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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Rockdale is an outer-metropolitan suburb of Sydney, Australia, with a population of approximately 15,475, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 11 km from the Sydney CBD, Rockdale is a outer metro area in New South Wales. The median household income is $99,112 per year.
Above-average earnings in Rockdale support sustained property values. Its proximity to the CBD adds a strong location premium.
Official Australia Post postcode for Rockdale. 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 4 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Rockdale on My School →Estimated 6 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.
With 15,475 residents, Rockdale is one of New South Wales's more populous suburbs — roughly 2.9× the state median of 5,325 — giving it a deep buyer and tenant pool that typically supports higher transaction volumes and shorter average days on market. At $99,112/year, household income in Rockdale is within 2% of the New South Wales median ($97,552), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Median weekly rent of $460 equates to $1,993/month — about 92% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,167/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. 11 km from Sydney places Rockdale in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs. Only 22% 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.
This suburb suits long-term investors due to steady population growth and affordable entry prices. Look for established streets close to schools and shops rather than raw new-estate land. Local rents consume roughly 24% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Rockdale stacks up against the median of all New South Wales suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Rockdale sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Rockdale | NSW median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 15,475 | 5,325 | +191% |
| Median household income | $99,112/yr | $97,552/yr | +2% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $460 | $430 | +7% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $2,167 | $2,167 | 0% |
| Distance to CBD | 11 km | 45 km | -76% |
| Separate houses | 22% | 76% | -54pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Rockdale — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 15,475 and household income close to the NSW median ($99,112 vs $97,552) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Strong rental coverage: $460/week (~$1,993/month) covers 92% of the $2,167/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $174/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 22% 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 Rockdale property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Property values in Rockdale should track the wider New South Wales market through 2026, with the $99,112/year median household income (close to the $97,552 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. Rental coverage runs at ~92% of the typical mortgage ($1,993/month rent vs $2,167/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 73/100 places Rockdale in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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Rockdale scores 73/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 15,475, median household income of $99,112/year and median weekly rent of $460. 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 Rockdale are proximity to Sydney (11 km), an above-state-median household income of $99,112/year, a dwelling mix that is 22% separate houses, roughly 4 schools and 6 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.
Rockdale has a usual resident population of approximately 15,475, 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.
Rockdale sits 11 km straight-line from the Sydney CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $460 in Rockdale, equating to approximately $23,920/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 Rockdale is $2,167, or approximately $26,004/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 $460 works out to $1,993/month, covering 92% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,167/month. That leaves a $174/month shortfall (around $2,088/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 $2,167 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (22% 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.