Lithgow, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Lithgow is a town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, set in a valley on the western side of the Blue Mountains roughly 140 km west of Sydney. The explorer John Oxley named the valley in 1823 after William Lithgow, the colony's first Auditor-General. From the late nineteenth century it grew into an industrial centre built on coal, iron and the railways: the State Mine, the Lithgow Blast Furnace (now a parkland ruin) and a small-arms factory established in 1912 all shaped the town. Nearby heritage attractions include the Zig Zag Railway, an engineering feat that carried the main western line down the escarpment, and Eskbank House, an early colonial homestead.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Lithgow is more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 888, 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 Lithgow 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 Lithgow 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
10/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (10/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
52/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $280 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 52% 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.
Lithgow at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 4,956
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $1,010
- SEIFA score
- 888
- Local government area
- Lithgow
- Coordinates
- -33.4800, 150.1601
Map of Lithgow
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Lithgow
What it costs to live in Lithgow and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $280
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,326
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 62%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 35%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Lithgow demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Lithgow demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Lithgow 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 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 710 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 465 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,047 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,304 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,424 | 29% |
Share of the 4,950 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 887 | 39% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 511 | 23% |
| Rented | 784 | 35% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,852 | 82% |
| Townhouses & semis | 304 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 90 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,268 occupied private dwellings in Lithgow.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,422
- Median weekly personal income
- $602
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 621 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 295 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 364 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,461 (35%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.2%
- Employed full-time
- 1,067
- Employed part-time
- 643
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 Lithgow
Is Lithgow 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, Lithgow rates 24/100 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 Lithgow?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Lithgow was $280, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,326. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Lithgow?
Lithgow is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Lithgow local government area.
What is the population of Lithgow?
At the 2021 Census, Lithgow had a population of about 4,956.
Is Lithgow an advantaged area?
Lithgow has an ABS SEIFA score of 888, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 10 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 10% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in New South Wales
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