Far West, NSW
outback · artistic · mining · cinematic
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Drive to the coast
4h 11m
By road
Nearest major hospital
6 min
By road
Airport access
9 min
By road
Schools access
Good
Average daytime temp
24.8°C
Rainfall
Very dry
Broken Hill feels like a city that has had to become self-reliant because there is nothing metropolitan just over the horizon. Mining history is visible everywhere, but art, film and desert culture have grown alongside it, giving the place more character than the usual image of an outback service centre suggests.
About 17,700 people live here and the population has declined by roughly 3% since 2016, so growth pressure is not the story. Housing is exceptionally cheap by NSW standards, with a median around $255,000 and three-bedroom rents near $380 a week.
Healthcare, schools and shopping are strong enough for everyday life, and the airport is only about ten minutes away, which matters in a place this remote. Summers are extremely hot, winters can be cold and rainfall is scarce.
The Living Desert sculptures, Line of Lode and the town’s cinematic history sit naturally alongside ordinary errands because the landscape and mining past are never far away. Adelaide is about 5 hours 45 minutes by road and the coast more than four hours. Broken Hill rewards people who can embrace distance and climate; it is much less forgiving if frequent capital-city access or a broad private-sector job market is essential.
15 photos
Remote outback living has to be a deliberate choice, but Broken Hill still has the core services of a regional city. Healthcare workers, tradespeople, creatives and people drawn to mining history, desert landscapes and a strong local identity can find plenty to like. The distance from the east coast needs to be something you genuinely accept, not a detail you hope to ignore.
Remoteness is the defining trade-off. The nearest capital city is about 5 hours 45 minutes by road, and the coast is around 4 hours 15 minutes away. Summers are extremely hot, winters can be cold and rainfall is very low. Anyone needing frequent metropolitan access should plan around flying.
See the Living Desert sculptures
Explore mining heritage and the Line of Lode
Discover the town's strong film and art identity
More from Londoner in Sydney
Looking for things to do in Broken Hill or wondering if it’s worth visiting? This NSW outback town has much more to offer than you could ever think! After our recent visit, this regional New South Wales town blew us away!
Read the guideMedian house price
$255,000
77% below the NSW median
Median weekly rent (3-bed house)
$380
≈ $1,647/month
Houses here typically sell from $187,000 to $341,000 (25th–75th percentile).
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 2 more within 20km — showing the 8 closest.
Job market by industry
Healthcare — 18%
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 Lightning Ridge and Dubbo.
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.
Broken Hill (SAL 10589) · 2021 Census
Older than the country as a whole: 23.2% are 65 or over against 17.2% nationally, and 17% are children against 18.2%. Among households, couples without children outnumber couples with them (43% of families against 31.6%). Lone-person households are more common than average (37.1% against 25.6%).
Population
17,706
Population growth
-3.3%
Broken Hill (SA2 105021097)
Median age
44 years
Labour force participation
52.1%
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
$650
Per week · ≈ $33,800/year
Median family income
$1,627
Per week
Median household income
$1,176
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
72.2%
Rented
23.7%
Born in Australia
85.9%
Born overseas
5.1%
Doesn't sum to 100% — people who didn't state a birthplace are excluded rather than redistributed.