Dungog, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Dungog is a town in the lower Hunter region of New South Wales, on the Williams River about 215km north of Sydney. The name comes from a local Aboriginal word, and the district is associated with the Gringai clan of the Wonnarua people. The town was gazetted in 1838 as European settlers took up grazing land along the river. Dairying grew through the 1890s and the railway arrived in 1911, helping the surrounding farms reach city markets. Dungog is best known for the James Theatre, which opened in 1912 and is regarded as the oldest continuously operating purpose-built cinema in Australia. The streetscape keeps many of its late-Victorian and Federation shopfronts.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Dungog is more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 899, 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 Dungog 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 Dungog 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
12/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (12/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
47/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $300 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 47% 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.
Dungog at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,983
- Median age
- 52
- Median weekly household income
- $1,045
- SEIFA score
- 899
- Local government area
- Dungog
- Coordinates
- -32.4025, 151.7497
Map of Dungog
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Dungog
What it costs to live in Dungog and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $300
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 73%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 24%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Dungog demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Dungog demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Dungog 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 seniors (65+) at 33% and 4% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 298 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 193 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 325 | 16% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 523 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 647 | 33% |
Share of the 1,986 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 384 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 237 | 28% |
| Rented | 205 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 807 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 37 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 858 occupied private dwellings in Dungog.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,351
- Median weekly personal income
- $582
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 84 (4%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 15 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 196 (10%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 516 (31%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%
- Employed full-time
- 401
- Employed part-time
- 313
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 Dungog
Lived here or spent time in Dungog? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Dungog
Is Dungog 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, Dungog rates 24/100 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 Dungog?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Dungog was $300, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,300. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Dungog?
Dungog is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Dungog local government area.
What is the population of Dungog?
At the 2021 Census, Dungog had a population of about 1,983.
Is Dungog an advantaged area?
Dungog has an ABS SEIFA score of 899, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 12 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in New South Wales
More suburb guides in New South Wales
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.