Boorowa, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Boorowa is a rural town in the South West Slopes of New South Wales, about 40 kilometres east of Young and roughly 240 kilometres west of Sydney, in the Hilltops Council area. Before European settlement the district was Wiradjuri country, shared with Gandangara people, and the name — originally spelt 'Burrowa' — is believed to come from a local Aboriginal word for the plains turkey, or Australian bustard. Squatters moved in from the early 1820s and a village was laid out by 1843, with the spelling changed to Boorowa in 1914. Long a wool and butter district, the town celebrates its strong Irish heritage each October with the Irish Woolfest and its well-known 'Running of the Sheep' down the main street.
Less advantaged than the national average
Boorowa is more socio-economically advantaged than about 31% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 953, 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 Boorowa 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Boorowa 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
31/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (31/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
64/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $245 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 64% 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.
Boorowa at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,888
- Median age
- 50
- Median weekly household income
- $1,199
- SEIFA score
- 953
- Local government area
- Hilltops
- Coordinates
- -34.3669, 148.7465
Map of Boorowa
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Boorowa
What it costs to live in Boorowa and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $245
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,250
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 20%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Boorowa demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Boorowa demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Boorowa 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 28% and 7% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 338 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 152 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 347 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 521 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 534 | 28% |
Share of the 1,892 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 329 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 180 | 26% |
| Rented | 136 | 20% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 641 | 93% |
| Townhouses & semis | 25 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 5 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 690 occupied private dwellings in Boorowa.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,744
- Median weekly personal income
- $685
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 112 (7%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 42 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 67 (4%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 569 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.8%
- Employed full-time
- 421
- Employed part-time
- 244
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.
Share your local knowledge of Boorowa
Lived here or spent time in Boorowa? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Boorowa
Is Boorowa 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, Boorowa rates 42/100 overall (Below the national middle 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 Boorowa?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Boorowa was $245, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,250. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Boorowa?
Boorowa is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Hilltops local government area.
What is the population of Boorowa?
At the 2021 Census, Boorowa had a population of about 1,888.
Is Boorowa an advantaged area?
Boorowa has an ABS SEIFA score of 953, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 31 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 31% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in New South Wales
More suburb guides in New South Wales
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.