Wee Waa, NSW
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Wee Waa is a town on the Namoi River in the north-west of New South Wales, in the cotton-growing country of the lower Namoi and in Kamilaroi (Gamilaraay) country. Its name is generally said to come from a Kamilaroi word, often translated as 'fire for roasting'. A pastoral run was taken up here in 1837, making Wee Waa one of the oldest towns in the district and the first established on the Namoi. The town calls itself the birthplace of Australia's commercial cotton industry, with the first large irrigated cotton crop grown nearby in 1961, watered from the Keepit Dam. In a curious moment of fame, the band Daft Punk chose the Wee Waa Show to launch an album in 2013. Cotton and grain still anchor the local economy.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Wee Waa is more socio-economically advantaged than about 13% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 903, 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.
Wee Waa at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,034
- Median age
- 38
- Median weekly household income
- $1,286
- SEIFA score
- 903
- Coordinates
- -30.3109, 149.3908
Wee Waa demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Wee Waa 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 25%, 32% of homes are rented, and 5% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 459 | 23% |
| Youth (15–24) | 226 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 470 | 23% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 508 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 374 | 18% |
Share of the 2,037 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 236 | 34% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 195 | 28% |
| Rented | 222 | 32% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 627 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 57 | 8% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 700 occupied private dwellings in Wee Waa.
- Median weekly rent
- $200
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,083
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,658
- Median weekly personal income
- $689
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 90 (5%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 34 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 391 (19%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 500 (33%)
- Labour-force participation
- 55.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 5%
- Employed full-time
- 536
- Employed part-time
- 239
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 Wee Waa
Where is Wee Waa?
Wee Waa is a suburb of New South Wales, Australia.
What is the population of Wee Waa?
At the 2021 Census, Wee Waa had a population of about 2,034.
Is Wee Waa an advantaged area?
Wee Waa has an ABS SEIFA score of 903, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 13 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 13% of Australian suburbs.
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