Holbrook, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Holbrook is a town on the Hume Highway in southern New South Wales, roughly midway between Sydney and Melbourne in the Greater Hume Shire, on Wiradjuri country. Hume and Hovell passed through the area in 1824, and the settlement that grew at Ten Mile Creek was known as Germanton from 1858. During the First World War the German-sounding name was considered unpatriotic, so in August 1915 the town was renamed after Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, a Royal Navy submarine commander who had just won the Victoria Cross. The landlocked town has embraced this naval link, and the hull of the decommissioned submarine HMAS Otway is now displayed in Germanton Park.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Holbrook is more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 918, 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 Holbrook 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 Holbrook 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
17/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (17/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
81/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $185 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 81% 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.
Holbrook at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,650
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $1,101
- SEIFA score
- 918
- Local government area
- Greater Hume Shire
- Coordinates
- -35.6916, 147.2905
Map of Holbrook
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Holbrook
What it costs to live in Holbrook and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $185
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,170
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 74%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 22%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Holbrook demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Holbrook demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Holbrook 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 30% and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 255 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 167 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 295 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 437 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 501 | 30% |
Share of the 1,655 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 302 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 192 | 29% |
| Rented | 144 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 632 | 96% |
| Townhouses & semis | 28 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 660 occupied private dwellings in Holbrook.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,477
- Median weekly personal income
- $628
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 95 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 40 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 51 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 494 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.3%
- Employed full-time
- 360
- Employed part-time
- 228
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 Holbrook
Is Holbrook 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, Holbrook rates 38/100 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 Holbrook?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Holbrook was $185, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,170. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Holbrook?
Holbrook is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Greater Hume Shire local government area.
What is the population of Holbrook?
At the 2021 Census, Holbrook had a population of about 1,650.
Is Holbrook an advantaged area?
Holbrook has an ABS SEIFA score of 918, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 17 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of Australian suburbs.
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