
3 of the suburb's 560 dwellings (0.5%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in West Nowra rent for around $600 a week on average, based on 7 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$600/wk
7 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
7 rentals advertised against an estimated 214 rented homes (3.3%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $562/wk
- 106 bonds
- +26% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $450/wk
- 20 bonds
- +26% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies across postcode 2541 (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 2541.
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$600/week ($31,000 a year) on a $665,000 median
Based on a small sample (3 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 West Nowra safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in West Nowra sits in the moderate band, with 58 incidents recorded in 2025 — down about 6% on the prior year.
58 offences
6.5% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2021–20251 crash
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
Shoalhaven City Council has published 31 flood studies on the NSW Flood Data Portal. The mapped flood areas are in those studies; SuburbScan does not hold them.
Schools
Walkability
West Nowra is very car-dependent on foot — at 23/100, nearly all errands require a car.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside West Nowra.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 4.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 1.4 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.8 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 2 min
- Span of service
- 11.1 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 West Nowra.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 100%
- Premises covered
- 725
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
Shoalhaven: 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.
West Nowra is home to about 1,500 residents, with a median age of 33, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $78,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.8%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,504
Median Age
33
Median Household Income
$77,636/yr
Census Median Rent
$350/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,707/mo
Avg Household Size
2.5
Median Personal Income
$39,000/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.8%
Unoccupied Dwellings
7.1%
Total Dwellings
560
Owner-Occupier Rate
61.7%
Houses
88.2%
Rental Stress
23.4%
Mortgage Stress
26.4%
Work From Home
5.2%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
11 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 20 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 210 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 86.2%
- English Spoken at Home
- 90.4%
- Employment Rate
- 60%
- Completed Year 12
- 29.3%
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.
4.5% of residents (62) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Sydney (34).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,387 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 (6 of 714).
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 $1,501 a year through Shoalhaven based on 2024 figures.
How this land is zoned
- Environmental 64%
- Residential 21%
- Parks and recreation 9%
- Infrastructure and transport 4%
- Industrial 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: Shoalhaven
In the year to August 2026, 854 new dwellings were approved across Shoalhaven. That mix is 513 houses and 341 units. Approvals are down 9.5% on the same period a year earlier.
Aboriginal Land Council
Aboriginal land in this area is administered by the Nowra 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.
Climate & Setting
from Mittagong (Alfred Street), 49.7 kmHigh rainfall.
- Elevation
- 62 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 13.7 km
- Near high-voltage lines
- 10.5% of addresses
- 87 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- Annual rainfall
- 974 mm
- 97 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
11 facilities within 5 km- 2.4 kmOther Basic Chemical Product Manufacturing n.e.c.Top reported: Total Volatile Organic Compounds · Styrene (ethenylbenzene)
- 2.5 kmBasic Organic Chemical ManufacturingTop reported: Ammonia (total)
- 2.9 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Zinc and compounds · Chromium (III) compounds · Copper & compounds
- 2.9 kmWaste Treatment and Disposal ServicesTop reported: Carbon monoxide · Oxides of Nitrogen · Total Volatile Organic Compounds
- 3.3 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Ammonia (total) · Total Phosphorus
EV adoption
In postcode 2541, 103 of 23,921 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.2% (764 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 3.6%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 2541, 5,105 rooftop-solar systems totalling 36.0 MW have been installed since 2001, against 11,565 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 263 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
14 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 2541.
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 $740,000 this is $140,000 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 Fiona Phillips Australian Labor Party
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Fiona Phillips | 55.1% | 44.9% | +5.0 |
| 2022 | Fiona Phillips | 50.2% | 49.8% | +2.4 |
| 2019 | Fiona Phillips | 52.6% | 47.4% | -3.3 |
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 Katelin McInerney Labor — elected at the Sep 2025 by-election, after the results below
Next state election: 13 March 2027.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Gareth Ward IND | 50.8% |
| 2019 | Gareth Ward LP | 62.0% |
| 2015 | Gareth Ward LP | 58.7% |
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 West Nowra?
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 1,504 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 West Nowra 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 West Nowra
Is West Nowra a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in West Nowra is moderate (55/100, ranked against other NSW suburbs on offences per resident).
What natural hazards affect West Nowra?
West Nowra has a moderate recorded bushfire history (47/100, 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 West Nowra a good place to live?
West Nowra has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of D (28/100), 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 West Nowra?
West Nowra, NSW had a population of 1,504 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for West Nowra, NSW?
The postcode for West Nowra, NSW is 2541.
How far is West Nowra from Sydney?
West Nowra is 166 km from Sydney CBD by road, about 142 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in West Nowra?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in West Nowra was $77,636 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 West Nowra?
The median advertised rent in West Nowra is $600 a week for houses (7 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in West Nowra?
The median age of residents in West Nowra was 33 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is West Nowra at risk of bushfire?
West Nowra has a moderate recorded bushfire history (47/100). 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.
Is West Nowra walkable?
West Nowra scores 23/100 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 weather like in West Nowra?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to West Nowra, Mittagong (Alfred Street) (49.7 km away), 974 mm of rain a year over 97 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in West Nowra?
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 West Nowra belong to?
West Nowra sits within the Shoalhaven local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in West Nowra?
The average residential rates bill through Shoalhaven is $1,501 a year (2024). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near West Nowra?
Across Shoalhaven, 854 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 9.5% 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 West Nowra in?
West Nowra sits within the federal Division of Gilmore, currently held by Fiona Phillips (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
- 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.