Central West, NSW
heritage · motorsport · country-city
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Drive to the coast
3h 14m
By road
Nearest major hospital
4 min
By road
Airport access
41 min
By road
Schools access
Excellent
Average daytime temp
20.8°C
Rainfall
Dry
Bathurst is a working inland city with several identities layered on top of one another: university and education, farming and trades, heritage streets, and a motorsport culture that becomes impossible to ignore around Mount Panorama. The centre is large enough for solid schools, healthcare and everyday shopping, but it still feels distinctly regional rather than metropolitan.
Around 36,000 people live in the urban area, with a median age of 37, and growth since 2016 has been negative at roughly 5%, so the immediate area is not in a boom phase. Housing is comparatively accessible by NSW standards, with a median house price around $750,000 and three-bedroom rents near $560 a week. Winters are genuinely cold and the coast is more than three hours away, which gives Bathurst a very different seasonal rhythm from coastal NSW.
Weekends might involve the race circuit, gold-rush history or the fossil and mineral museum, but ordinary life revolves more around schools, work, sport and local services. Sydney is about 3 hours 20 minutes by road. That distance is close enough for occasional trips but far enough that Bathurst needs to stand on its own, and for most residents it does.
10 photos
A substantial regional centre rather than a small country town will appeal to families, professionals and tradespeople who want proper schools, healthcare and services close by. Heritage, motorsport and inland country life give Bathurst a character that will matter to some people more than others. Beaches, a big café scene and a coast-or-mountains outdoor lifestyle are much less part of the picture.
Sydney is around 3 hours 15 minutes away and the coast is even further, so regular metropolitan or beach access is not part of the lifestyle. Winters are among the coldest of the towns we cover. The city has useful amenity, but people seeking a highly creative scene or strong outdoor identity may find it less distinctive.
Drive or visit Mount Panorama-Wahluu
Explore gold-rush heritage and the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum
Median house price
$750,000
32% below the NSW median
Median attached price (townhouse/apartment)
$480,000
Median weekly rent (3-bed house)
$560
≈ $2,427/month
Houses here typically sell from $620,000 to $875,000 (25th–75th percentile).
Attached properties typically sell from $430,000 to $540,000.
Sourced from NSW Department of Communities and Justice · January - March 2026 quarter
Healthcare access
Excellent
Shopping & everyday services
Good
4–9 shopping centres within 20km
Internet connection
Fixed line
Plus 13 more within 20km — showing the 8 closest.
Job market by industry
Healthcare — 13%
Largest share of local jobs
Employment figures cover this town's wider statistical region, not the town alone — you'll see the same figures for Orange and Mudgee.
The score ranks this region against other regions for the same occupation, not against other jobs here — a low score means it isn't a regional stronghold for that field, not that there are no vacancies. Counts online job advertisements, so trades and farm work hired by word of mouth are undercounted, and outside capital cities this is published at a regional level larger than one town.
Bathurst (UCL 112002) · 2021 Census
The age profile is close to the national one, with 17.9% aged 65 or over against 17.2% and 19.1% children against 18.2%.
Population
36,230
Population growth
-4.7%
Bathurst - South (SA2 103011612)
Median age
37 years
Labour force participation
60%
Growth is measured across the wider area named under the figure, which can be a different size to the town.
Share of total population in each band — rounding means these won't land on exactly 100%.
Couples are a share of total families; lone-person households are a share of total households — different bases, not one breakdown.
Median personal income
$791
Per week · ≈ $41,132/year
Median family income
$1,994
Per week
Median household income
$1,547
Per week
Personal is one person's income; family and household cover everyone living together — a single-income household will show a lower household figure than its highest earner's personal one. Personal income also covers every resident aged 15 and over, retirees included, so it reads low in a town with an older population even where household income is solid.
Owner-occupied
63.2%
Rented
34.2%
Born in Australia
84.5%
Born overseas
10.4%
Doesn't sum to 100% — people who didn't state a birthplace are excluded rather than redistributed.