Gilgandra, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Gilgandra is a country town in the Orana region of central New South Wales, set in a wide bend of the Castlereagh River about 65 kilometres north of Dubbo. The district was home to three Aboriginal groups, the Gamilaraay, Wiradjuri and Wayilwan, and the town's name comes from an Aboriginal word said to mean long waterhole. A post office opened in 1867 and the town was proclaimed in 1888, growing into a service centre for the surrounding wheat and grazing country. So many windmills once drew up underground water here that Gilgandra became known as the town of windmills. Its proudest story is the Cooee March of 1915, when a handful of men set out to walk to Sydney to enlist, gathering hundreds of recruits along the way.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Gilgandra is more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 862, 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.
Gilgandra at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,983
- Median age
- 47
- Median weekly household income
- $1,083
- SEIFA score
- 862
- Coordinates
- -31.7125, 148.6131
Gilgandra demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Gilgandra 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 mid-life (45–64) at 27%, 29% of homes are rented, and 4% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 519 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 299 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 597 | 20% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 790 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 768 | 26% |
Share of the 2,973 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 454 | 40% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 277 | 24% |
| Rented | 329 | 29% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,048 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 35 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 47 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,144 occupied private dwellings in Gilgandra.
- Median weekly rent
- $200
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,062
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,328
- Median weekly personal income
- $606
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 108 (4%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 56 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 545 (18%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 687 (29%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 6%
- Employed full-time
- 651
- Employed part-time
- 389
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 Gilgandra
Where is Gilgandra?
Gilgandra is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.
What is the population of Gilgandra?
At the 2021 Census, Gilgandra had a population of about 2,983.
Is Gilgandra an advantaged area?
Gilgandra has an ABS SEIFA score of 862, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 5 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of Australian suburbs.
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