Gunnedah, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Gunnedah is a town on the Liverpool Plains of north-central New South Wales, on the Namoi River about 66 kilometres west of Tamworth and 432 kilometres north-west of Sydney. The Kamilaroi, or Gamilaraay, people have long lived on these plains, and the town's name is usually said to mean place of white stones. Sheep farmers settled the rich black-soil plains in the early 1830s, and the railway reached the town in 1879. Cotton, coal, grain and livestock now underpin the economy, and Gunnedah hosts AgQuip, one of the largest agricultural field days in the country. The town calls itself the koala capital of the world, and it is fondly linked with the poet Dorothea Mackellar, who wrote her famous poem My Country about a family farm nearby.
Less advantaged than the national average
Gunnedah is more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 932, 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 Gunnedah 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 Gunnedah 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
22/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (22/100) 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.
Gunnedah at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 10,359
- Median age
- 37
- Median weekly household income
- $1,564
- SEIFA score
- 932
- Local government area
- Gunnedah
- Coordinates
- -31.0027, 150.2101
Map of Gunnedah
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Gunnedah
What it costs to live in Gunnedah and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $300
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,517
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 65%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 31%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Gunnedah demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Gunnedah demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Gunnedah 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 26% and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,347 | 23% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,107 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,651 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,252 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,010 | 19% |
Share of the 10,367 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,215 | 32% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,267 | 33% |
| Rented | 1,169 | 31% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 3,347 | 88% |
| Townhouses & semis | 352 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 82 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 3,806 occupied private dwellings in Gunnedah.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,033
- Median weekly personal income
- $787
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 581 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 385 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 1,730 (17%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,852 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 60%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%
- Employed full-time
- 2,951
- Employed part-time
- 1,350
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 Gunnedah
Is Gunnedah 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, Gunnedah rates 30/100 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 Gunnedah?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Gunnedah was $300, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,517. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Gunnedah?
Gunnedah is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Gunnedah local government area.
What is the population of Gunnedah?
At the 2021 Census, Gunnedah had a population of about 10,359.
Is Gunnedah an advantaged area?
Gunnedah has an ABS SEIFA score of 932, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 22 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 22% of Australian suburbs.
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