Bonny Hills

Development Activity

Demographics

Bonny Hills skews strongly toward the older end of the national spectrum: median age is 51, which is 11 years above the national figure. The aging trajectory is confirmed by a senior share that rose 9.1 points over the decade while the working-age share fell 5.0 points. The overseas-born population is just 10.0%, which is 11.6 percentage points below the national average, and ancestry concentrates in Anglo-Celtic groups: English (1,372), Irish (388) and Scottish (385) lead by a wide margin. University qualifications reach 26.4%, sitting 3.7 points below national. The participation rate of 51.1% is moderate, consistent with a large retired cohort: 1,110 residents are not in the labour force. Couples without children make up 38.1% of families, the dominant household type, and average household size at 2.5 matches the national figure exactly.

Ownership depth is the defining housing characteristic: 51.6% own outright, more than double the 31.2% carrying a mortgage, and only 17.2% rent. This compares to the national ownership profile where outright owners are a far smaller proportion of all households. The stock is almost exclusively separate houses at 98.8%, with the remaining 1.2% semi-detached, meaning buyers seeking apartments or townhouses will not find them here. Four-plus bedroom dwellings account for 49.9% of the total, the dominant configuration, followed by three-bedroom at 39.0%. Prices have held narrow range: the earliest recorded price was $930,000 in 2024, the latest $935,000 in 2025, with a CAGR of 0.5% over one year. Rent stress applies: rent-to-income is 31.3%, above the 30% threshold, while mortgage-to-income at 29.6% sits just below it.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

Healthcare leads local employment at 21.5% (205 workers), followed by Education at 18.6% (178 workers), together accounting for two-fifths of the workforce. Construction takes third at 10.7% (102 workers), consistent with the coastal-growth belt context. By occupation, Professionals number 293 and Community/Personal workers 229, reflecting the service-heavy industrial mix. Unemployment is low at 3.5%, below most regional benchmarks, and the full-time employment rate is 57.6%. Real incomes grew 16.8% over the decade, a genuine gain, though household income still lands at the 41.8th percentile nationally. The SEIFA picture is nuanced: IRSD decile 4 (relative disadvantage) and IRSAD decile 3 (advantage/disadvantage composite) indicate moderate disadvantage by national standards, which partly explains the gap between high house prices and below-median household incomes.

Transport to Work

Car dependence is near-total: 91.6% of residents drive to work, compared to a much lower national share that uses public transport, and only 0.7% take public transport here, reflecting the absence of rail and limited bus frequency in a low-density coastal hinterland. Walking and cycling account for 2.6%, consistent with leisure rather than commute use. Detailed crime statistics are not available for Bonny Hills, though the IRSD decile 4 ranking indicates moderate relative disadvantage by national standards. Volunteering is high at 22.6%, well above national averages, pointing to a strong community participation culture among the largely older, settled resident base. No schools are recorded inside the Bonny Hills boundary in this dataset, so families depend on facilities in neighbouring Port Macquarie suburbs. The rent-to-income ratio of 31.3% flags mild affordability pressure for renters relative to the national benchmark.

Population Forecast

Population grew 17.4% over the decade and the suburb is classified as established with an aging trajectory. Annual growth is modest at 1.29%, adding around 257 persons per year, and medium forecasts for the broader Port Macquarie SA2 project the population rising from about 19,995 in 2025 to 21,174 by 2031. Internal migration is the dominant driver, with net inflows of 470 per year, reflecting sea-change and lifestyle demand from metro areas. Overseas migration contributes a smaller 59 net arrivals annually. The gentrification score of 48 places the suburb in an active gentrification stage, with signals including 23% population growth since 2011 and accelerating price activity. Affordability has remained broadly stable, moving from 63.7% in 2011 to 61.8% in 2021, suggesting prices have risen roughly in line with incomes over the long run rather than diverging sharply.

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

How Bonny Hills compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

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