Broken Hill, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Broken Hill rises out of the far-west New South Wales desert, roughly 1,150 kilometres from Sydney and closer to Adelaide than to its own state capital. Known as the Silver City, it grew around one of the world's richest silver-lead-zinc ore bodies — the Line of Lode — whose discovery in 1883 gave rise to the mining giant BHP. The town is also home to the Royal Flying Doctor Service and the School of the Air, a celebrated outback art scene, and streetscapes so distinctive that the whole place is National Heritage listed and a favourite film location. Its name comes from a broken-looking line of hills; the area is the Country of the Wilyakali people.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Broken Hill is more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 893, 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 Broken Hill 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 Broken Hill 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
10/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (10/100) 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 $220 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.
Broken Hill at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 17,706
- Median age
- 44
- Median weekly household income
- $1,176
- SEIFA score
- 893
- Local government area
- Unincorporated NSW
- Coordinates
- -32.3527, 141.5606
Map of Broken Hill
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Broken Hill
What it costs to live in Broken Hill and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $220
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $867
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 72%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 24%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Broken Hill demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Broken Hill demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Broken Hill 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 26% and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 3,014 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,874 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 4,088 | 23% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 4,616 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 4,111 | 23% |
Share of the 17,703 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 3,101 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 2,202 | 30% |
| Rented | 1,739 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 6,944 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 177 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 186 | 3% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 7,355 occupied private dwellings in Broken Hill.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,627
- Median weekly personal income
- $650
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 909 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 597 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 1,761 (10%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 4,159 (29%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.5%
- Employed full-time
- 4,470
- Employed part-time
- 2,198
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 Broken Hill
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Broken Hill is January (average daytime high around 34.3°C) and the coolest is July (around 16.2°C). The area receives roughly 203 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 34.3°C | 20.7°C | 22 mm |
| Feb | 33°C | 19.6°C | 4 mm |
| Mar | 29.6°C | 17°C | 12 mm |
| Apr | 24.6°C | 12.8°C | 23 mm |
| May | 19.3°C | 9.1°C | 12 mm |
| Jun | 15.9°C | 6.6°C | 13 mm |
| Jul | 16.2°C | 6.1°C | 7 mm |
| Aug | 17.8°C | 6.8°C | 21 mm |
| Sep | 22°C | 9.3°C | 21 mm |
| Oct | 26.2°C | 12.6°C | 24 mm |
| Nov | 29.1°C | 15.2°C | 30 mm |
| Dec | 32.6°C | 18.7°C | 14 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Broken Hill
Is Broken Hill 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, Broken Hill rates 30/100 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 Broken Hill?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Broken Hill was $220, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $867. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Broken Hill?
Broken Hill is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Unincorporated NSW local government area.
What is the population of Broken Hill?
At the 2021 Census, Broken Hill had a population of about 17,706.
Is Broken Hill an advantaged area?
Broken Hill has an ABS SEIFA score of 893, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 10 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Broken Hill?
Broken Hill has average daytime highs of about 25.1°C and overnight lows of about 12.9°C, with roughly 203 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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