Walcha, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Walcha lies on the southern edge of the New England Tablelands in New South Wales, in Walcha Shire, about 90 kilometres east of Tamworth. It is fine-wool and grazing country — the district styles itself a 'Pasture Wonderland' — and its runs were taken up by Europeans from 1832, when Hamilton Collins Sempill established the Wolka run, from which the town's name evolved. The land is the traditional country of the Dhanggati people. Today Walcha is best known for its open-air gallery, with more than forty sculptures and carved verandah posts lining the streets, and as a gateway to the Oxley Wild Rivers National Park and the Apsley Falls. Around 1,400 people live there.
Less advantaged than the national average
Walcha is more socio-economically advantaged than about 38% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 966, 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 Walcha 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Walcha 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
38/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (38/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
73/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $203 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 73% 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.
Walcha at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,475
- Median age
- 49
- Median weekly household income
- $1,220
- SEIFA score
- 966
- Local government area
- Walcha
- Coordinates
- -31.1045, 151.6464
Map of Walcha
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Walcha
What it costs to live in Walcha and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $203
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,083
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 71%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 21%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Walcha demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Walcha demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Walcha 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 30% and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 422 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 220 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 439 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 638 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 743 | 30% |
Share of the 2,462 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 475 | 49% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 212 | 22% |
| Rented | 210 | 21% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 926 | 95% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 39 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 975 occupied private dwellings in Walcha.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,628
- Median weekly personal income
- $701
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 145 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 53 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 151 (6%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 786 (40%)
- Labour-force participation
- 55.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.1%
- Employed full-time
- 684
- Employed part-time
- 358
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 Walcha
Is Walcha 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, Walcha rates 50/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Walcha?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Walcha was $203, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,083. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Walcha?
Walcha is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Walcha local government area.
What is the population of Walcha?
At the 2021 Census, Walcha had a population of about 2,475.
Is Walcha an advantaged area?
Walcha has an ABS SEIFA score of 966, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 38 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 38% of Australian suburbs.
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