Narooma, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Narooma lies on the far south coast of New South Wales, around 350 kilometres south of Sydney, where the Wagonga Inlet meets the sea. The Yuin people are the traditional custodians, with the Walbunja often identified as the local clan. The name is said to come from an Aboriginal word for clear blue waters, though sources hedge on the exact origin. Surveyed in 1883 as Noorooma, the town was renamed Narooma in 1972. Oyster farming began around 1900 and remains important alongside fishing and tourism. Offshore lies Montague Island, a nature reserve known for seals and seabirds, while Gulaga, also called Mount Dromedary, rises inland. The town is also famous for Australia Rock, a wave-cut hole shaped like the continent, and a clifftop golf course.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Narooma is more socio-economically advantaged than about 18% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 923, 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 Narooma 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 Narooma 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
18/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (18/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
57/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $260 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 57% 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.
Narooma at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,731
- Median age
- 58
- Median weekly household income
- $926
- SEIFA score
- 923
- Local government area
- Eurobodalla
- Coordinates
- -36.2424, 150.0594
Map of Narooma
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Narooma
What it costs to live in Narooma and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $260
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,517
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 72%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 25%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Narooma demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Narooma demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Narooma 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 38% and 16% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 326 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 191 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 393 | 14% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 778 | 28% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,047 | 38% |
Share of the 2,735 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 663 | 53% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 233 | 19% |
| Rented | 307 | 25% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 850 | 68% |
| Townhouses & semis | 200 | 16% |
| Flats & apartments | 107 | 9% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,249 occupied private dwellings in Narooma.
- Average household size
- 2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,299
- Median weekly personal income
- $551
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 409 (16%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 104 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 160 (6%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 959 (41%)
- Labour-force participation
- 40.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.9%
- Employed full-time
- 407
- Employed part-time
- 438
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 Narooma
Is Narooma 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, Narooma rates 31/100 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 Narooma?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Narooma was $260, 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 Narooma?
Narooma is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Eurobodalla local government area.
What is the population of Narooma?
At the 2021 Census, Narooma had a population of about 2,731.
Is Narooma an advantaged area?
Narooma has an ABS SEIFA score of 923, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 18 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 18% of Australian suburbs.
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