Crescent Head, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Crescent Head is a surfing and fishing town on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, about 340 kilometres north of Sydney and east of Kempsey, in the Kempsey Shire. The coast here was noted as early as 1833 in a colonial post office directory, and the settlement was officially declared a village in 1894. Fishing and tourism have long underpinned the town, but it is best known to surfers: from the 1960s and 1970s it earned a reputation as one of Australia's classic longboard breaks, and it still hosts the annual Malibu Classic. Around the town lie sandy beaches, a small golf course, the Goolawah and Limeburners Creek national parks, and rainforest walks, with whales passing offshore in winter and spring.
Around the national middle
Crescent Head is more socio-economically advantaged than about 40% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 970, 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 Crescent Head 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 Crescent Head 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
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.
Crescent Head at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,633
- Median age
- 50
- Median weekly household income
- $1,317
- SEIFA score
- 970
- Local government area
- Kempsey
- Coordinates
- -31.2219, 152.9282
Map of Crescent Head
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Crescent Head
What it costs to live in Crescent Head and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $320
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,591
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 24%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Crescent Head demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Crescent Head demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Crescent Head 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) | 248 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 126 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 312 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 516 | 32% |
| Seniors (65+) | 418 | 26% |
Share of the 1,620 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 332 | 51% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 147 | 22% |
| Rented | 159 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 534 | 82% |
| Townhouses & semis | 58 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 47 | 7% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 649 occupied private dwellings in Crescent Head.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,546
- Median weekly personal income
- $674
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 180 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 67 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 128 (8%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 644 (48%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.6%
- Employed full-time
- 304
- Employed part-time
- 311
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.
Share your local knowledge of Crescent Head
Lived here or spent time in Crescent Head? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Crescent Head
Is Crescent Head 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, Crescent Head rates 40/100 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 Crescent Head?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Crescent Head was $320, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,591. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Crescent Head?
Crescent Head is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Kempsey local government area.
What is the population of Crescent Head?
At the 2021 Census, Crescent Head had a population of about 1,633.
Is Crescent Head an advantaged area?
Crescent Head has an ABS SEIFA score of 970, 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.
Nearby suburbs in New South Wales
More suburb guides in New South Wales
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.