Kangaroo Valley, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Kangaroo Valley sits in a lush pocket of the Southern Highlands hinterland in New South Wales, ringed by sandstone escarpment and reached by winding roads down from Bowral or up from the coast near Berry. The Wodi Wodi people, of the Dharawal language group, are recognised as the valley's traditional custodians. Its best-known landmark is the Hampden Bridge, a castellated suspension bridge over the Kangaroo River completed in 1898 and said to be the oldest surviving suspension bridge in Australia. Dairy farming shaped the district for generations, and today the village trades on its scenery, with canoeing, bushwalking and the Pioneer Village Museum drawing weekend visitors from Sydney, Wollongong and Canberra.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Kangaroo Valley is more socio-economically advantaged than about 81% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1045, 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 Kangaroo Valley 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Kangaroo Valley 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
81/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (81/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
41/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $310 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 41% 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.
Kangaroo Valley at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 856
- Median age
- 54
- Median weekly household income
- $1,578
- SEIFA score
- 1045
- Local government area
- Shoalhaven
- Coordinates
- -34.7307, 150.4532
Map of Kangaroo Valley
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Kangaroo Valley
What it costs to live in Kangaroo Valley and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $310
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,000
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 83%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 12%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Kangaroo Valley demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Kangaroo Valley demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Kangaroo Valley 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 37% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 122 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 65 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 133 | 15% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 318 | 37% |
| Seniors (65+) | 224 | 26% |
Share of the 862 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 171 | 51% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 108 | 32% |
| Rented | 41 | 12% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 307 | 91% |
| Townhouses & semis | 18 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 338 occupied private dwellings in Kangaroo Valley.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,009
- Median weekly personal income
- $766
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 186 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 30 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 10 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 446 (63%)
- Labour-force participation
- 56.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.6%
- Employed full-time
- 195
- Employed part-time
- 183
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.
Weather and climate in Kangaroo Valley
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Kangaroo Valley is January (average daytime high around 27.5°C) and the coolest is July (around 15.1°C). The area receives roughly 1186 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 27.5°C | 16.6°C | 112 mm |
| Feb | 25.9°C | 16°C | 140 mm |
| Mar | 23.9°C | 15°C | 183 mm |
| Apr | 21.3°C | 12.2°C | 91 mm |
| May | 18°C | 9.1°C | 56 mm |
| Jun | 15.1°C | 7.1°C | 74 mm |
| Jul | 15.1°C | 6.3°C | 87 mm |
| Aug | 16.2°C | 6.6°C | 86 mm |
| Sep | 19.5°C | 8.4°C | 56 mm |
| Oct | 22.3°C | 10.9°C | 94 mm |
| Nov | 24°C | 12.6°C | 96 mm |
| Dec | 26.1°C | 14.8°C | 111 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Share your local knowledge of Kangaroo Valley
Lived here or spent time in Kangaroo Valley? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Kangaroo Valley
Is Kangaroo Valley 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, Kangaroo Valley rates 68/100 overall (Strong 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 Kangaroo Valley?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Kangaroo Valley was $310, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,000. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Kangaroo Valley?
Kangaroo Valley is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Shoalhaven local government area.
What is the population of Kangaroo Valley?
At the 2021 Census, Kangaroo Valley had a population of about 856.
Is Kangaroo Valley an advantaged area?
Kangaroo Valley has an ABS SEIFA score of 1045, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 81 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 81% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Kangaroo Valley?
Kangaroo Valley has average daytime highs of about 21.2°C and overnight lows of about 11.3°C, with roughly 1,186 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Nearby suburbs in New South Wales
More suburb guides in New South Wales
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.