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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Willoughby East is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Sydney, Australia, with a population of approximately 1,864, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 8 km from the Sydney CBD, Willoughby East is a middle ring area in New South Wales. The median household income is $235,872 per year.
Above-average earnings in Willoughby East support sustained property values. The short commute to the city centre is a key demand driver.
Official Australia Post postcode for Willoughby East. 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 Willoughby East 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.
Willoughby East is a smaller community of 1,864 — about 35% 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 $235,872/year runs 142% 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 $873 equates to $3,783/month — about 90% of the median mortgage repayment of $4,219/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. At 8 km from the Sydney CBD, Willoughby East sits inside the high-demand inner ring — properties here compete directly with the city's employment, transport and amenity networks. Separate houses make up 92% of dwellings — 16 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 Willoughby East stacks up against the median of all New South Wales suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Willoughby East sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Willoughby East | NSW median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 1,864 | 5,325 | -65% |
| Median household income | $235,872/yr | $97,552/yr | +142% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $873 | $430 | +103% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $4,219 | $2,167 | +95% |
| Distance to CBD | 8 km | 45 km | -82% |
| Separate houses | 92% | 76% | +16pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Willoughby East — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Strong buy-and-hold fundamentals: household incomes run 142% above the New South Wales suburb median ($235,872 vs $97,552), and the 8 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.
Strong rental coverage: $873/week (~$3,783/month) covers 90% of the $4,219/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $436/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
With 92% houses in a 1,864-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 Willoughby East property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Willoughby East enters 2026 with a demographic tailwind — household incomes 142% above the New South Wales suburb median of $97,552 and a population of 1,864 give it the depth and purchasing power to outperform the wider NSW market over the next 12–18 months. Rental coverage runs at ~90% of the typical mortgage ($3,783/month rent vs $4,219/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 73/100 places Willoughby East 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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Willoughby East scores 73/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 1,864, median household income of $235,872/year and median weekly rent of $873. 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 Willoughby East are proximity to Sydney (8 km), an above-state-median household income of $235,872/year, a dwelling mix that is 92% 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.
Willoughby East has a usual resident population of approximately 1,864, 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.
Willoughby East sits 8 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 $873 in Willoughby East, equating to approximately $45,396/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 Willoughby East is $4,219, or approximately $50,628/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 $873 works out to $3,783/month, covering 90% of the median mortgage repayment of $4,219/month. That leaves a $436/month shortfall (around $5,232/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 (1,864 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $4,219 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.