Glen Innes, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Glen Innes sits high on the Northern Tablelands of New England, in northern New South Wales, about 608 kilometres north of Sydney and some 100 kilometres north of Armidale, on tableland country more than a thousand metres above sea level. The Ngarabal people are recorded as the original owners of the area, whose name for the place, Gindaaydjin, is said to refer to the round stones scattered across the open plains. European settlement began around 1838, the town was gazetted in 1852, and the northern railway reached it in 1884. The name is generally said to honour Major Archibald Clunes Innes. Long a wool, sheep and cattle district, Glen Innes is now known for sapphire fossicking, its Australian Standing Stones and a lively Celtic festival.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Glen Innes is more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 867, 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 Glen Innes 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 Glen Innes 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
6/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (6/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
68/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $230 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 68% 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.
Glen Innes at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,219
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $904
- SEIFA score
- 867
- Local government area
- Glen Innes Severn
- Coordinates
- -29.7190, 151.7046
Map of Glen Innes
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Glen Innes
What it costs to live in Glen Innes and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $230
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,068
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 66%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 29%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Glen Innes demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Glen Innes demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Glen Innes 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 29% and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 995 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 617 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,209 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,554 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,828 | 29% |
Share of the 6,203 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,089 | 42% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 621 | 24% |
| Rented | 755 | 29% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,329 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 154 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 70 | 3% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,582 occupied private dwellings in Glen Innes.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,298
- Median weekly personal income
- $515
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 442 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 167 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 547 (9%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,717 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 46%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.2%
- Employed full-time
- 1,209
- Employed part-time
- 852
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 Glen Innes
Is Glen Innes 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, Glen Innes rates 27/100 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 Glen Innes?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Glen Innes was $230, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,068. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Glen Innes?
Glen Innes is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Glen Innes Severn local government area.
What is the population of Glen Innes?
At the 2021 Census, Glen Innes had a population of about 6,219.
Is Glen Innes an advantaged area?
Glen Innes has an ABS SEIFA score of 867, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 6 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of Australian suburbs.
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