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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Cowan is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Sydney, Australia, with a population of approximately 631, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 34 km from the Sydney CBD, Cowan is a middle ring area in New South Wales. The median household income is $117,000 per year.
Above-average earnings in Cowan support sustained property values. While further from the city, improving transport links could boost future demand.
Official Australia Post postcode for Cowan. 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 1 school within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Cowan on My School →Estimated 1 park 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.
Cowan is a smaller community of 631 — about 12% of the New South Wales suburb median (5,325) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Median household income of $117,000/year runs 20% 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 weekly rent of $515 equates to $2,232/month — about 97% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,290/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. At 34 km from Sydney, Cowan is an outer-metro location where buyers are typically trading commute time for floor space and a lower entry price. Separate houses make up 94% of dwellings — 18 percentage points above the New South Wales median of 76% — pointing to a family-oriented, land-rich market where value is concentrated in the underlying block.
How Cowan stacks up against the median of all New South Wales suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Cowan sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Cowan | NSW median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 631 | 5,325 | -88% |
| Median household income | $117,000/yr | $97,552/yr | +20% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $515 | $430 | +20% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $2,290 | $2,167 | +6% |
| Distance to CBD | 34 km | 45 km | -24% |
| Separate houses | 94% | 76% | +18pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Cowan — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 631 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider New South Wales market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage: $515/week (~$2,232/month) covers 97% of the $2,290/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $58/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
With 94% houses in a 631-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Run the numbers on a Cowan property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Cowan are modest for 2026 — incomes 20% above the NSW median of $97,552 and a population of 631 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~97% of the typical mortgage ($2,232/month rent vs $2,290/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 64/100 places Cowan in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
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Cowan scores 64/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 631, median household income of $117,000/year and median weekly rent of $515. 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 Cowan are an above-state-median household income of $117,000/year, a dwelling mix that is 94% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 1 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.
Cowan has a usual resident population of approximately 631, compared with a New South Wales suburb median of 5,325 — placing it in the lower 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.
Cowan sits 34 km straight-line from the Sydney CBD. This is an outer-metro location; local employment and infrastructure announcements tend to move prices more than CBD connectivity alone.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $515 in Cowan, equating to approximately $26,780/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 Cowan is $2,290, or approximately $27,480/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 $515 works out to $2,232/month, covering 97% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,290/month. That leaves a $58/month shortfall (around $696/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 a thin buyer pool (631 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,290 median mortgage, 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.