Candelo, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Candelo is a small heritage village in the Bega Valley of south-eastern New South Wales, about 23 kilometres south-west of Bega and 448 kilometres south of Sydney. It takes its name from the pastoralist Peter Imlay, the district's first European settler, who in 1834 called his homestead Candelo House after a town in Italy; the village itself grew through the 1860s after new land laws opened the area to selectors. Its well-preserved nineteenth-century streetscape, country show held since 1883, monthly markets and a biennial village festival of music and arts give the town an enduring community life, and the nearby Sapphire Speedway draws motor-racing crowds.
Around the national middle
Candelo is more socio-economically advantaged than about 40% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 969, 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 Candelo 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 Candelo 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
40/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (40/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
63/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $250 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 63% 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.
Candelo at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 780
- Median age
- 46
- Median weekly household income
- $1,256
- SEIFA score
- 969
- Local government area
- Bega Valley
- Coordinates
- -36.7837, 149.6607
Map of Candelo
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Candelo
What it costs to live in Candelo and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $250
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,200
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 81%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 13%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Candelo demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Candelo demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Candelo 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 32% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 132 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 84 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 159 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 248 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 154 | 20% |
Share of the 777 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 134 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 97 | 34% |
| Rented | 37 | 13% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 289 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 289 occupied private dwellings in Candelo.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,544
- Median weekly personal income
- $638
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 82 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 15 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 25 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 297 (48%)
- Labour-force participation
- 54%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.2%
- Employed full-time
- 174
- Employed part-time
- 140
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 Candelo
Is Candelo 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, Candelo rates 48/100 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 Candelo?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Candelo was $250, 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 Candelo?
Candelo is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Bega Valley local government area.
What is the population of Candelo?
At the 2021 Census, Candelo had a population of about 780.
Is Candelo an advantaged area?
Candelo has an ABS SEIFA score of 969, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 40 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 40% of Australian suburbs.
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