Ballina, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Ballina is a coastal town in the Northern Rivers of New South Wales, set at the mouth of the Richmond River about 740 kilometres north of Sydney and a short drive south of Byron Bay. It lies on the land of the Bundjalung people, whose connection to the area stretches back thousands of years. The town's name is variously explained as coming from a Bundjalung word for the place, often linked to oysters or the river mouth, or from an Irish place name brought by early settlers. Europeans took up the river flats from the 1840s, and Ballina grew as a cedar and river port before turning to fishing and farming. Today it is a relaxed holiday town, known for its beaches, its prawning fleet and the giant Big Prawn on the highway.
Less advantaged than the national average
Ballina is more socio-economically advantaged than about 20% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 928, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Is Ballina a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Ballina from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
20/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (20/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
27/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $360 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 27% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Ballina at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 9,735
- Median age
- 56
- Median weekly household income
- $1,013
- SEIFA score
- 928
- Local government area
- Ballina
- Coordinates
- -28.8427, 153.5580
Map of Ballina
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Ballina
What it costs to live in Ballina and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $360
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,733
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 54%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 37%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Ballina demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Ballina demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Ballina using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is seniors (65+) at 38% and 15% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,156 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 749 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,813 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,270 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 3,743 | 38% |
Share of the 9,731 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,551 | 36% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 768 | 18% |
| Rented | 1,613 | 37% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,293 | 53% |
| Townhouses & semis | 1,429 | 33% |
| Flats & apartments | 433 | 10% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 4,349 occupied private dwellings in Ballina.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,448
- Median weekly personal income
- $615
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,308 (15%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 550 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 487 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 3,222 (38%)
- Labour-force participation
- 42.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.9%
- Employed full-time
- 1,756
- Employed part-time
- 1,500
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Weather and climate in Ballina
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Ballina is January (average daytime high around 28°C) and the coolest is July (around 19.2°C). The area receives roughly 1239 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28°C | 20°C | 117 mm |
| Feb | 27.3°C | 19.9°C | 196 mm |
| Mar | 26.5°C | 19.1°C | 186 mm |
| Apr | 23.9°C | 15.9°C | 82 mm |
| May | 21.5°C | 13.1°C | 93 mm |
| Jun | 19.2°C | 10.8°C | 80 mm |
| Jul | 19.2°C | 9.7°C | 52 mm |
| Aug | 20.6°C | 10.4°C | 53 mm |
| Sep | 22.7°C | 12.5°C | 48 mm |
| Oct | 24.6°C | 15.2°C | 97 mm |
| Nov | 26.4°C | 17°C | 98 mm |
| Dec | 27.7°C | 19°C | 137 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Ballina
Is Ballina a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Ballina rates 22/100 overall (Lower on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Ballina?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Ballina was $360, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Ballina?
Ballina is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Ballina local government area.
What is the population of Ballina?
At the 2021 Census, Ballina had a population of about 9,735.
Is Ballina an advantaged area?
Ballina has an ABS SEIFA score of 928, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 20 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 20% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Ballina?
Ballina has average daytime highs of about 24°C and overnight lows of about 15.2°C, with roughly 1,239 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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