Grenfell, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Grenfell is a town in the Central West of New South Wales and the seat of the Weddin Shire, about 370 kilometres west of Sydney and roughly 55 kilometres from Cowra. The town grew out of an 1860s gold rush: payable gold was found in 1866, miners soon flocked in from the surrounding diggings, and for several years the field yielded more than a tonne of gold annually. Grenfell was proclaimed in 1867 and named after the gold commissioner John Granville Grenfell. Its most celebrated connection is literary, for the poet and short-story writer Henry Lawson was born on the goldfield here in 1867, an event marked by memorials around town. Nearby rise the Weddin Mountains, now a national park, while farming underpins the district today.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Grenfell is more socio-economically advantaged than about 16% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 915, 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.
Grenfell at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,600
- Median age
- 54
- Median weekly household income
- $991
- SEIFA score
- 915
- Coordinates
- -33.9334, 148.1783
Grenfell demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Grenfell 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 34%, 21% of homes are rented, and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 375 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 219 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 423 | 16% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 707 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 869 | 34% |
Share of the 2,593 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 561 | 50% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 272 | 24% |
| Rented | 231 | 21% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,031 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 35 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 46 | 4% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,123 occupied private dwellings in Grenfell.
- Median weekly rent
- $200
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,083
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,370
- Median weekly personal income
- $554
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 153 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 44 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 123 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 688 (32%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.3%
- Employed full-time
- 583
- Employed part-time
- 357
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 Grenfell
Where is Grenfell?
Grenfell is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.
What is the population of Grenfell?
At the 2021 Census, Grenfell had a population of about 2,600.
Is Grenfell an advantaged area?
Grenfell has an ABS SEIFA score of 915, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 16 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 16% of Australian suburbs.
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