Bega, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Bega sits in a valley on the far south coast of New South Wales, about 420 kilometres south of Sydney and 225 kilometres south-east of Canberra. The Yuin people are the traditional custodians, and the area was known as Worerker before colonisation. The name Bega is variously said to come from a Thawa word for a big camping ground or from a local term meaning beautiful, though its origin is not settled. The town was gazetted in 1851 and later moved to higher ground after flooding. Dairy farming took hold from the 1860s and the Bega cheese cooperative formed in the late 1890s. Today the town is best known nationally for the Bega brand of cheese and as the commercial hub of the Bega Valley.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Bega is more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 899, 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 Bega 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 Bega 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
12/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (12/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
39/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $320 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 39% 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.
Bega at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 5,013
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,196
- SEIFA score
- 899
- Local government area
- Bega Valley
- Coordinates
- -36.6849, 149.8425
Map of Bega
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Bega
What it costs to live in Bega and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $320
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,408
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 64%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 32%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Bega demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Bega demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Bega 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 mid-life (45–64) at 25% and 10% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 950 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 534 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,095 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,241 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,183 | 24% |
Share of the 5,003 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 727 | 37% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 532 | 27% |
| Rented | 643 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,736 | 88% |
| Townhouses & semis | 176 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 47 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,970 occupied private dwellings in Bega.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,564
- Median weekly personal income
- $660
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 442 (10%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 219 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 338 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,473 (38%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.6%
- Employed full-time
- 1,086
- Employed part-time
- 825
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.
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Common questions about Bega
Is Bega 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, Bega rates 21/100 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 Bega?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Bega was $320, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,408. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Bega?
Bega is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bega Valley local government area.
What is the population of Bega?
At the 2021 Census, Bega had a population of about 5,013.
Is Bega an advantaged area?
Bega has an ABS SEIFA score of 899, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 12 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of Australian suburbs.
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