Scone, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Scone is a town in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, on the New England Highway about 271 kilometres north of Sydney and roughly 153 kilometres north-west of Newcastle, some 27 kilometres north of Muswellbrook. It is widely known as the Horse Capital of Australia, a centre of thoroughbred breeding whose calendar is anchored by the Scone Horse Festival each May and the Scone Cup race meeting. The explorer Allan Cunningham became the first European to reach the district in 1823, and the village of Redbank was established in 1826; the name Scone was proposed in 1831 and the town was gazetted under it in 1837. Today the surrounding country supports horse studs alongside dairies, vineyards and broader pastoral farming.
Less advantaged than the national average
Scone is more socio-economically advantaged than about 27% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 944, 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 Scone 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 Scone 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
27/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (27/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
49/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $290 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 49% 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.
Scone at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 5,824
- Median age
- 39
- Median weekly household income
- $1,507
- SEIFA score
- 944
- Local government area
- Upper Hunter Shire
- Coordinates
- -32.0759, 150.8464
Map of Scone
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Scone
What it costs to live in Scone and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $290
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,603
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 65%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 30%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Scone demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Scone demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Scone 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 young adults (25–44) at 26% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,145 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 606 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,539 | 26% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,382 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,149 | 20% |
Share of the 5,821 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 720 | 31% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 771 | 34% |
| Rented | 695 | 30% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,926 | 85% |
| Townhouses & semis | 305 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 32 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,278 occupied private dwellings in Scone.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,056
- Median weekly personal income
- $802
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 680 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 398 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 408 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,856 (42%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.2%
- Employed full-time
- 1,853
- Employed part-time
- 812
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 Scone
Is Scone 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, Scone rates 34/100 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 Scone?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Scone was $290, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,603. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Scone?
Scone is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Upper Hunter Shire local government area.
What is the population of Scone?
At the 2021 Census, Scone had a population of about 5,824.
Is Scone an advantaged area?
Scone has an ABS SEIFA score of 944, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 27 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 27% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in New South Wales
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