Coolah, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Coolah sits in central-western New South Wales, in Warrumbungle Shire, roughly 370km north-west of Sydney beneath the Liverpool Range. The district was the country of the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi peoples and is said to have been used as a meeting ground between the two nations; the name Coolah is often traced to a Port Jackson pidgin word said to mean 'angry'. British pastoralists settled the river valleys from the late 1830s, and the town today is a service centre for the sheep, cattle and crops grown along the Talbragar and Coolaburragundy rivers. Nearby Coolah Tops National Park protects tall snow-gum forest and grassy plateau country, while in town the Vietnam Memorial Avenue and the heritage-listed old police station and courthouse are well-known landmarks.
Less advantaged than the national average
Coolah is more socio-economically advantaged than about 24% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 939, 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 Coolah 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 Coolah 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
24/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (24/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
84/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $170 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 84% 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.
Coolah at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,262
- Median age
- 47
- Median weekly household income
- $1,162
- SEIFA score
- 939
- Local government area
- Warrumbungle Shire
- Coordinates
- -31.7846, 149.7653
Map of Coolah
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Coolah
What it costs to live in Coolah and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $170
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,000
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 71%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 21%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Coolah demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Coolah demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Coolah 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 27% and 7% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 220 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 128 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 233 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 337 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 337 | 27% |
Share of the 1,255 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 203 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 106 | 24% |
| Rented | 89 | 21% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 411 | 96% |
| Townhouses & semis | 15 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 426 occupied private dwellings in Coolah.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,480
- Median weekly personal income
- $595
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 71 (7%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 13 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 99 (8%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 324 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.3%
- Employed full-time
- 289
- Employed part-time
- 172
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 Coolah
Is Coolah 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, Coolah rates 44/100 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 Coolah?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Coolah was $170, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,000. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Coolah?
Coolah is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Warrumbungle Shire local government area.
What is the population of Coolah?
At the 2021 Census, Coolah had a population of about 1,262.
Is Coolah an advantaged area?
Coolah has an ABS SEIFA score of 939, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 24 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 24% of Australian suburbs.
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