Surry Hills, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Surry Hills is an inner-eastern suburb of Sydney, about 1 km south-east of the city centre in the City of Sydney. Once a crowded working-class district at the heart of the city's rag trade and clothing industry, it has gentrified since the 1980s into one of Sydney's densest restaurant, cafe and creative precincts, with a long-standing place in the city's LGBTQ life. Crown Street is its main spine, and other features include Prince Alfred Park, the Brett Whiteley Studio, and the monthly Surry Hills Markets at Shannon Reserve. The name dates to an early land grant called Surry Hills Farm, after Surrey in England, and the spelling stuck as the area filled with terrace housing from the 1850s.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Surry Hills is more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1138, 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 Surry Hills 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 Surry Hills 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
98/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (98/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
4/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $550 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 4% 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.
Surry Hills at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 15,828
- Median age
- 35
- Median weekly household income
- $2,308
- SEIFA score
- 1138
- Local government area
- Sydney
- Coordinates
- -33.8849, 151.2100
Map of Surry Hills
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Surry Hills
What it costs to live in Surry Hills and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $550
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,839
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 32%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 65%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Surry Hills demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Surry Hills demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Surry Hills 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 52% and 48% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 880 | 6% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,494 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 8,285 | 52% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,513 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,646 | 10% |
Share of the 15,818 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,071 | 14% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,429 | 18% |
| Rented | 5,088 | 65% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 84 | 1% |
| Townhouses & semis | 2,261 | 29% |
| Flats & apartments | 5,325 | 68% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 7,786 occupied private dwellings in Surry Hills.
- Average household size
- 1.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,551
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,442
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 6,994 (48%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 4,047 (28%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 149 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 11,903 (80%)
- Labour-force participation
- 70.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.7%
- Employed full-time
- 7,114
- Employed part-time
- 2,141
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 Surry Hills
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Surry Hills is January (average daytime high around 26.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 17.2°C). The area receives roughly 902 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 26.6°C | 19.6°C | 80 mm |
| Feb | 25.9°C | 19.2°C | 103 mm |
| Mar | 24.8°C | 18.2°C | 149 mm |
| Apr | 22.6°C | 14.8°C | 82 mm |
| May | 19.9°C | 11.4°C | 46 mm |
| Jun | 17.1°C | 9.5°C | 69 mm |
| Jul | 17.2°C | 8.1°C | 59 mm |
| Aug | 18°C | 8.6°C | 54 mm |
| Sep | 20.4°C | 10.7°C | 44 mm |
| Oct | 22.6°C | 13.6°C | 78 mm |
| Nov | 23.7°C | 15.5°C | 70 mm |
| Dec | 25.6°C | 17.7°C | 68 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Share your local knowledge of Surry Hills
Lived here or spent time in Surry Hills? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Surry Hills
Is Surry Hills 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, Surry Hills rates 67/100 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 Surry Hills?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Surry Hills was $550, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,839. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Surry Hills?
Surry Hills is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Sydney local government area.
What is the population of Surry Hills?
At the 2021 Census, Surry Hills had a population of about 15,828.
Is Surry Hills an advantaged area?
Surry Hills has an ABS SEIFA score of 1138, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 98 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Surry Hills?
Surry Hills has average daytime highs of about 22°C and overnight lows of about 13.9°C, with roughly 902 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.