Woolgoolga, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Woolgoolga is a beach town on the New South Wales Mid North Coast, about 25 kilometres north of Coffs Harbour and 550 kilometres north of Sydney, in the City of Coffs Harbour. The Gumbaynggirr people are the traditional owners, and the name comes from 'Wiilgulga', used for the area and for the Black Apple trees that grew there; gazetted in 1888, the spelling became Woolgoolga in 1966. European settlement began in the 1870s, and from 1883 the town grew as a timber and sawmilling centre, with a government jetty built in 1892. Bananas were long the main crop before blueberries took over from the late 1990s. The town is also home to a large Punjabi-Sikh community, with two Gurdwaras and the annual Curryfest.
Less advantaged than the national average
Woolgoolga is more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 943, 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 Woolgoolga 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 Woolgoolga 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
26/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (26/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
27/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $360 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 27% 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.
Woolgoolga at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,151
- Median age
- 45
- Median weekly household income
- $1,190
- SEIFA score
- 943
- Local government area
- Coffs Harbour
- Coordinates
- -30.0849, 153.1645
Map of Woolgoolga
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Woolgoolga
What it costs to live in Woolgoolga and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $360
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,733
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 67%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 29%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Woolgoolga demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Woolgoolga demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Woolgoolga 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 27% and 26% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 968 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 538 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,539 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,467 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,649 | 27% |
Share of the 6,161 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,018 | 44% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 525 | 23% |
| Rented | 678 | 29% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,911 | 82% |
| Townhouses & semis | 307 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 79 | 3% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,319 occupied private dwellings in Woolgoolga.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,495
- Median weekly personal income
- $636
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,486 (26%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,380 (24%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 283 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,276 (45%)
- Labour-force participation
- 51.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.2%
- Employed full-time
- 1,350
- Employed part-time
- 1,003
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 Woolgoolga
Is Woolgoolga 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, Woolgoolga rates 26/100 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 Woolgoolga?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Woolgoolga was $360, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Woolgoolga?
Woolgoolga is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia, in the Coffs Harbour local government area.
What is the population of Woolgoolga?
At the 2021 Census, Woolgoolga had a population of about 6,151.
Is Woolgoolga an advantaged area?
Woolgoolga has an ABS SEIFA score of 943, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 26 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 26% of Australian suburbs.
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