Cessnock, NSW

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 1 June 2026

Cessnock is a Hunter Valley city about fifty kilometres west of Newcastle and the administrative heart of its local government area. It takes its name from an 1826 land grant, Cessnock Estate, whose owner — the Scottish settler John Campbell — named it after his grandfather's Cessnock Castle in Galston, Ayrshire. This is Wonnarua country, and the district carries many Indigenous place names. Once known simply as 'The Coalfields', Cessnock grew from a small service town on the Great North Road after 1850 and boomed when the South Maitland coal seams were opened up early in the twentieth century. Today it is best known as the gateway to the Hunter Valley vineyards around Pokolbin — Australia's oldest wine region — and as the home town of rugby league's Johns brothers.

5/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs

Cessnock is more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 858, 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.

Cessnock at a glance

Population (2021): 16,300
Median age: 40
Median weekly household income: $1,192
SEIFA score: 858
Coordinates: -32.8335, 151.3561

Cessnock demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Cessnock 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 young adults (25–44) at 27%, 38% of homes are rented, and 9% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	2,791	17%
Youth (15–24)	1,910	12%
Young adults (25–44)	4,393	27%
Mid-life (45–64)	3,765	23%
Seniors (65+)	3,440	21%

Share of the 16,299 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	1,744	31%
Owned with a mortgage	1,567	28%
Rented	2,128	38%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	4,745	84%
Townhouses & semis	731	13%
Flats & apartments	118	2%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 5,651 occupied private dwellings in Cessnock.

Median weekly rent: $320
Median monthly mortgage: $1,499
Average household size: 2.4 people
Median weekly family income: $1,471
Median weekly personal income: $588

Community and culture

Born overseas: 1,313 (9%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 449 (3%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 2,006 (12%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 3,516 (27%)
Labour-force participation: 43.7%
Unemployment rate: 6.8%
Employed full-time: 2,942
Employed part-time: 1,960

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 Cessnock

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Cessnock is January (average daytime high around 30.2°C) and the coolest is July (around 16.7°C). The area receives roughly 722 mm of rain across the year.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain
Jan	30.2°C	18.6°C	77 mm
Feb	28.6°C	18.1°C	75 mm
Mar	26.5°C	16.8°C	117 mm
Apr	23.1°C	13.2°C	54 mm
May	19.7°C	9.5°C	25 mm
Jun	16.7°C	7.4°C	39 mm
Jul	16.7°C	6.4°C	41 mm
Aug	18.1°C	6.8°C	40 mm
Sep	21.5°C	9.4°C	42 mm
Oct	24.7°C	12.4°C	68 mm
Nov	26.7°C	14.5°C	65 mm
Dec	28.9°C	16.9°C	79 mm

Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).

Common questions about Cessnock

Where is Cessnock?

Cessnock is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.

What is the population of Cessnock?

At the 2021 Census, Cessnock had a population of about 16,300.

Is Cessnock an advantaged area?

Cessnock has an ABS SEIFA score of 858, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 5 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Cessnock?

Cessnock has average daytime highs of about 23.4°C and overnight lows of about 12.5°C, with roughly 722 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).