Holbrook, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Holbrook is a town on the Hume Highway in southern New South Wales, roughly midway between Sydney and Melbourne in the Greater Hume Shire, on Wiradjuri country. Hume and Hovell passed through the area in 1824, and the settlement that grew at Ten Mile Creek was known as Germanton from 1858. During the First World War the German-sounding name was considered unpatriotic, so in August 1915 the town was renamed after Lieutenant Norman Douglas Holbrook, a Royal Navy submarine commander who had just won the Victoria Cross. The landlocked town has embraced this naval link, and the hull of the decommissioned submarine HMAS Otway is now displayed in Germanton Park.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Holbrook is more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 918, 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.
Holbrook at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,650
- Median age
- 51
- Median weekly household income
- $1,101
- SEIFA score
- 918
- Coordinates
- -35.6916, 147.2905
Holbrook demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Holbrook 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%, 22% of homes are rented, and 6% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 255 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 167 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 295 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 437 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 501 | 30% |
Share of the 1,655 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 302 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 192 | 29% |
| Rented | 144 | 22% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 632 | 96% |
| Townhouses & semis | 28 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 660 occupied private dwellings in Holbrook.
- Median weekly rent
- $185
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,170
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,477
- Median weekly personal income
- $628
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 95 (6%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 40 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 51 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 494 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 47.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.3%
- Employed full-time
- 360
- Employed part-time
- 228
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 Holbrook
Where is Holbrook?
Holbrook is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.
What is the population of Holbrook?
At the 2021 Census, Holbrook had a population of about 1,650.
Is Holbrook an advantaged area?
Holbrook has an ABS SEIFA score of 918, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 17 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 17% of Australian suburbs.
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