Kiama, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Kiama is a seaside town on the New South Wales South Coast, in the Illawarra about 120 kilometres south of Sydney and 40 kilometres from Wollongong. The name is said to come from an Aboriginal word, kiarama, recorded as meaning a place where the sea makes a noise — fitting for a town built around the Kiama Blowhole, where swells drive spray up through a basalt vent beside the harbour. A second, smaller blowhole and an 1887 lighthouse sit nearby, linked by a coastal walking track. Kiama was also one of the cradles of Australia's dairy industry, and its hard blue-metal stone once paved the streets of Sydney. Today it is an easy-going holiday town of beaches, headlands and rock pools.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Kiama is more socio-economically advantaged than about 83% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1050, 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 Kiama 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Kiama 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
83/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (83/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
8/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $478 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 8% 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.
Kiama at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 7,904
- Median age
- 52
- Median weekly household income
- $1,572
- SEIFA score
- 1050
- Local government area
- Kiama
- Coordinates
- -34.6740, 150.8455
Map of Kiama
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Kiama
What it costs to live in Kiama and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $478
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,167
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 71%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 22%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Kiama demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Kiama demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Kiama 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 32% and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,145 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 653 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,511 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,039 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,555 | 32% |
Share of the 7,903 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,470 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 828 | 26% |
| Rented | 726 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,795 | 55% |
| Townhouses & semis | 780 | 24% |
| Flats & apartments | 621 | 19% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 3,239 occupied private dwellings in Kiama.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,029
- Median weekly personal income
- $799
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,445 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 439 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 172 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 3,627 (55%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.9%
- Employed full-time
- 1,748
- Employed part-time
- 1,192
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 Kiama
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Kiama is January (average daytime high around 25.4°C) and the coolest is July (around 15.5°C). The area receives roughly 1353 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 25.4°C | 17.6°C | 111 mm |
| Feb | 24.5°C | 17.1°C | 158 mm |
| Mar | 23.2°C | 16.3°C | 219 mm |
| Apr | 20.9°C | 13.5°C | 116 mm |
| May | 18.2°C | 10.7°C | 65 mm |
| Jun | 15.5°C | 8.8°C | 87 mm |
| Jul | 15.5°C | 7.8°C | 96 mm |
| Aug | 16.2°C | 8.1°C | 96 mm |
| Sep | 18.7°C | 9.7°C | 65 mm |
| Oct | 20.9°C | 12°C | 112 mm |
| Nov | 22.2°C | 13.7°C | 106 mm |
| Dec | 24.1°C | 15.7°C | 122 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Kiama
Is Kiama 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, Kiama rates 58/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Kiama?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Kiama was $478, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,167. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Kiama?
Kiama is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Kiama local government area.
What is the population of Kiama?
At the 2021 Census, Kiama had a population of about 7,904.
Is Kiama an advantaged area?
Kiama has an ABS SEIFA score of 1050, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 83 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 83% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Kiama?
Kiama has average daytime highs of about 20.4°C and overnight lows of about 12.6°C, with roughly 1,353 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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