Cessnock, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
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.
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.
Is Cessnock 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 Cessnock 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
5/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (5/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
39/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $320 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 39% 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.
Cessnock at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 16,300
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $1,192
- SEIFA score
- 858
- Local government area
- Cessnock
- Coordinates
- -32.8335, 151.3561
Map of Cessnock
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Cessnock
What it costs to live in Cessnock and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $320
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,499
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 59%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 38%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Cessnock demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
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% 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.
- 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).
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Common questions about Cessnock
Is Cessnock 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, Cessnock rates 16/100 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 Cessnock?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Cessnock was $320, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,499. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Cessnock?
Cessnock is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock local government area.
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).
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