NSW/Councils/Forbes·LGA 12900

Forbes

Council area17 suburbs3 postcodes9,319 residents (2021)4,710 km²

Suburbs: Forbes·Eugowra·Cookamidgera·Bedgerabong·Warroo·Paytens Bridge·Wirrinya·Daroobalgie·Gunning Gap·Garema·+ 7 more

Postcodes: 2871·2870·2806

The short version

The Forbes council area takes in 17 suburbs, from Forbes and Eugowra to Mulguthrie, home to 9,319 people at the 2021 Census1. Homes sold for a median $425k in 2025 across 218 sales2, up 77.8% on ten years ago, lower than 75% of NSW councils (all NSW: $943k).

Police recorded 141.6 incidents per 1,000 residents in 20253, 2.1 times the NSW rate (lower is better). On the ABS index of advantage it sits in the 34th percentile of NSW councils4, and its median household earned $1,259 a week in 2021. 3.4% of its addresses are on mapped bush fire prone land5. On flood maps: 26% in a 1% AEP or flood planning area6.

Loading boundary…
Median sale price, 2025
$425k
218 sales · lower than 75% of NSW councils

NSW Valuer General sales 2

Recorded crime, 2025
141.6
per 1,000 residents · 2.1× the NSW rate (66) · lower is better

BOCSAR recorded crime 3

Socio-economic advantage
34th
percentile among NSW councils (SEIFA IRSAD, decile 5 in Australia)

ABS SEIFA 2021 4

Homes on bush fire prone land
3.4%
of addresses · 26% in a flood map

NSW RFS bush fire prone land 5

01Prices

What do homes sell for across the Forbes council area?

Homes in the Forbes council area sold for a median $425k in 2025 across 218 sales, against $943k for every NSW sale together: lower than 75% of NSW councils. The median is up 77.8% on ten years ago.

Median sale price by year

Every residential market sale placed at an address in the council · hollow point = 2026 to 2 Nov

All dwellingsHousesUnitsAll NSW sales

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Median, 2025
$425kall dwellings
Houses
$425k2025
Units
–2025
Sales in 2025
218
5-year growth
+41.7%
10-year growth
+77.8%

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Sales each year

One per dealing · 2026 to 2 Nov

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Where it sits in NSW

Every council's 2025 median, log scale

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

How long sales take to settle

Median days from contract to settlement for homes, by the year they settled. This isn't time on the market, which VG doesn't record · 40 days in 2025 · 2026 so far

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Vacant land, per m²

Median price per square metre of vacant land sold, lots up to 2 ha · 2025: $176k median across 32 sales, $199 per m² · 2025 on still filling in: land bought off the plan reaches VG only when it settles

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

House block size

Median land area of the houses sold · 866 m² in 2025

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Commercial, farm and other property

Sales VG records as neither a home nor vacant land: shops, offices, factories, farms and more · one per dealing · 2025: 42 sales, median $1.13M

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Renting

New leases in the Forbes council area went for a median $420 a week in April to June 2026, against $720 across NSW. That's 10.5% more than a year earlier.

Median, Apr–Jun 2026
$420a week · NSW $720
Houses
$420NSW $700
New bonds
58in the quarter

Bonds lodged in the quarter with NSW Fair Trading, placed at each rented home's address by NSW Communities and Justice. These are new leases, not what every renter pays.

Source DCJ Rent and Sales Report 30

Median weekly rent each quarter

New bonds, Jul–Sep 2017 to Apr–Jun 2026 · only quarters with 31 or more bonds

Every homeHousesUnitsNSW

Source DCJ Rent and Sales Report 30

By kind of home and bedrooms

Median weekly rent, Apr–Jun 2026, with the middle half of rents under it

Every homeHouses
Any$420$380–450$420$400–450
2 beds$390†$340–420$400†$380–420
3 beds$420†$395–450$420†$395–450
4+ beds$485†$450–529$485†$450–529

A figure needs more than 10 new bonds; one marked † rests on 11 to 30, so read it as rough. The headline figures need 31 or more.

Source DCJ Rent and Sales Report 30

Strata schemes

15 strata schemes are registered in the Forbes council area, with 63 lots between them, and 1.3% of its addresses are in one (NSW 25%). They were registered 35 years ago on average (NSW 29.1), which dates the scheme, not always its building.

Strata schemes
15
Strata lots
63
Addresses in a scheme
1.3%NSW: 25%
Average scheme age
35years since registration · NSW: 29.1

A scheme is counted where most of its addresses are. Lots include the garages, storerooms and shops a plan makes lots of, and a scheme that has been wound up leaves the register.

Source StrataHub strata plans 29

When its schemes were registered

Share of its schemes under each strata Act · NSW: 9.0%, 40%, 36% and 15%

1961 Act · to 19746.7%
1973 Act · 1974–9773%
1996 Act · 1997–201620%
2015 Acts · since 20160%

These date each scheme's registration, not its building: an older block can be strata-titled long after it went up.

Source StrataHub strata plans 29

Building approvals

26 dwellings were approved in the Forbes council area in 2025–26, 2.8 for every 1,000 residents (NSW 6.1): 24 houses and 2 other dwellings, such as townhouses and apartments. The building work approved was worth $14M for homes and $15M for other buildings.

Dwellings approved

Each financial year to June · dashed: NSW at this area's usual share

Source ABS Building Approvals 28

Dwellings approved, 2025–26
26
Per 1,000 residents
2.8NSW: 6.1
Houses
24
Other dwellings
2townhouses, apartments
Residential work
$14Mvalue approved
Non-residential work
$15Mvalue approved

An approval is what may be built, not what was: a job can be approved again, built years later or never. One large development can make a year, so the counts jump about.

Source ABS Building Approvals 28

Land values

At 1 July 2025 the Valuer General valued the land in the Forbes council area at $2.7bn, up 1.1% on a year before. Residential land makes up $444M of it (16%). The median residential land value in 2025 was $112,000, 27% of the median residential sale price.

Land value by zone, 1 July 2025

Every property's land value, totalled by its zone

Residential$444M
Commercial$31M
Industrial$36M
Rural$2.18bn
Other zones$11M

Total $2.7bn, against $2.67bn at 1 July 2024 (+1.1%)

Land value is the land alone, without the home or anything else built on it: what the Valuer General sets at 1 July each year for council rates and land tax.

Source Valuer General land value summaries 20

Median residential land value

Each year's median, as the Valuer General's summary gives it, and that as a share of the median residential sale price

2021$71k · 24%
2022$99k · 28%
2023$108k · 28%
2024$111k · 28%
2025$112k · 27%

The share divides one median by the other, so it isn't any one home's land and price.

Source Valuer General land value summaries 20

First home buyers and transfer duty

In 2025–26, about 46 first home buyers in the Forbes council area were let off transfer duty or paid less under a NSW first home buyer scheme, down from 55 the year before. That's 0.1% of the 32,137 across NSW. Revenue NSW paid about one First Home Owner Grant here. Transfer duty on residential property here came to about $3.54M, under 0.1% of NSW's $10.6bn. Revenue NSW counts by postcode, so these are estimates: each postcode's figures are split by where its homes are.

First home buyer duty exemptions

Transfer duty exemptions and concessions each financial year, estimated from postcode figures

Exemptions and concessionsNSW at its usual share (0.1%)

NSW, 2025–26: 32,137

Who qualifies for a first home buyer exemption, and up to what price, has changed over the years, so the counts follow the rules as well as demand.

Source Revenue NSW statistics by postcode 19

First Home Owner Grants paid

Payments each financial year, estimated from postcode figures

Grants paidNSW at its usual share (0.1%)

NSW, 2025–26: 636

Transfer duty paid on residential land

Duty paid each financial year, estimated from postcode figures

Duty paidNSW at its usual share (under 0.1%)

NSW, 2025–26: $10.6bn

Against NSW2020–212025–26Change
Duty here (estimate)$2.04M$3.54M+73%
NSW duty on residential land$7.83bn$10.7bn+37%
NSW residential transfers215,274200,697−7%

NSW's lines are Revenue NSW's land-related duty statistics, which count residential transfers by the documents it receives; duty here comes from its postcode statistics, by the postcode on each lodged transfer. They're counted differently, so compare how each changed, not the amounts. Both run from 2020–21, the first year of the postcode figures.

Exemptions are counted when the transfer is lodged and grants when they're paid, so the two don't match. Duty is the amount paid, not a count of sales.

Source Revenue NSW statistics by postcode 19

02Suburbs & postcodes

Which suburbs make up the Forbes council area?

The Forbes council area takes in 17 suburbs across 3 postcodes.

Every suburb in the council

Most residents first · each links to its own page

SuburbResidentsMedian, 2025Sales10 yearsCrime per 1,000, 2025Advantage
Forbes8,157$445k223+89%151.818th
Eugowra862$320k30–45.216th
Cookamidgera151–3––24th
Bedgerabong127–1––41st
Warroo123–0––80th
Paytens Bridge109–0––82nd
Wirrinya92–0––69th
Daroobalgie88–2––74th
Gunning Gap88–0––53rd
Garema84–1––69th
Jemalong82–0––80th
Corinella72–1––80th
Ootha44–0––32nd
Ooma41–0––82nd
Mulyandry38–0––82nd
Yarrabandai33–1––17th
Mulguthrie19––––32nd

The suburbs' own figures, as on their pages: medians need at least 5 sales, crime rates 200 residents and SEIFA percentiles 100. Advantage is the SEIFA IRSAD percentile among NSW suburbs.

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2 · BOCSAR recorded crime 3 · ABS SEIFA 2021 4 · ABS Census 2021 1

Partly in the council (share of the suburb's addresses): Mandagery 13%.

Its postcodes

Postal areas holding at least 1% of the council's addresses, with that share · each links to its own page

287195%
28701.9%
28061.1%

Source ABS ASGS 2021 and LGA 2025 24

03People

Who lives in the Forbes council area?

On income, education, jobs and housing together, the Forbes council area scores 941 on the ABS index of advantage, lower than 66% of NSW councils. Its median household earned $1,259 a week at the 2021 Census.

SEIFA 2021 deciles

1 = most disadvantaged tenth of Australian council areas, 10 = most advantaged

Advantage and disadvantageIRSAD5
DisadvantageIRSD · higher = less disadvantaged5
Economic resourcesIER5
Education and occupationIEO5

Among NSW councils it sits in the 34th percentile on IRSAD.

Source ABS SEIFA 2021 4

Census 2021 profile

Residents (2021)
9,319
Median age
42
Aged 65 and over
23.2%
Median household income
$1,259 a week
Households renting
27.6%
Social housing
3.9%
Owned outright
38.8%
With a mortgage
30.5%
Median mortgage (2021)
$1,283 a month
Flats and apartments
4.5%
People per km²
2

Source ABS Census 2021 1

Household income across NSW

Every council's median weekly household income, Census 2021

Source ABS Census 2021 1

Advantage across NSW

Every council's SEIFA IRSAD score

Source ABS SEIFA 2021 4

How households hold their homes

Share of households, Census 2021 · renting privately leaves out social housing, which the Census counts as renting

Source ABS Census 2021 1

Population

An estimated 9,301 people lived in the Forbes council area at 30 June 2025, down 0.2% on a year earlier, against +1.2% across NSW. That's 449 fewer people than in 2015 (−4.6%).

Residents, June 2025
9,301estimated
Growth, year to June 2025
−0.2%NSW +1.2%
Since June 2015
−4.6%−449 people
People per km²
2NSW 11

Source ABS Regional Population 7

Residents at 30 June

ABS estimated resident population, 2001–2025

Source ABS Regional Population 7

Growth each year

Change over the year to 30 June, against NSW

Forbes grewshrankNSW that year

Source ABS Regional Population 7

Income

The Census counts households' income once in five years ($1,259 a week in 2021); the ABS's yearly figure from tax returns counts each person's. Residents of the Forbes council area who lodged a tax return had a median income of $51,698 in 2022–23, against $58,909 across NSW. That's 21.2% more than in 2018–19 (NSW +19%). For 77.4%, most income came from wages and salaries.

Median income, 2022–23
$51,698NSW $58,909
Since 2018–19
+21.2%NSW +19%
Rank in NSW
…percentile of councils

Residents who lodged a tax return, by where they live; government pensions and allowances aren't counted, and neither are people who didn't lodge.

Source ABS Data by Region 8

Median income each year

All sources, before tax · financial years 2018–19 to 2022–23, by the year they end

ForbesNSW

Source ABS Data by Region 8

Where income comes from

The source most of each person's income came from, 2022–23

Median income from each source

Among the people with any income from it

Wages and salariesNSW $63,301
$55,827
Own businessNSW $12,714
$7,595
InvestmentsNSW $240
$184

Source ABS Data by Region 8

04Elections

How did the Forbes council area vote?

Federal elections

At the 2025 federal election, the two-party-preferred vote in the Forbes council area split an estimated 33.2% Labor to 66.8% Coalition, against 55.3% to 44.7% across NSW. That's a swing of 4.6 points to Labor since 2022 (across NSW, 3.9 points to Labor). Like every figure here, it's estimated from the polling places where votes were cast, not where voters live: built from 44% of the formal votes cast in its electorates.

The 2025 federal election

Polling day 3 May 2025 · estimated from where votes were cast, not where voters live

Labor, two-party-preferred
33.2%NSW 55.3%
Swing to Labor since 2022
+4.6 ptsNSW +3.9 pts
Informal votes
11.9%NSW 8.1%
Built from
44%of the votes cast in its electorates

First preferences

NSW: Labor 35% · Coalition 32% · Greens 11% · Independents 10% · Other candidates 13%

Votes are counted where they're cast. Where the electoral commission publishes votes by where electors live (federal 2019 and 2022), nearly every vote is placed; otherwise each election-day vote is placed at the polling places nearest the homes it serves, and pre-poll, postal and absent votes can't be placed, so the share a figure is built from is shown beside it.

Source AEC Tally Room federal election results (31496) · AEC, CC BY 4.0 9

Labor's two-party-preferred share

Each federal election, against NSW · above each point, the swing since the election before

ForbesNSW50%, level

Votes each estimate is built from: 2007 79% · 2010 76% · 2013 63% · 2016 64% · 2019 100% · 2022 100% · 2025 44%

Source AEC Tally Room federal election results (31496) · AEC, CC BY 4.0 9

Its federal electorate, 2025

The division its residents vote in · the AEC's own count for the whole division, not an estimate

Parkes

Elected: Jamie CHAFFEY (The Nationals)

Final count, two candidates

Jamie CHAFFEYThe Nationals63.0%
Nathan FELLLabor37.0%
First preferences, 10 candidates
Jamie CHAFFEYThe Nationals40.0%
Nathan FELLLabor19.7%
Mark CARTERPauline Hanson's One Nation13.7%
Stephen POPEShooters, Fishers and Farmers Party6.5%
Trish FRAILThe Greens6.1%
Sally EDWARDSLibertarian3.7%
Bob WILSONIndigenous - Aboriginal Party of Australia3.0%
Maurice DAVEYFamily First2.6%
Stuart HOWEIndependent2.5%
Petrus VAN DER STEENTrumpet of Patriots2.4%

130,841 enrolled · 104,887 formal votes · 10.2% informal

Results on the AEC site

Source AEC Tally Room federal election results (31496) · AEC, CC BY 4.0 9

State elections

At the 2023 state election, Independents took the most first preferences in the Forbes council area, an estimated 46.6%. There's no two-party-preferred estimate: most of the votes in its districts came from contests whose final two weren't Labor and the Coalition. Like every figure here, it's estimated from the polling places where votes were cast, not where voters live: built from 50% of the formal votes cast in its electorates.

The 2023 state election

Polling day 25 March 2023 · estimated from where votes were cast, not where voters live

Informal votes
3.9%NSW 3.3%
Built from
50%of the votes cast in its electorates

First preferences

NSW: Labor 37% · Coalition 35% · Greens 10% · Independents 9% · Other candidates 9%

Votes are counted where they're cast. Where the electoral commission publishes votes by where electors live (federal 2019 and 2022), nearly every vote is placed; otherwise each election-day vote is placed at the polling places nearest the homes it serves, and pre-poll, postal and absent votes can't be placed, so the share a figure is built from is shown beside it.

Source NSW Electoral Commission past election results (SG2301) · NSWEC, CC BY 4.0 10

Its state electorate, 2023

The district its residents vote in · the NSW Electoral Commission's own count for the whole district, not an estimate

Orange

Elected: Philip DONATO (Independent)

Final count, two candidates

Philip DONATOIndependent71.9%
Tony MILETONational Party of Australia - NSW28.1%
First preferences, 8 candidates
Philip DONATOIndependent53.1%
Tony MILETONational Party of Australia - NSW22.0%
Heather DUNNAustralian Labor Party (NSW Branch)9.8%
Aaron KELLYShooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (NSW) Incorporated5.4%
David MALLARDThe Greens NSW4.3%
Patricia HOLTLegalise Cannabis NSW Party3.2%
George BATESustainable Australia Party - Stop Overdevelopment / Corruption1.6%
Gillian BRAMLEYPublic Education Party0.7%

57,960 enrolled · 50,518 formal votes · 2.7% informal

Results on the NSW Electoral Commission site

Source NSW Electoral Commission past election results (SG2301) · NSWEC, CC BY 4.0 10

Council elections

At the 2024 council election, Independents took the most first preferences for councillor in the Forbes council area, 100.0%, and all 9 councillors elected were Independents. These are the NSW Electoral Commission's own counts, every ward added together, not estimates.

The 2024 council election

Polling day 14 September 2024 · councillor elections, every ward added together

First preferences

Councillors elected

Independents 9

Source NSW Electoral Commission past election results (LG2401) · NSWEC, CC BY 4.0 10

Councillors at each election

By party group · independents stand under no party or team name; local teams are with other parties

  • 2021 Independents 9
  • 2024 Independents 9

Source NSW Electoral Commission past election results (LG2401) · NSWEC, CC BY 4.0 10

Its 2024 council election

Councillors elected across the whole council · the NSW Electoral Commission's own counts

Forbes Shire Council

Elected: Aidan CLARKE (IND), Brian MATTISKE (Independent), Phyllis MILLER (Independent), Jenny WEBB (IND), Margaret DUGGAN (Independent), Chris ROYLANCE (Independent), Steven KARAITIANA (IND), Michele HERBERT (Independent), Sarahlee SWEENEY (IND)

First preferences, 10 candidates
Phyllis MILLERIndependent33.7%
Steven KARAITIANAIND12.0%
Aidan CLARKEIND11.7%
Jenny WEBBIND9.4%
Chris ROYLANCEIndependent7.1%
Margaret DUGGANIndependent6.9%
Brian MATTISKEIndependent5.6%
Sarahlee SWEENEYIND5.2%
Michele HERBERTIndependent4.5%
James WHALANIND4.0%

5,418 formal votes · 4.7% informal

Results on the NSW Electoral Commission site

Source NSW Electoral Commission past election results (LG2401) · NSWEC, CC BY 4.0 10

05Safety

How much crime is recorded in the Forbes council area?

Police recorded 141.6 incidents per 1,000 residents in the Forbes council area in 2025, 2.1 times the NSW rate (66; lower is better): higher than 88% of NSW councils.

Recorded crime per 1,000 residents

All offences except transport fare evasion · BOCSAR's council figures

ForbesNSW (every council together)

Source BOCSAR recorded crime 3

By offence type

2025 rate per 1,000 residents, with the NSW rate · lines show 2001–2025 · shaded: years above NSW

Violent crime1.8× NSW

19.7NSW 11.2 · 183 incidents

Property crime2.4× NSW

50.4NSW 21.2 · 469 incidents

Domestic violence assault1.9× NSW

8.2NSW 4.4 · 76 incidents

Home break-ins2.7× NSW

5.7NSW 2.1 · 53 incidents

Vehicle theft3.1× NSW

14.6NSW 4.7 · 136 incidents

Source BOCSAR recorded crime 3

How it ranks

Every council's 2025 rate, log scale

Source BOCSAR recorded crime 3

Road crashes

Police recorded 214 crashes in which someone was killed or injured in the Forbes council area over 2016–2025, about 21 a year; 72 of them were fatal or caused a serious injury. That's 2.3 a year per 1,000 residents, 1.3 times the NSW rate (1.7; lower is better).

Crashes in which someone was hurt

Killed or injured, by reporting year · 214 over 2016–2025, and 76 more where a vehicle was towed away and no one was hurt

Someone killed or seriously injuredOther injury

Source TfNSW NSW Crash Data 14

How severe, and who was involved

2016–2025 together

Casualty crashes a year per 1,000 residents
2.31.3× the NSW rate (1.7) · lower is better
Fatal or serious-injury crashes
72
People killed
22
Involving a pedestrian
4crashes
Involving a cyclist
2crashes
Involving a motorcycle
26crashes

Source TfNSW NSW Crash Data 14

Streets with the most casualty crashes

Within the Forbes council area, 2016–2025

Newell Highway53 casualty crashes · 22 fatal or serious53
Lachlan Valley Way27 casualty crashes · 8 fatal or serious27
The Escort Way21 casualty crashes · 6 fatal or serious21
Bedgerabong Road12 casualty crashes · 4 fatal or serious12
Calarie Road10 casualty crashes · 3 fatal or serious10
Crash counts follow traffic as well as risk: places crossed by highways and motorways, and busy centres such as the Sydney CBD, count the crashes of everyone who drives, rides or walks through, not only residents. Each crash is placed where police recorded it, often the nearest intersection, and only police-reported crashes are counted.

Source TfNSW NSW Crash Data 14

Fines the council issues

Revenue NSW's files have no parking fines from the council for the Forbes council area in 2025–26.

Parking fines issued, 2025–26
0
Their face value
$0

This counts how hard the council enforces parking, and how many people drive in, not how its residents park. Fines on state land, such as hospitals, universities and police patrols, are no council's and aren't counted. Face value is what the fines were for when issued, not what was paid: many are reduced, withdrawn or never paid.

Source Revenue NSW fines, CC BY 15

Ambulance

In 2025–26, ambulances were sent 261.3 times for every 1,000 residents of the area around the Forbes council area (NSW 182.2). In April to June 2026, half of its emergency calls were reached within 11 minutes and nine in ten within 34 minutes (NSW 14 and 33): lower is quicker.

Ambulances sent per 1,000 residents

The wider area around here, each financial year · the dotted line marks the response grid change

Forbes's areaNSW

NSW Ambulance changed how it sends ambulances in February 2025, and NSW's responses fell 6.4% that quarter, so years either side of the line don't strictly compare.

Source BHI Healthcare Quarterly 25

Median response, April to June 2026
11minutes · NSW 14
Nine in ten reached within
34minutes · NSW 33
Ambulances sent per 1,000, 2025–26
261.3NSW 182.2
Incidents per 1,000, 2025–26
209.6NSW 138.3

Emergency (category 2) calls. Half are reached within the median, and nine in ten within the 90th percentile; lower is quicker.

BHI reports ambulance work by ABS statistical area (SA3), so these are the figures for the wider area around here, shared by every suburb in it, not this place's own.

Source BHI Healthcare Quarterly 25

06Hazards & energy

Could fire or flood reach the Forbes council area, and how many homes run on solar?

3.4% of addresses in the Forbes council area fall on mapped bush fire prone land. On flood maps: 26% in a 1% AEP or flood planning area.

Addresses on bush fire prone land

By RFS category · 8.1% of its land is mapped bush fire prone

A planning designation, not a risk rating: building on mapped land needs a bush fire assessment.

Source NSW RFS bush fire prone land 5

Flood maps

Share of addresses, each at its most serious rung

1% AEP or flood planning area26%
Council LEP flood planning map, a planning control, not a flood forecast: 1,539 in its 1% AEP or flood planning area; 4,432 not in the council's LEP flood planning map.
74% of addresses are clear of what these maps looked at, and of nothing more.

Source NSW EPI flood planning maps 6

Rooftop solar (estimate)

Solar systems per 100 houses
58.1
Home batteries per 1,000 dwellings
41.8
The Clean Energy Regulator counts systems by postcode only, so each postcode's systems are shared out by its homes: an estimate, 95% of it from postcodes wholly inside the council. On that basis it is lower than 60% of NSW councils.

Source Clean Energy Regulator (estimate) 11

Solar across NSW (estimates)

Every council's systems per 100 houses

Source Clean Energy Regulator (estimate) 11

07Schools & planning

Where are the schools in the Forbes council area, and how is the land zoned?

The Forbes council area has 4 government schools, and its middle home is 1 km in a straight line from its local primary school. Most of its homes are zoned R1 General Residential.

Government schools

Schools in the council
4
To the local primary school
1km
To the local high school
2.2km
Zoned for a primary school with ICSEA 1,100+
0%of homes
Distances are straight lines from the middle home to the school its catchment names. Catchments change, and some schools zone different year groups differently: confirm with the school or the department's School Finder before relying on one. School Finder. Government schools only: Catholic and independent schools have no catchments in this data. ICSEA describes the families a school serves (parents' occupations and education, remoteness, Indigenous enrolment; the national average is 1,000). It is not a measure of teaching or results.

Source NSW Department of Education 12

How its land is zoned

Share of the council's land area · Main zone by homes: R1 General Residential

Source NSW EPI zoning and heritage maps 13

Heritage

Homes on a heritage item or in a heritage conservation area: 5.9% in all · 0.3% of its land

Work on a listed item or in a conservation area usually needs council heritage approval.

Source NSW EPI zoning and heritage maps 13

08Getting around

How easy is it to reach public transport in the Forbes council area?

TfNSW records no public transport within walking distance of homes in the Forbes council area between 8 and 9am on a weekday (December 2025). Across NSW, 33% of residents live where access is good.

Average access level, 8–9am

TfNSW's 0–6 level, averaged over residents · weekday timetable, December 2025

Forbes 0NSW 2.6

TfNSW scores every mesh block (a few dozen homes) for each hour of a weekday from the walk to nearby stops and how often services call there, from 1 (low) to 6 (very high); 0 means no service that hour. A place's figure is the average over the people who live there, not a level TfNSW publishes.

Source TfNSW PTAL 16

Residents with good access

Share living at level 4 (medium–high) or better, 8–9am, each December

ForbesNSW

Average level by December: 2022 0 · 2023 0.4 · 2024 0 · 2025 0

Source TfNSW PTAL 16

Vehicles

The Forbes council area had 966 registered vehicles for every 1,000 residents in December 2025 (NSW 737).

Vehicles per 1,000 residents, 2025
966NSW 737
Motorcycles per 1,000, 2025
37.6NSW 32
Trucks and buses per 1,000, 2025
73.9NSW 32.5
Hybrid share of the light fleet, 2025
1.9%NSW 5.0%
Ute share of the light fleet, 2025
42.8%NSW 16.4%
Average age of passenger vehicles, 2025
12.1years · NSW 10.6

Counted at each vehicle's registered address, every December. TfNSW leaves out every count under 20, so a missing row is a small count, not none, and the rows don't add up to the fleet.

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Battery electric share of the light fleet

Cars, four-wheel drives and light goods vehicles · Each December · 2026 to October · TfNSW's last two months are provisional

ForbesNSW

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Light vehicles by fuel

Cars, four-wheel drives and light goods vehicles, October 2026. Under 20, so not shown: plug-in hybrid.

Battery electric22
Hybrid192
Petrol3,815
Diesel3,841
Other fuels22

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Every vehicle by type

October 2026.

Cars3,607
Four-wheel drives761
Utes and vans3,587
Trucks and buses765
Motorcycles326
Trailers and caravans4,164

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

The most registered makes

October 2026 · Of the makes TfNSW names: it leaves some out, BYD and Polestar among them.

Toyota2,148
Holden1,016
Ford996
Mazda761
Nissan725

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Registered for business use

Share of vehicles, 2025
14.2%NSW 15.4%
A vehicle counts at its registered customer's address, so a company's fleet counts where its office is: council areas with head offices read high, and this isn't only the residents' own vehicles.

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

09Business

Who's in business in the Forbes council area?

1,199 businesses registered for GST had an address in the Forbes council area at 30 June 2025, 129 for every 1,000 residents (NSW 107). 9% turn over $2 million or more a year, against 8.8% across NSW. Compared with NSW, more of them are in agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Businesses, June 2025
1,199registered for GST
Per 1,000 residents
129NSW 107
Turning over $2m+
9%NSW 8.8%

Source ABS Data by Region 8

Businesses at 30 June

2021–2025 · the dashed line is NSW's count scaled to this place's usual share

Source ABS Data by Region 8

Turnover and size

Share of businesses by yearly turnover and by employees, June 2025

By employees

Source ABS Data by Region 8

Industry mix

Share of businesses in each industry, June 2025 · most over-represented against NSW first

Agriculture, forestry, fishing39%
Electricity, gas, water0.8%
Mining0.3%
Other services5.4%
Manufacturing3.4%
Wholesale trade3.1%
Retail trade4.4%
Accommodation and food3.3%
Rental and real estate8.8%
Construction12%
Transport and warehousing5.5%
Admin and support2.7%
Arts and recreation0.8%
Professional services4.8%
Health care and social help2.6%
Finance and insurance1.8%
Media and telecoms0.3%
Education and training0.3%
Public administration0%
ForbesNSW share

Source ABS Data by Region 8

Going out

The Forbes council area had 16 licensed venues on October 2026's list, 1.7 for every 1,000 residents (NSW 1.7): 6 hotels, 2 clubs, 5 restaurants and other on-premises venues and 3 bottle shops. 5 are licensed past midnight. That's down from 17 in 2021.

Venues per 1,000 residents

October lists, 2021–2026

ForbesNSW

Each year is that October's list: Liquor & Gaming NSW cancels licences in bulk once a year, so months don't compare. Venues that have stopped trading for six weeks or more, or are suspended, aren't counted. What a licence allows, not when a venue opens, and leaving out clubs, whose licences have no set hours.

Source Liquor & Gaming NSW premises list 23

Licences opened and closed

Licences on the list one October and not the one before, or the other way. Many are cancelled in one day each year for fees unpaid, sometimes long after the venue shut.

OpenedClosed

Source Liquor & Gaming NSW premises list 23

Poker machines

The Forbes council area had 118 poker machines at 5 clubs and hotels in 2025, 12.7 for every 1,000 residents (NSW 10.2). Liquor & Gaming NSW reported its clubs with Weddin, and its hotels with Bland, so there's no net profit in dollars for this area alone. Bowerbird's estimate, modelled from its venues' rankings and machines, is about $9.2M, not a published figure. Worked out over the residents of each report's councils, the machines made $840 for each resident (NSW $1,088).

Clubs and hotels in 2025

Net profit is what the machines kept after paying out prizes, before gaming tax. Venues' takings include visitors, so this isn't what the area's own residents lost. Figures per resident divide by everyone who lives here, not only adults. Hotel years run January to December and club years December to November, a month apart.

2025ClubsHotelsBothNSW
Venues2352,125
Machines793911888,019
Machines per 1,000 residents8.54.212.710.2
Net profitreported with Weddinreported with Blandnot published alone
about $9.2M estimated
$9.35bn
Net profit per resident$368 combined area$472 combined area$840 with combined area$1,088

The estimate: Bowerbird's model of what each club's and hotel's machines kept after paying out prizes, before gaming tax, fitted to Liquor & Gaming NSW's venue rankings, machine counts and council totals and added up by where the venues are. Liquor & Gaming NSW publishes no such figure, so read it as a rough one: a venue that made a loss reads as a small profit, and where clubs' own accounts were reported, most read 5% to 12% below the model. Venues' takings include visitors, so this isn't what the area's own residents lost. Hotel years run January to December and club years December to November.

Source Liquor & Gaming NSW gaming machine reports 21 · Bowerbird estimate, from Liquor & Gaming NSW 22

Net profit per resident

2017–2026 · 2026 is to June (clubs to May) · a year when a report combined this council shows the combined area's rate

ClubsHotelsNSW that year

Source Liquor & Gaming NSW gaming machine reports 21

Machines per 1,000 residents

2017–2026 · 2026 is to June (clubs to May)

ForbesNSW

Source Liquor & Gaming NSW gaming machine reports 21

§Sources

Where every number comes from

  1. ABS Census of Population and Housing 2021, General Community Profile for NSW Local Government Areas. Residents, age, household income, mortgages, tenure and dwelling type, for the council area as ABS publishes it. CC BY 4.0.
  2. NSW Valuer General, Property Sales Information, each sale placed at its G-NAF address. Market sales, 2001 to 2 November 2026, one price per dealing, under the suburb figures' rules (no bulk, part or nominal sales). A sale counts in the council its address is in; sales that matched no address, about one in ten, and the few spanning two councils are left out. Medians need at least 5 sales, growth 20 at both ends. Homes are what VG records as a residence; vacant land and commercial, farm and other property are counted apart. Settlement times go by the year a sale settled, and the latest year is still filling in.
  3. NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, recorded criminal incidents by LGA (RCI_offencebymonth). BOCSAR's own council table, 2001–2025. Rates per 1,000 residents use the ABS estimated resident population of the same year. CC BY 4.0.
  4. ABS Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) 2021, Local Government Areas. The council's own scores. Percentiles rank it among the 128 NSW councils; deciles are against all of Australia. CC BY 4.0.
  5. NSW RFS Bush Fire Prone Land, matched to G-NAF addresses. The full certified map (vegetation categories 1–3 and the buffer), every live address tested. © NSW Rural Fire Service 2026, CC BY. A planning designation, not a risk rating.
  6. NSW flood planning areas mapped by LEPs and precinct SEPPs (DPHI), matched to G-NAF addresses. Only councils whose LEP maps a flood planning area, plus Western Sydney precinct maps. Councils have kept their own flood maps since July 2021, so check with the council for the latest. CC BY 3.0 AU.
  7. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Regional Population: estimated resident population by council (LGA 2025), 30 June 2001–2025 (ABS Data API). The ABS's own estimate for the council area of the people who usually live there at 30 June, updated every year from the Census, births, deaths and migration (June 2025 figures, released March 2026). People per km² are over the council's area. Growth is left out where fewer than 100 people lived the year before. CC BY 4.0.
  8. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Data by Region: personal income in Australia (from personal income tax returns, 2018–19 to 2022–23) and Counts of Australian Businesses (30 June 2021–2025), by council (LGA 2021, ABS Data API). The ABS's own figures for the council area. Income counts the residents who lodged a tax return, by where they live; government pensions and allowances are left out, so it differs from the Census household income. Businesses are those registered for GST, counted by the address they give; per 1,000 residents uses the ABS estimated resident population at the same 30 June. CC BY 4.0.
  9. Australian Electoral Commission, House of Representatives results by polling place, and votes by where electors live (SA1), federal elections 2007–2025 (AEC Tally Room). Votes are counted where they are cast, not where voters live, so a place's figures are estimates. For 2019 and 2022 they come from the AEC's count of votes by the SA1 electors live in, which places nearly every vote; for the other elections, each election-day vote is placed at the polling places nearest the homes in its division, shared by their residents (2021 Census), and pre-poll, postal and absent votes can't be placed. So each figure shows the share of its electorates' formal votes it is built from. Two-party-preferred is Labor against the Coalition. Electorates, members and candidates are the AEC's own results for each whole division. © Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Electoral Commission), CC BY 4.0.
  10. NSW Electoral Commission, Legislative Assembly results by polling place (state elections 2015–2023) and local government results by council, ward and mayoralty (2021 and 2024), from its past results site. State figures are estimates, as for federal: each election-day vote is placed at the polling places nearest the homes in its district, shared by their residents (2021 Census), and pre-poll, postal, iVote and absent votes can't be placed, so each figure shows the share of its districts' formal votes it is built from. Two-party-preferred is Labor against the Coalition, from NSWEC's two-candidate count where the final two were Labor and the Coalition; districts where they weren't have no two-party figure. Council results are NSWEC's own counts for each council, ward and mayoralty, not estimates; a council's polling places place it, never its name. Districts, members, councillors and candidates are NSWEC's own results. © State of New South Wales through the NSW Electoral Commission, CC BY 4.0.
  11. Clean Energy Regulator, small-scale installations by postcode, shared out to councils. CER counts systems by postcode only. Each postal area's count is shared between councils by its 2021 dwellings (ABS mesh blocks), so a council's figure is an estimate; per 100 separate houses at the 2021 Census, not growth-adjusted.
  12. NSW Department of Education school intake zones and public schools master dataset (data.nsw.gov.au), matched to G-NAF addresses. Editions of 2 Oct 2026. Every live address is tested against each catchment. Enrolment is the August census (full-time equivalent); ICSEA as the department publishes it. Government schools only. CC BY.
  13. NSW EPI Primary Planning Layers (DPHI): land zoning and heritage items and conservation areas of every LEP and SEPP. Zone shares by land area in ABS 2021 boundaries; heritage shares of G-NAF addresses, each tested at its point. The instrument's map, not legal advice: the instrument and a planning certificate decide what applies to a lot. CC BY 3.0 AU.
  14. Transport for NSW Centre for Road Safety, NSW Crash Data (opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au), placed by each crash's coordinates. Police-reported crashes, reporting years 2016–2025, each year from the newest of the centre's five-year windows that covers it (2016–2020 to 2021–2025; the newest edition of 8 Oct 2026): fatal, injury and towaway crashes, with the road users involved. Rates per 1,000 residents use the ABS estimated resident population averaged over the same years, shown where at least 200 people live. Crash counts follow traffic, so busy roads and centres read high. CC BY.
  15. Revenue NSW, parking and food safety offences by issuing agency, CC BY. Penalty notices issued each financial year, counted by the council that issued them. Parking fines per 1,000 residents use the ABS estimated resident population, and are left blank in a year a council issued fewer than 100; the latest year runs only to the latest month in the files. Value is face value when issued, not what was paid. Fines issued by police, universities, hospitals and other state agencies on state land are no council's and aren't counted, nor in the NSW figure. Food safety counts can include notices with a miscoded offence.
  16. Transport for NSW, Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) by ABS 2021 mesh block (opendata.transport.nsw.gov.au). December 2022–2025 snapshots, each a weekday's timetable (the first Tuesday in December; school buses excluded). TfNSW bands its accessibility index from the walk to nearby stops and how often they are served into levels 1 (low) to 6 (very high); 0 is our code for a mesh block with no service that hour. Averaged over residents (ABS 2021 mesh-block counts) for suburbs, postcodes and councils: a summary, not a level TfNSW publishes. CC BY.
  17. Transport for NSW, vehicle registration statistics by council, CC BY. TfNSW's monthly counts of registered vehicles by council, counted at the customer's address, so a business fleet counts where its customer's address is. We keep each December and the latest month; TfNSW's last two months are provisional. Rates per 1,000 residents use the ABS estimated resident population. TfNSW hides counts under 20, so a council's shares are estimates, scaled to its fleet totals, and less certain in small councils; the fuel, type and make counts leave those rows out. Shares of the light fleet and the average age start with the first December after TfNSW changed how it places vehicles in councils, and the average age runs a year behind the rest. Makes are those TfNSW names.
  18. NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, Greater Sydney Region Tree Canopy to Modified Mesh Block, 2022 and 2024/25 (SEED). Aerial surveys of Greater Sydney's urban and rural areas (ArborCarbon, 0.48 m imagery; the 2022 and 2024/25 surveys share a method). The share of land under vegetation taller than 3 m, summed from DPHI's modified mesh blocks to ABS mesh blocks (those at least half surveyed, with a 2016 code that is also a 2021 one) and weighted by the land surveyed for suburbs, postcodes and councils. CC BY 4.0.
  19. Revenue NSW, duty, first home buyer and land tax statistics by postcode (revenue.nsw.gov.au), data as at 1 October 2026. Financial years to June 2026, each shown once it has ended: first home buyer duty exemptions and concessions from 2009–10, First Home Owner Grant payments from 2021–22 and transfer duty on residential land from 2020–21, each by the postcode on the lodged transfer or the grant. Exemptions are counted at lodgement and grants at payment, so the two don't match; duty is the amount paid, not a count of sales. Suburb and council figures are estimates, shared out from postcodes by their 2021 dwellings (ABS mesh blocks). CC BY.
  20. Land value summaries, Valuer General NSW: each council's summary at the 1 July 2025 valuation. The Valuer General's own council figures: total land value by zone at 1 July 2025 and 2024, and the median residential land value each year from 2021 beside the median residential sale price. Land values are for rates and land tax and value the land alone. No licence is stated on the pages.
  21. Liquor & Gaming NSW, gaming machine reports, © State of New South Wales, CC BY 4.0. Net profit, machines and venues for clubs and hotels, by council and by venue, from December 2016. Machines are authorised machines at a year's last report, and can include machines in storage. Small councils are reported together with neighbours, and those groups change between reports: a council with a combined report has no net profit in dollars of its own, and its figure per resident is worked out over the residents of the councils in each report (ABS estimated resident population). Machines and venues are each council's own, summed from the venue reports. Hotel years run January to December and club years December to November.
  22. Bowerbird estimate, modelled from Liquor & Gaming NSW's gaming machine reports, © State of New South Wales, CC BY 4.0. Our estimate of each club's and hotel's net profit from its machines, before gaming tax, from 2017 (suburbs from 2021). Liquor & Gaming NSW publishes each venue's rank by net profit and its machines, and dollars only by council; the model fits the ranks to the council totals and adds the venues up by the postcode and council the rankings give and the suburb the premises list places them in. It isn't a published figure, and this release has a range for a venue (the map's venue card) but none for an area: on council rows held back, its median error is under 1%, and where clubs' own accounts were reported, most read 5% to 12% below it. A venue with a loss reads as a small profit. Takings include visitors. The latest year is a part year.
  23. Liquor & Gaming NSW, licensed premises list, each October from 2021, © State of New South Wales, CC BY 4.0. Licences with premises people go to, placed by the list's own coordinates. Limited licences, pop-ups, producers and delivery-only businesses aren't counted, nor are venues that have stopped trading for six weeks or more. Hours tiers are what a licence allows, not when a venue opens. The list's licensees aren't shown.
  24. ABS Australian Statistical Geography Standard: LGAs 2021 and 2025, suburbs and localities, postal areas. Councils are their LGA 2021 areas, named as ABS LGA 2025 names them: in NSW every 2021 council is the same area in 2025, and 14 have a shorter name. Boundaries CC BY 4.0.
  25. Bureau of Health Information. Healthcare Quarterly: Ambulance. Sydney (NSW); BHI. Free to use for non-commercial purposes with BHI acknowledged. NSW Ambulance responses and incidents by financial year, and emergency (category 2) response times for the latest quarter, as BHI reports them by ABS statistical area (SA3). A suburb, postcode or council takes the figures of the SA3 around it, so they are the wider area's, not its own. Rates per 1,000 residents use the SA3's ABS estimated resident population. NSW Ambulance changed its response grid in February 2025, so responses either side of it don't strictly compare.
  26. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Building Approvals, Australia, CC BY 4.0: dwelling units and the value of building work approved by council (ABS Data API). The ABS's own council figures: dwelling units approved each month from July 2021, by councils and private certifiers (new houses, townhouses and apartments, and the dwellings alterations create), and the value of residential and non-residential building work approved, added up by financial year to June. An approval is what may be built, not what was. Per 1,000 residents divides by the ABS estimated resident population at the start of the year. Original series, not seasonally adjusted.
  27. © State of New South Wales (Spatial Services, a business unit of the Department of Customer Service NSW) 2026, StrataHub strata plans. The register of strata schemes as at 3 November 2026, each placed through its plan number or footprint at its G-NAF addresses and counted where most of them are. Lots include the garages, storerooms and shops a plan makes lots of; the share of addresses counts a scheme's units and common property. Ages and eras date each scheme's registration, not its building. A scheme that has been wound up leaves the register. Creative Commons (no version stated).
  28. NSW Department of Communities and Justice, Rent and Sales Report, from NSW Fair Trading bond lodgements, © State of New South Wales (Department of Communities and Justice), CC BY 4.0. Rents on the new bonds lodged each quarter since September 2017, by council: DCJ places each bond at its home's address, so these are the council's own figures, not shared out from postcodes. A figure needs more than 10 bonds; the headline figures and the chart need 31 or more. New leases only, so not what every renter pays.

Every council figure is computed from its source at council level, not from its suburbs' figures. ATO incomes are published by postcode only and a median can't be shared out, so this page leaves them off: the Census 2021 household income stands in. Its rents are NSW Communities and Justice's own council figures, which place each new bond at its home's address. A suburb belongs to the council its centre falls in; suburb figures are the suburb pages' own.

Councils bordering Forbes

Every NSW suburb, A to Z · Every postcode · Every council area