Tamworth, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Tamworth sits on the Peel River in the North West Slopes of New South Wales, roughly 420 kilometres north of Sydney. The area was home to the Kamilaroi people, whose language gave English the word budgerigar, long before Europeans arrived. The town was named after Tamworth in Staffordshire, England, the seat of the British statesman Robert Peel, and in 1888 it became the first town in Australia to light its streets with municipally owned electric lighting. Today it is far better known as the country music capital of Australia: each January the ten-day Tamworth Country Music Festival fills the streets, and the giant Golden Guitar marks the town's musical fame. A strong farming and equine industry rounds out the regional economy.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Tamworth 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 Tamworth 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 Tamworth 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
63/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $248 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 63% 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.
Tamworth at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 189
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $697
- SEIFA score
- 888
- Local government area
- Tamworth Regional
- Coordinates
- -31.0929, 150.9317
Map of Tamworth
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Tamworth
What it costs to live in Tamworth and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $248
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,950
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 28%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 52%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Tamworth demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Tamworth demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Tamworth 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 46% and 23% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 20 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 9 | 5% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 43 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 21 | 12% |
| Seniors (65+) | 80 | 46% |
Share of the 173 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 20 | 23% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 4 | 5% |
| Rented | 46 | 52% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 50 | 57% |
| Townhouses & semis | 29 | 33% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 3% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 88 occupied private dwellings in Tamworth.
- Average household size
- 1.7 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,406
- Median weekly personal income
- $608
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 34 (23%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 30 (19%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 20 (11%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 52 (32%)
- Labour-force participation
- 34.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.3%
- Employed full-time
- 32
- Employed part-time
- 18
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 Tamworth
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Tamworth is January (average daytime high around 32.3°C) and the coolest is July (around 16.2°C). The area receives roughly 696 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 32.3°C | 19.4°C | 52 mm |
| Feb | 31°C | 18.3°C | 50 mm |
| Mar | 28.5°C | 16.9°C | 101 mm |
| Apr | 24.4°C | 12.6°C | 34 mm |
| May | 19.8°C | 9°C | 36 mm |
| Jun | 16.6°C | 6.4°C | 57 mm |
| Jul | 16.2°C | 5.4°C | 40 mm |
| Aug | 17.9°C | 6°C | 46 mm |
| Sep | 21.8°C | 8.9°C | 48 mm |
| Oct | 25.6°C | 12.2°C | 67 mm |
| Nov | 28.1°C | 15°C | 83 mm |
| Dec | 30.7°C | 17.4°C | 82 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Tamworth
Is Tamworth 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, Tamworth rates 28/100 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 Tamworth?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Tamworth was $248, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,950. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Tamworth?
Tamworth is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Tamworth Regional local government area.
What is the population of Tamworth?
At the 2021 Census, Tamworth had a population of about 189.
Is Tamworth an advantaged area?
Tamworth 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.
What is the weather like in Tamworth?
Tamworth has average daytime highs of about 24.4°C and overnight lows of about 12.3°C, with roughly 696 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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