NSW/Councils/Hilltops·LGA 13910

Hilltops

Council area38 suburbs7 postcodes19,254 residents (2021)7,141 km²

Suburbs: Young·Harden·Boorowa·Murringo·Wombat·Burrangong·Jugiong·Galong·Kingsvale·Rye Park·+ 28 more

Postcodes: 2594·2586·2587·2807·2803·2726·2585

The short version

The Hilltops council area takes in 38 suburbs, from Young and Harden to Mount Collins, home to 19,254 people at the 2021 Census1. Homes sold for a median $480k in 2025 across 393 sales2, up 109% on ten years ago, lower than 67% of NSW councils (all NSW: $943k).

Police recorded 85.7 incidents per 1,000 residents in 20253, 1.3 times the NSW rate (lower is better). On the ABS index of advantage it sits in the 24th percentile of NSW councils4, and its median household earned $1,175 a week in 2021. 7.7% of its addresses are on mapped bush fire prone land5.

Loading boundary…
Median sale price, 2025
$480k
393 sales · lower than 67% of NSW councils

NSW Valuer General sales 2

Recorded crime, 2025
85.7
per 1,000 residents · 1.3× the NSW rate (66) · lower is better

BOCSAR recorded crime 3

Socio-economic advantage
24th
percentile among NSW councils (SEIFA IRSAD, decile 4 in Australia)

ABS SEIFA 2021 4

Homes on bush fire prone land
7.7%
of addresses · no flood map to check

NSW RFS bush fire prone land 5

01Prices

What do homes sell for across the Hilltops council area?

Homes in the Hilltops council area sold for a median $480k in 2025 across 393 sales, against $943k for every NSW sale together: lower than 67% of NSW councils. The median is up 109% 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
$480kall dwellings
Houses
$483k2025
Units
$360k2025
Sales in 2025
393
5-year growth
+61.6%
10-year growth
+109%

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 · 30 days in 2025 · 2026 so far

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Units settling 6+ months after contract

Share of the unit sales settling each year that settled more than 180 days after contract, mostly bought off the plan · 2026 so far, more to arrive

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: $195k median across 39 sales, $89 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 · 1,012 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: 51 sales, median $960k

Source NSW Valuer General sales 2

Renting

New leases in the Hilltops council area went for a median $460 a week in April to June 2026, against $720 across NSW. That's 8.2% more than a year earlier.

Median, Apr–Jun 2026
$460a week · NSW $720
Houses
$480NSW $700
3-bed house
$470NSW $660
New bonds
111in 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 homeHousesUnits
Any$460$400–500$480$440–550$338†$296–400
2 beds$400†$340–400–$400†$298–400
3 beds$470$445–500$470$450–498–
4+ beds$580†$500–620$580†$500–620–

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

57 strata schemes are registered in the Hilltops council area, with 261 lots between them, and 2.5% of its addresses are in one (NSW 25%). They were registered 30 years ago on average (NSW 29.1), which dates the scheme, not always its building.

Strata schemes
57
Strata lots
261
Addresses in a scheme
2.5%NSW: 25%
Average scheme age
30years 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 19740%
1973 Act · 1974–9761%
1996 Act · 1997–201635%
2015 Acts · since 20163.5%

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

56 dwellings were approved in the Hilltops council area in 2025–26, 2.9 for every 1,000 residents (NSW 6.1): 52 houses and 4 other dwellings, such as townhouses and apartments. The building work approved was worth $34M for homes and $18M 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
56
Per 1,000 residents
2.9NSW: 6.1
Houses
52
Other dwellings
4townhouses, apartments
Residential work
$34Mvalue approved
Non-residential work
$18Mvalue 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 Hilltops council area at $8.17bn, down 3.6% on a year before. Residential land makes up $1.13bn of it (14%). The median residential land value in 2025 was $142,000, 33% of the median residential sale price.

Land value by zone, 1 July 2025

Every property's land value, totalled by its zone

Residential$1.13bn
Commercial$4M
Industrial$54M
Rural$6.94bn
Other zones$39M

Total $8.17bn, against $8.47bn at 1 July 2024 (−3.6%)

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$78k · 26%
2022$105k · 29%
2023$133k · 34%
2024$135k · 34%
2025$142k · 33%

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 111 first home buyers in the Hilltops council area were let off transfer duty or paid less under a NSW first home buyer scheme, up from 88 the year before. That's 0.3% 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 $7.26M, 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 (0.3%)

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 (0.1%)

NSW, 2025–26: $10.6bn

Against NSW2020–212025–26Change
Duty here (estimate)$5.62M$7.26M+29%
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 Hilltops council area?

The Hilltops council area takes in 38 suburbs across 7 postcodes.

Every suburb in the council

Most residents first · each links to its own page

SuburbResidentsMedian, 2025Sales10 yearsCrime per 1,000, 2025Advantage
Young10,610$493k255+105%115.311th
Harden1,900$370k34+138%63.09th
Boorowa1,888$555k56+164%41.327th
Murringo390–4–7.736th
Wombat280$670k5–51.430th
Burrangong261–4–11.763rd
Jugiong255–4–65.256th
Galong235–3–71.738th
Kingsvale233–1–8.451st
Rye Park230–1–128.736th
Monteagle213$270k6–107.045th
Cunningar163–1––54th
Frogmore146–4––31st
Maimuru145–4––69th
Bendick Murrell143$223k8––37th
Barwang139–0––54th
Thuddungra137–0––22nd
Beggan Beggan128––––54th
Kikiamah107–2––45th
Memagong96–0––69th
Milvale89–1––65th
Berremangra87–0––56th
Reids Flat85–1––31st
Rugby83–1––31st
Murrumburrah81–3––48th
Crowther78–1––37th
Nubba77–0––45th
McMahons Reef68–0––38th
Berthong65–0––69th
Godfreys Creek65–1––62nd
Tubbul63–0––69th
Wirrimah62–2––37th
Taylors Flat58–1––31st
Bulla Creek49–0––45th
Morangarell34–0––59th
Weedallion29–0––69th
Hovells Creek27–0––62nd
Mount Collins11––––62nd

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): Bribbaree 89%, Koorawatha 78%, Wyangala 25%.

Its postcodes

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

259457%
258618%
258716%
28072.5%
28032.1%
27261.5%
25851.5%

Source ABS ASGS 2021 and LGA 2025 24

03People

Who lives in the Hilltops council area?

On income, education, jobs and housing together, the Hilltops council area scores 929 on the ABS index of advantage, lower than 75% of NSW councils. Its median household earned $1,175 a week at the 2021 Census.

SEIFA 2021 deciles

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

Advantage and disadvantageIRSAD4
DisadvantageIRSD · higher = less disadvantaged4
Economic resourcesIER5
Education and occupationIEO4

Among NSW councils it sits in the 24th percentile on IRSAD.

Source ABS SEIFA 2021 4

Census 2021 profile

Residents (2021)
19,254
Median age
45
Aged 65 and over
24.1%
Median household income
$1,175 a week
Households renting
24.1%
Social housing
1.4%
Owned outright
43.6%
With a mortgage
28.4%
Median mortgage (2021)
$1,213 a month
Flats and apartments
1.9%
People per km²
2.7

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 19,347 people lived in the Hilltops council area at 30 June 2025, down 0.2% on a year earlier, against +1.2% across NSW. That's 587 more people than in 2015 (+3.1%).

Residents, June 2025
19,347estimated
Growth, year to June 2025
−0.2%NSW +1.2%
Since June 2015
+3.1%+587 people
People per km²
2.7NSW 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

Hilltops grewshrankNSW that year

Source ABS Regional Population 7

Income

The Census counts households' income once in five years ($1,175 a week in 2021); the ABS's yearly figure from tax returns counts each person's. Residents of the Hilltops council area who lodged a tax return had a median income of $47,896 in 2022–23, against $58,909 across NSW. That's 18.2% more than in 2018–19 (NSW +19%). For 75.1%, most income came from wages and salaries.

Median income, 2022–23
$47,896NSW $58,909
Since 2018–19
+18.2%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

HilltopsNSW

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
$50,496
Own businessNSW $12,714
$7,845
InvestmentsNSW $240
$195
Super and annuitiesNSW $26,108
$26,870

Source ABS Data by Region 8

04Elections

How did the Hilltops council area vote?

Federal elections

At the 2025 federal election, the two-party-preferred vote in the Hilltops council area split an estimated 35.1% Labor to 64.9% Coalition, against 55.3% to 44.7% across NSW. That's a swing of 0.3 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 40% 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
35.1%NSW 55.3%
Swing to Labor since 2022
+0.3 ptsNSW +3.9 pts
Informal votes
11.7%NSW 8.1%
Built from
40%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

HilltopsNSW50%, level

Votes each estimate is built from: 2007 79% · 2010 75% · 2013 63% · 2016 65% · 2019 100% · 2022 100% · 2025 40%

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

Riverina

Elected: Michael McCORMACK (The Nationals)

Final count, two candidates

Michael McCORMACKThe Nationals62.6%
Mark JEFFRESONLabor37.4%
First preferences, 13 candidates
Michael McCORMACKThe Nationals40.3%
Mark JEFFRESONLabor18.4%
Mark CRAIGPauline Hanson's One Nation9.9%
Jenny ROLFEIndependent6.5%
James GOODENIndependent4.8%
Pheonix VALXORIThe Greens4.5%
Desiree GREGORYShooters, Fishers and Farmers Party4.0%
Christine ONLEYLibertarian2.2%
Richard FOLEYCitizens Party2.1%
Mark BURGEFamily First2.0%
Grant HARDWICKIndependent1.8%
Barbara BAIKIEIndependent1.8%
Jake DAVISIndependent1.7%

128,537 enrolled · 105,837 formal votes · 11.3% 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, the two-party-preferred vote in the Hilltops council area split an estimated 20.7% Labor to 79.3% Coalition, against 54.9% to 45.1% across NSW. That's a swing of 10 points to the Coalition since 2019 (across NSW, 5.7 points to Labor). Like every figure here, it's estimated from the polling places where votes were cast, not where voters live: built from 45% 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

Labor, two-party-preferred
20.7%NSW 54.9%
Swing to Labor since 2019
−10 ptsNSW +5.7 pts
Informal votes
2.7%NSW 3.3%
Built from
45%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

Labor's two-party-preferred share

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

HilltopsNSW50%, level

Votes each estimate is built from: 2015 64% · 2019 50% · 2023 45%

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

Cootamundra

Elected: Steph COOKE (National Party of Australia - NSW)

Final count, two candidates

Steph COOKENational Party of Australia - NSW82.1%
Chris DAHLITZAustralian Labor Party (NSW Branch)17.9%
First preferences, 7 candidates
Steph COOKENational Party of Australia - NSW70.6%
Chris DAHLITZAustralian Labor Party (NSW Branch)13.4%
Jake CULLENShooters, Fishers and Farmers Party (NSW) Incorporated8.6%
Jeffrey PASSLOWThe Greens NSW2.5%
Robert YOUNGIndependent2.3%
Brian FISHERIndependent1.4%
Chris O'ROURKESustainable Australia Party - Stop Overdevelopment / Corruption1.3%

56,016 enrolled · 48,848 formal votes · 2.3% 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 Hilltops council area, 100.0%, and all 11 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 11

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 11
  • 2024 Independents 11

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

Hilltops Council

Elected: Matthew STADTMILLER (IND), Neil LANGFORD (IND), Alison FOREMAN (IND), Fiona DOUGLAS (IND), Michelle GALLO (IND), Jake DAVIS (IND), Mary DODD (IND), James BLACKWELL (IND), Joanne MACKAY (Independent), Tony FLANERY (Independent), Brian INGRAM (IND)

First preferences, 16 candidates
Brian INGRAMIND15.8%
Neil LANGFORDIND14.7%
Matthew STADTMILLERIND11.6%
Alison FOREMANIND8.7%
Jake DAVISIND8.6%
Tony FLANERYIndependent8.0%
Joanne MACKAYIndependent4.8%
James BLACKWELLIND4.7%
Mary DODDIND4.4%
Abdullah SULTANIND4.0%
Michelle GALLOIND3.8%
Patrick FITZGERALDIND3.2%
Fiona DOUGLASIND2.9%
Jennifer SMITHIND2.3%
Michael SKILLENIND2.2%
Brandon DOUGLASIND0.5%

11,002 formal votes · 8.1% 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 Hilltops council area?

Police recorded 85.7 incidents per 1,000 residents in the Hilltops council area in 2025, 1.3 times the NSW rate (66; lower is better): higher than 63% of NSW councils.

Recorded crime per 1,000 residents

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

HilltopsNSW (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 crime1.3× NSW

14NSW 11.2 · 270 incidents

Property crime0.8× NSW

16.3NSW 21.2 · 315 incidents

Domestic violence assault1.3× NSW

5.9NSW 4.4 · 114 incidents

Home break-ins0.8× NSW

1.6NSW 2.1 · 30 incidents

Vehicle theft0.7× NSW

3.1NSW 4.7 · 60 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 524 crashes in which someone was killed or injured in the Hilltops council area over 2016–2025, about 52 a year; 156 of them were fatal or caused a serious injury. That's 2.7 a year per 1,000 residents, 1.6 times the NSW rate (1.7; lower is better).

Crashes in which someone was hurt

Killed or injured, by reporting year · 524 over 2016–2025, and 217 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
2.71.6× the NSW rate (1.7) · lower is better
Fatal or serious-injury crashes
156
People killed
26
Involving a pedestrian
15crashes
Involving a cyclist
4crashes
Involving a motorcycle
76crashes

Source TfNSW NSW Crash Data 14

Streets with the most casualty crashes

Within the Hilltops council area, 2016–2025

Olympic Highway77 casualty crashes · 22 fatal or serious77
Lachlan Valley Way37 casualty crashes · 9 fatal or serious37
Hume Highway36 casualty crashes · 11 fatal or serious36
Murringo Road28 casualty crashes · 9 fatal or serious28
Burley Griffin Way20 casualty crashes · 4 fatal or serious20
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

The council issued 213 parking fines in 2025–26, 11 for every 1,000 residents of the Hilltops council area (NSW councils together: 150.6), with a face value of $43k.

Parking fines per 1,000 residents

Issued by the council each financial year · 2026–27 to October, faint · blank in a year it issued fewer than 100

Source Revenue NSW fines, CC BY 15

Parking fines issued, 2025–26
213
Per 1,000 residents
11NSW councils: 150.6
Their face value
$43k

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 202.1 times for every 1,000 residents of the area around the Hilltops council area (NSW 182.2). In April to June 2026, half of its emergency calls were reached within 14 minutes and nine in ten within 42 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

Hilltops'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
14minutes · NSW 14
Nine in ten reached within
42minutes · NSW 33
Ambulances sent per 1,000, 2025–26
202.1NSW 182.2
Incidents per 1,000, 2025–26
161.1NSW 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 Hilltops council area, and how many homes run on solar?

7.7% of addresses in the Hilltops council area fall on mapped bush fire prone land. We have no flood map for it, so we can't say whether it floods.

Addresses on bush fire prone land

By RFS category · 12% 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 planning area

No flood map for this council.Its LEP doesn't map flood land, and its flood studies aren't in our data, so we can't check it. That's a gap in our data, not a sign it doesn't flood.

Rooftop solar (estimate)

Solar systems per 100 houses
61.3
Home batteries per 1,000 dwellings
65.4
The Clean Energy Regulator counts systems by postcode only, so each postcode's systems are shared out by its homes: an estimate, 96% of it from postcodes wholly inside the council. On that basis it is lower than 52% 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 Hilltops council area, and how is the land zoned?

The Hilltops council area has 12 government schools, and its middle home is 1.3 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
12
To the local primary school
1.3km
To the local high school
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: 5.6% in all · 1.0% 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 Hilltops council area?

TfNSW records no public transport within walking distance of homes in the Hilltops 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

Hilltops 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

HilltopsNSW

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

Source TfNSW PTAL 16

Vehicles

The Hilltops council area had 1,037 registered vehicles for every 1,000 residents in December 2025 (NSW 737). 0.2% of its cars, four-wheel drives and light goods vehicles were battery electric (NSW 1.8%), and battery electric light vehicles grew 3.42× between December 2023 and October 2026.

Vehicles per 1,000 residents, 2025
1,037NSW 737
Motorcycles per 1,000, 2025
47NSW 32
Trucks and buses per 1,000, 2025
87.2NSW 32.5
Hybrid share of the light fleet, 2025
2.3%NSW 5.0%
Ute share of the light fleet, 2025
38.5%NSW 16.4%
Average age of passenger vehicles, 2025
11.8years · 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

HilltopsNSW

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Battery electric light vehicles

Registered each December, then October 2026

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Light vehicles by fuel

Cars, four-wheel drives and light goods vehicles, October 2026.

Battery electric72
Plug-in hybrid58
Hybrid495
Petrol8,591
Diesel8,164
Other fuels94

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Every vehicle by type

October 2026.

Cars8,542
Four-wheel drives2,009
Utes and vans6,984
Trucks and buses1,687
Motorcycles900
Trailers and caravans9,323

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.

Toyota4,945
Holden2,069
Ford1,926
Mitsubishi1,305
Mazda1,282

Source TfNSW vehicle registrations, CC BY 17

Registered for business use

Share of vehicles, 2025
12.8%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 Hilltops council area?

2,400 businesses registered for GST had an address in the Hilltops council area at 30 June 2025, 124 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
2,400registered for GST
Per 1,000 residents
124NSW 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, fishing42%
Mining0.3%
Electricity, gas, water0.4%
Construction15%
Other services4%
Retail trade4.8%
Manufacturing2.6%
Wholesale trade2.5%
Accommodation and food2.7%
Rental and real estate7%
Arts and recreation0.8%
Transport and warehousing4.4%
Public administration0.2%
Admin and support2.5%
Health care and social help3.9%
Education and training0.8%
Finance and insurance1.8%
Professional services3.8%
Media and telecoms0.3%
HilltopsNSW share

Source ABS Data by Region 8

Going out

The Hilltops council area had 53 licensed venues on October 2026's list, 2.7 for every 1,000 residents (NSW 1.7): 16 hotels, 8 clubs, 1 small bar, 20 restaurants and other on-premises venues and 8 bottle shops. 5 are licensed past midnight. That's down from 60 in 2021.

Venues per 1,000 residents

October lists, 2021–2026

HilltopsNSW

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 Hilltops council area had 195 poker machines at 10 clubs and hotels in 2025, 10.1 for every 1,000 residents (NSW 10.2). Liquor & Gaming NSW reported its clubs with Yass Valley, and its hotels with Cootamundra-Gundagai, so there's no net profit in dollars for this area alone. Bowerbird's estimate, modelled from its venues' rankings and machines, is about $13M, not a published figure. Worked out over the residents of each report's councils, the machines made $600 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
Venues73102,125
Machines1435219588,019
Machines per 1,000 residents7.42.710.110.2
Net profitreported with Yass Valleyreported with Cootamundra-Gundagainot published alone
about $13M estimated
$9.35bn
Net profit per resident$353 combined area$247 combined area$600 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)

HilltopsNSW

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 Hilltops

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