Inverell, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Inverell lies on the Macintyre River in the New England region of northern New South Wales, roughly 570 kilometres north of Sydney and not far from the Queensland border. The Jukambal and Weraerai peoples lived in and occupied the district long before European settlement. Pastoralist Alexander Campbell took up a run he called Inverell around 1838, drawing on Scottish Gaelic words said to mean a meeting place of the swans, from a word for a river confluence and another for swan. A store opened in 1853 and the town was surveyed in 1858. Inverell is widely known as the Sapphire City, a nod to the rich gemfields worked from 1919 onward. It also hosts the gruelling Grafton to Inverell Cycle Classic and lies near Copeton Dam.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Inverell is more socio-economically advantaged than about 11% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 896, 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.
Inverell at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 12,057
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,187
- SEIFA score
- 896
- Coordinates
- -29.7623, 151.1127
Inverell demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Inverell 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 young adults (25–44) at 23%, 32% of homes are rented, and 8% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,358 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,407 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,728 | 23% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,778 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 2,791 | 23% |
Share of the 12,062 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,636 | 35% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,295 | 28% |
| Rented | 1,499 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 4,041 | 87% |
| Townhouses & semis | 465 | 10% |
| Flats & apartments | 57 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 4,629 occupied private dwellings in Inverell.
- Median weekly rent
- $270
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,250
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,492
- Median weekly personal income
- $666
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 882 (8%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 604 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 1,319 (11%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 3,359 (36%)
- Labour-force participation
- 52.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.3%
- Employed full-time
- 2,871
- Employed part-time
- 1,616
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 Inverell
Where is Inverell?
Inverell is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.
What is the population of Inverell?
At the 2021 Census, Inverell had a population of about 12,057.
Is Inverell an advantaged area?
Inverell has an ABS SEIFA score of 896, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 11 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 11% of Australian suburbs.
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