Mid North Coast, NSW
wallis-lake · oyster · boating · beachy
Want to find out if you can afford to move?
Move Regional compares towns across QLD, NSW and WA on price, work, schools and lifestyle, so you can find the one that fits.
© OpenStreetMap contributors
Drive to the coast
2 min
By road
Nearest major hospital
38 min
By road
Airport access
1h 34m
By road
Schools access
Good
Average daytime temp
22.8°C
Rainfall
Moderate rainfall
Forster-Tuncurry is a substantial holiday-and-retirement centre built around Wallis Lake and the coast. Around 20,600 people live here, the median age is 59 and population growth has been modest at roughly 3% since 2016. The town has enough size to support regular shopping and schools, but healthcare is more limited than the population might suggest, with the nearest major hospital about 40 minutes away.
Housing sits around an $876,000 median and three-bedroom rents near $640 a week. The lake, ocean baths, One Mile Beach and Cape Hawke give residents abundant water access, and boating is as much a local routine as a visitor activity. Tourism still matters, especially through summer and school holidays when traffic and crowds increase.
Allow about 3 hours 45 minutes away and the airport around 1 hour 35 minutes, so the area sits firmly outside easy metropolitan reach. to get to Sydney Forster-Tuncurry works well for people who want a larger coastal town with a strong water-based lifestyle and can manage some healthcare travel. It is less compelling for households needing a deep employment market, extensive retail or a place that stays quiet through peak holiday periods.
18 photos
Families, retirees, anglers, boaters and remote workers who want water to be part of everyday life will understand the appeal quickly. It also suits people wanting more amenities than a tiny beach settlement provides, while still preferring a coastal town to the size and pace of Newcastle or Coffs Harbour.
Tourism is a significant part of the local economy, so school holidays and summer bring noticeably more people and traffic. The nearest major hospital is roughly 38 minutes away, and Sydney is about 3 hours 45 minutes by road. Shopping is adequate rather than comprehensive.
Swim at Forster Ocean Baths
Cruise Wallis Lake
Walk Cape Hawke lookout trail
Visit One Mile Beach
Median house price
$876,000
21% below the NSW median
Median attached price (townhouse/apartment)
$655,000
Median weekly rent (3-bed house)
$640
≈ $2,773/month
Houses here typically sell from $760,000 to $1,075,000 (25th–75th percentile).
Attached properties typically sell from $530,000 to $777,000.
Sourced from NSW Department of Communities and Justice · January - March 2026 quarter
Healthcare access
Moderate
Shopping & everyday services
Moderate
Supermarket within 10km, limited other retail
Internet connection
Fixed line
Plus 4 more within 20km — showing the 8 closest.
Job market by industry
Healthcare — 15.7%
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 Blueys Beach, Nambucca Heads, Old Bar, Port Macquarie, Seal Rocks, South West Rocks, Taree and Laurieton.
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.
Forster - Tuncurry (UCL 112008) · 2021 Census
Older than the country as a whole: 40.6% are 65 or over against 17.2% nationally, and 11.9% are children against 18.2%. Among households, couples without children outnumber couples with them (57.3% of families against 23.7%). Lone-person households are more common than average (36.9% against 25.6%).
Population
20,554
Population growth
+3.2%
Forster (SA2 108011152)
Median age
59 years
Labour force participation
39.5%
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
$554
Per week · ≈ $28,808/year
Median family income
$1,280
Per week
Median household income
$956
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
67.9%
Rented
26.6%
Born in Australia
82.3%
Born overseas
11.2%
Doesn't sum to 100% — people who didn't state a birthplace are excluded rather than redistributed.