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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Balmain is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Sydney, Australia, with a population of approximately 10,454, making it a smaller community. Located 3 km from the Sydney CBD, Balmain is a middle ring area in New South Wales. The median household income is $158,028 per year.
Above-average earnings in Balmain support sustained property values. Its proximity to the CBD adds a strong location premium.
Official Australia Post postcode for Balmain. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 3 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Balmain on My School →Estimated 4 parks and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Balmain's population of 10,454 sits 96% above the New South Wales suburb median of 5,325, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average NSW locality. Median household income of $158,028/year runs 62% above the New South Wales suburb median of $97,552, indicating strong purchasing power and the type of demographic profile that tends to sustain premium property prices through market cycles. Median rent of $625/week (~$2,708/month) covers only 68% of the median mortgage of $3,986/month — the remaining $1,278/month must be funded from other income, so this suburb tilts toward capital growth rather than yield. At 3 km from the Sydney CBD, Balmain sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Only 19% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 76% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
Middle-ring locations like this one historically reward patient holders — focus on homes near catchment-zone schools and major transport. Local rents consume roughly 21% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Balmain stacks up against the median of all New South Wales suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Balmain sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Balmain | NSW median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 10,454 | 5,325 | +96% |
| Median household income | $158,028/yr | $97,552/yr | +62% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $625 | $430 | +45% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $3,986 | $2,167 | +84% |
| Distance to CBD | 3 km | 45 km | -93% |
| Separate houses | 19% | 76% | -57pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Balmain — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Strong buy-and-hold fundamentals: household incomes run 62% above the New South Wales suburb median ($158,028 vs $97,552), and the 3 km CBD distance keeps this suburb in the primary demand zone. In New South Wales, suburbs with this profile have historically clustered in the upper tercile of 10-year capital growth.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $625/week covers 68% of a $3,986/month mortgage, leaving a $1,278/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 19% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 76% NSW median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Balmain property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Balmain enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 62% above the New South Wales suburb median of $97,552 and a population of 10,454 give it the depth and purchasing power to outperform the wider NSW market over the next 12–18 months. Rental coverage runs at ~68% of the typical mortgage ($2,708/month rent vs $3,986/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 86/100 places Balmain in the top tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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Balmain scores 86/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a strong rating. That score is driven by a population of 10,454, median household income of $158,028/year and median weekly rent of $625. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Balmain are proximity to Sydney (3 km), an above-state-median household income of $158,028/year, a dwelling mix that is 19% separate houses, roughly 3 schools and 4 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Balmain has a usual resident population of approximately 10,454, compared with a New South Wales suburb median of 5,325 — placing it in the upper half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Balmain sits 3 km straight-line from the Sydney CBD. This is inner-ring territory — pricing competes directly with established Sydney employment nodes.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $625 in Balmain, equating to approximately $32,500/year in gross rental income (state median $430/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Balmain is $3,986, or approximately $47,832/year (vs $2,167/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $625 works out to $2,708/month, covering 68% of the median mortgage repayment of $3,986/month. That leaves a $1,278/month shortfall (around $15,336/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $3,986 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (19% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader New South Wales market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.