Boggabri, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Boggabri is a small town in north-eastern New South Wales, on the Kamilaroi Highway between Gunnedah and Narrabri, where the Namoi River winds through the surrounding farmland. The name comes from the Gamilaraay language and is generally taken to mean 'having creeks' or 'place of creeks', a fitting description for the well-watered country around it. Proclaimed a town in 1862, Boggabri shifted to its present site after floods swept the original settlement away in the 1850s, and the railway arrived in 1882. Nearby natural landmarks include Dripping Rock, where water seeps down a tall sandstone wall, and Thunderbolts Cave, linked to the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt. Today it remains a quiet rural service centre for the district's grain and grazing properties.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Boggabri is more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 881, 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 Boggabri 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 Boggabri 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
8/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (8/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
47/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $300 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 47% 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.
Boggabri at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,203
- Median age
- 43
- Median weekly household income
- $1,506
- SEIFA score
- 881
- Local government area
- Narrabri
- Coordinates
- -30.7071, 150.0141
Map of Boggabri
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Boggabri
What it costs to live in Boggabri and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $300
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,200
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 61%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 28%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Boggabri demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Boggabri demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Boggabri 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 24% and 5% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 221 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 145 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 274 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 296 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 289 | 24% |
Share of the 1,225 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 163 | 37% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 107 | 24% |
| Rented | 124 | 28% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 417 | 96% |
| Townhouses & semis | 15 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 436 occupied private dwellings in Boggabri.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,893
- Median weekly personal income
- $695
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 51 (5%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 17 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 145 (12%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 266 (28%)
- Labour-force participation
- 51.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.9%
- Employed full-time
- 339
- Employed part-time
- 114
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 Boggabri
Is Boggabri 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, Boggabri 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 Boggabri?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Boggabri was $300, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,200. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Boggabri?
Boggabri is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Narrabri local government area.
What is the population of Boggabri?
At the 2021 Census, Boggabri had a population of about 1,203.
Is Boggabri an advantaged area?
Boggabri has an ABS SEIFA score of 881, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 8 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of Australian suburbs.
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