Dungog, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Dungog is a town in the lower Hunter region of New South Wales, on the Williams River about 215km north of Sydney. The name comes from a local Aboriginal word, and the district is associated with the Gringai clan of the Wonnarua people. The town was gazetted in 1838 as European settlers took up grazing land along the river. Dairying grew through the 1890s and the railway arrived in 1911, helping the surrounding farms reach city markets. Dungog is best known for the James Theatre, which opened in 1912 and is regarded as the oldest continuously operating purpose-built cinema in Australia. The streetscape keeps many of its late-Victorian and Federation shopfronts.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Dungog is more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 899, 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.
Dungog at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,983
- Median age
- 52
- Median weekly household income
- $1,045
- SEIFA score
- 899
- Coordinates
- -32.4025, 151.7497
Dungog demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Dungog 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 33%, 24% of homes are rented, and 4% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 298 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 193 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 325 | 16% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 523 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 647 | 33% |
Share of the 1,986 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 384 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 237 | 28% |
| Rented | 205 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 807 | 94% |
| Townhouses & semis | 37 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 4 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 858 occupied private dwellings in Dungog.
- Median weekly rent
- $300
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,300
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,351
- Median weekly personal income
- $582
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 84 (4%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 15 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 196 (10%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 516 (31%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.5%
- Employed full-time
- 401
- Employed part-time
- 313
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 Dungog
Where is Dungog?
Dungog is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.
What is the population of Dungog?
At the 2021 Census, Dungog had a population of about 1,983.
Is Dungog an advantaged area?
Dungog has an ABS SEIFA score of 899, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 12 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 12% of Australian suburbs.
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