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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Rocky River is a regional centre in New South Wales, Australia, with a population of approximately 297, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 531 km from the Sydney CBD, Rocky River is a regional area in New South Wales. The median household income is $61,724 per year.
Lower income levels in Rocky River typically translate to more affordable entry points for investors. As a regional location, growth prospects depend on local economic conditions and infrastructure investment.
Official Australia Post postcode for Rocky River. 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 Rocky River 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.
Rocky River is a smaller community of 297 — about 6% of the New South Wales suburb median (5,325) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Rocky River's median household income of $61,724/year is 37% below the New South Wales suburb median ($97,552) — this is an affordability play where returns lean on yield and patient capital growth rather than demographic premium. Rocky River is 531 km from Sydney, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 47% 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.
How Rocky River stacks up against the median of all New South Wales suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Rocky River sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Rocky River | NSW median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 297 | 5,325 | -94% |
| Median household income | $61,724/yr | $97,552/yr | -37% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,673 | $2,167 | -23% |
| Distance to CBD | 531 km | 45 km | +1080% |
| Separate houses | 47% | 76% | -29pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Rocky River — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 297 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider New South Wales market over full cycles.
Median rental data was not captured for Rocky River. Use current realestate.com.au and Domain listings to triangulate a realistic weekly rent before committing, then feed that number into our rental yield calculator.
Only 47% 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 Rocky River property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Rocky River are modest for 2026 — incomes 37% below the NSW median of $97,552 and a population of 297 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental fundamentals will need to be verified against live listings, as a clean median rent was not recorded for Rocky River. The EquitySight investment score of 28/100 places Rocky River in the lower tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is cautious heading into the second half of 2026.
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Rocky River scores 28/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a weak rating. That score is driven by a population of 297, median household income of $61,724/year. 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 Rocky River are a median household income of $61,724/year, a dwelling mix that is 47% 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.
Rocky River has a usual resident population of approximately 297, 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.
Rocky River sits 531 km straight-line from the Sydney CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
A reliable median rent was not captured for Rocky River. Benchmark expected weekly rent on realestate.com.au and Domain, or the state rental tribunal's rent dashboard. Most Australian investors target a 4–5% gross yield as a baseline.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Rocky River is $1,673, or approximately $20,076/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.
Census data was not complete enough in Rocky River to compute a clean rent-to-mortgage coverage. Use current listings to benchmark weekly rent, then plug your expected purchase price into our rental yield calculator to see whether the investment runs cash-flow positive or negative.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (297 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,673 median mortgage, below-median household incomes ($61,724 vs $97,552 state median), 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.