Bombala, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Bombala is a town in the Monaro region of southern New South Wales, about 485km south-southwest of Sydney and 80km south of Cooma, on the Bombala River. Its name is generally said to come from an Aboriginal word meaning 'meeting of the waters', and the Ngarigu people lived across the district before European settlement. Captain Ronald Campbell took up a run he called 'Bombalo' in 1833, settlers followed through the 1840s, and a post office opened in 1849. The railway reached the town in 1921 but closed in 1986. Grazing, timber and tourism sustain the area, which promotes itself as 'Platypus Country' for the animals in its rivers. The annual Bombala Show remains a community highlight.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Bombala is more socio-economically advantaged than about 16% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 916, 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 Bombala 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 Bombala 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
16/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (16/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
71/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $215 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 71% 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.
Bombala at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,372
- Median age
- 47
- Median weekly household income
- $1,277
- SEIFA score
- 916
- Local government area
- Snowy Monaro Regional
- Coordinates
- -36.8899, 149.2437
Map of Bombala
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Bombala
What it costs to live in Bombala and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $215
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,083
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 76%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 21%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Bombala demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Bombala demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Bombala 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 28% and 9% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 237 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 125 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 284 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 344 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 388 | 28% |
Share of the 1,378 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 250 | 46% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 166 | 30% |
| Rented | 116 | 21% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 525 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 18 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 5 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 554 occupied private dwellings in Bombala.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,712
- Median weekly personal income
- $725
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 105 (9%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 41 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 35 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 364 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 56.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.9%
- Employed full-time
- 383
- Employed part-time
- 187
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 Bombala
Is Bombala 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, Bombala rates 34/100 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 Bombala?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Bombala was $215, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,083. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Bombala?
Bombala is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Snowy Monaro Regional local government area.
What is the population of Bombala?
At the 2021 Census, Bombala had a population of about 1,372.
Is Bombala an advantaged area?
Bombala has an ABS SEIFA score of 916, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 16 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 16% of Australian suburbs.
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