Central Tilba, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Central Tilba is a heritage village on the New South Wales South Coast, about 10 kilometres south of Narooma and 60 kilometres north of Bega, in the Eurobodalla Shire. The Yuin people are the traditional owners of the district, and the name Tilba is said to mean 'many waters' in the Thawa language. The village grew during the 19th-century gold rushes, with Henry Jefferson Bate taking up land as the first resident selector in 1869, and gold was mined on the slopes of Gulaga (Mount Dromedary) from 1876. Dairying followed, and the ABC Cheese Factory operated from 1891 to 2006. Today the whole village is a National Trust conservation area, its 1895 Dromedary Hotel and timber shopfronts sitting beneath the extinct volcano of Gulaga.
Around the national middle
Central Tilba is more socio-economically advantaged than about 45% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 979, 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 Central Tilba 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 Central Tilba 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
45/100Around the national middle
Around the national middle — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (45/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
48/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $295 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 48% 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.
Central Tilba at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 342
- Median age
- 57
- Median weekly household income
- $1,156
- SEIFA score
- 979
- Local government area
- Eurobodalla
- Coordinates
- -36.3045, 150.0755
Map of Central Tilba
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Central Tilba
What it costs to live in Central Tilba and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $295
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,732
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 78%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 16%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Central Tilba demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Central Tilba demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Central Tilba 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 31% and 20% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 51 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 27 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 63 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 113 | 31% |
| Seniors (65+) | 106 | 29% |
Share of the 360 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 74 | 53% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 35 | 25% |
| Rented | 22 | 16% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 135 | 98% |
| Townhouses & semis | 3 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 138 occupied private dwellings in Central Tilba.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,562
- Median weekly personal income
- $682
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 60 (20%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 23 (8%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 8 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 154 (53%)
- Labour-force participation
- 50.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.4%
- Employed full-time
- 71
- Employed part-time
- 60
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 Central Tilba
Is Central Tilba 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, Central Tilba rates 46/100 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 Central Tilba?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Central Tilba was $295, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,732. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Central Tilba?
Central Tilba is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Eurobodalla local government area.
What is the population of Central Tilba?
At the 2021 Census, Central Tilba had a population of about 342.
Is Central Tilba an advantaged area?
Central Tilba has an ABS SEIFA score of 979, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 45 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 45% of Australian suburbs.
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