Avenell Heights

Demographics

The median age of 47 is 7.0 years above national, and the trajectory is clearly aging: the senior share rose 4.7 points while the young share fell 2.7 points over the decade. Only 9.9% of residents were born overseas, 11.7 points below national, and ancestry leans Anglo-Celtic, led by English (2,141), German (502), Irish (475) and Scottish (441). University qualifications at 17.1% run 13.0 points under national, consistent with a workforce weighted toward trades and service roles. Average household size is 2.3, which is 0.2 below national, and couples without children make up 32.8% of the 3,658 families, slightly ahead of couples with children at 1,080, a profile that fits the older, settled resident base.

Tenure is split three ways: 37.6% own outright, 26.4% carry a mortgage and 36.0% rent. Outright owners outnumbering mortgage holders points to long-held, debt-light ownership rather than recent buyer churn. The stock is 80.0% separate houses with apartments at just 11.4% and semi-detached at 8.6%, so detached family homes are the default. Three-bedroom dwellings account for 52.3% and four-plus bedrooms 27.3%, leaving smaller one and two-bedroom homes scarce at 4.1% and 16.3%. At a $338,000 median against household income in the 16.1st percentile, both housing-stress measures stay clear of the threshold: mortgage-to-income is 26.0% and rent-to-income 25.3%, a rare combination of low prices keeping costs manageable even on modest incomes.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

The workforce concentrates in service sectors rather than knowledge industries: Healthcare leads at 25.1% (276 workers), Education follows at 16.1% (177), then Construction at 8.1%, Retail 7.2% and Manufacturing 6.5%. By occupation, Labourers (285) and Community and Personal Service workers (281) edge out Professionals (275), which aligns with the decile 1 IEO score for education and occupation. The labour market is soft: unemployment runs at 8.7%, above the national norm, and the participation rate is only 45.0%, dragged down by 1,962 residents not in the labour force, a direct consequence of the aging profile. Real incomes still grew 10.4% over the decade, and the decile 2 IER score sits a notch above the decile 1 disadvantage readings.

Transport to Work

Daily life here is built around the car: 90.8% drive to work while public transport carries just 0.4% and active travel 1.5%, far below metro suburbs and a reflection of the low-density 1,648 residents per km2 layout across 3.05 km2. Affordability is the standout, with a $338,000 median and both rent and mortgage costs under the stress threshold at 25.3% and 26.0% of income. The trade-offs are socioeconomic: the suburb scores decile 1 on IRSAD and IRSD, the lowest disadvantage tier nationally, and 13.8% of residents (650 people) need daily assistance, consistent with the older median age of 47. Volunteering runs at 14.7%, and resident stability is high with 76.6% staying put and a low 23.4% turnover rate.

Population Forecast

Avenell Heights is an established, slow-growth suburb: population is rising at just 0.25% a year, about 28 residents, and the ten-year change is essentially flat at minus 0.1%. Migration is balanced and modest, with net overseas inflow of 63 a year only lightly ahead of net internal migration of 17, so neither driver pushes meaningful expansion. The gentrification score reads 0, classifying the area as not gentrifying, which fits a suburb already at decile 1 advantage with little upward pressure. The one bright spot is affordability, which improved from 56.1% in 2011 to 47.3% in 2021 as real incomes grew 10.4%, though the aging trajectory and falling young share point to continued stability rather than renewal.

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Avenell Heights compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

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