Braidwood, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Braidwood stands on the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, on the road between Canberra and the South Coast, on Yuin country in the lands of the Walbanga people. The town was named after Dr Thomas Braidwood Wilson, a naval surgeon who settled the district in 1836, and was surveyed in 1839. Gold drew crowds to the surrounding diggings from the 1850s, and the wealth of that era left a remarkably intact Georgian streetscape. In 2006 the whole town was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register for its original streetscape and architecture, and that period look has made it a favourite film location. Today Braidwood serves the grazing and forestry country around it.
Around the national middle
Braidwood is more socio-economically advantaged than about 55% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 995, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Braidwood at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,720
- Median age
- 50
- Median weekly household income
- $1,412
- SEIFA score
- 995
- Coordinates
- -35.4275, 149.8077
Braidwood demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Braidwood using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is seniors (65+) at 30%, 23% of homes are rented, and 14% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 274 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 132 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 346 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 464 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 511 | 30% |
Share of the 1,727 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 325 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 185 | 27% |
| Rented | 160 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 610 | 89% |
| Townhouses & semis | 58 | 8% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 687 occupied private dwellings in Braidwood.
- Median weekly rent
- $345
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,700
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,992
- Median weekly personal income
- $776
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 211 (14%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 72 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 18 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 748 (54%)
- Labour-force participation
- 54.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.8%
- Employed full-time
- 436
- Employed part-time
- 268
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Common questions about Braidwood
Where is Braidwood?
Braidwood is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.
What is the population of Braidwood?
At the 2021 Census, Braidwood had a population of about 1,720.
Is Braidwood an advantaged area?
Braidwood has an ABS SEIFA score of 995, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 55 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 55% of Australian suburbs.
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