Russell Lea, NSW

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 30 May 2026

98/100

Suburb Score

Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs

Russell Lea is more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1127, 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.

Russell Lea at a glance

Population (2021): 4,920
Median age: 43
Median weekly household income: $2,658
SEIFA score: 1127
Coordinates: -33.8584, 151.1405

Russell Lea demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Russell Lea 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 29%, 26% of homes are rented, and 28% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	914	19%
Youth (15–24)	505	10%
Young adults (25–44)	1,149	23%
Mid-life (45–64)	1,430	29%
Seniors (65+)	917	19%

Share of the 4,915 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	667	38%
Owned with a mortgage	624	35%
Rented	456	26%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	1,215	68%
Townhouses & semis	138	8%
Flats & apartments	417	23%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,781 occupied private dwellings in Russell Lea.

Median weekly rent: $520
Median monthly mortgage: $3,290
Average household size: 2.6 people
Median weekly family income: $3,256
Median weekly personal income: $1,133

Community and culture

Born overseas: 1,327 (28%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 1,268 (27%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 26 (1%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 2,647 (69%)
Labour-force participation: 64.3%
Unemployment rate: 2.8%
Employed full-time: 1,543
Employed part-time: 701

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.

Weather and climate in Russell Lea

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Russell Lea is January (average daytime high around 25.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 16.5°C). The area receives roughly 1084 mm of rain across the year.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain
Jan	25.7°C	19.3°C	104 mm
Feb	25.1°C	19°C	119 mm
Mar	24°C	18°C	186 mm
Apr	21.9°C	15°C	100 mm
May	19.2°C	11.7°C	56 mm
Jun	16.5°C	9.8°C	74 mm
Jul	16.5°C	8.7°C	70 mm
Aug	17.3°C	9.2°C	67 mm
Sep	19.6°C	11.3°C	55 mm
Oct	21.8°C	13.7°C	92 mm
Nov	22.8°C	15.5°C	78 mm
Dec	24.7°C	17.5°C	83 mm

Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).

Common questions about Russell Lea

Where is Russell Lea?

Russell Lea is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.

What is the population of Russell Lea?

At the 2021 Census, Russell Lea had a population of about 4,920.

Is Russell Lea an advantaged area?

Russell Lea has an ABS SEIFA score of 1127, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 98 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 98% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Russell Lea?

Russell Lea has average daytime highs of about 21.3°C and overnight lows of about 14.1°C, with roughly 1,084 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).