NSW · Wollongong Council

Cleveland, 2530

Est. population · Jun 2025

23

Growth (1 yr)

0.0%

Growth (5 yr)

+4.5%

Median age

39

Median income

$900/wk

Employment rate

71.4%

Median house price · October to December 2025

$905,000

Languages at home

Mostly English at home

2021 Census · usual residence

  • Education hub
  • Excellent transport
What Cleveland is known for: Education hub, Excellent transport

Suburb profile

In Wollongong Council, Cleveland keeps a rural calm, a smaller community with room to breathe and a strong local rhythm. Distance from the metro area around Sydney is part of the appeal, with regional hubs closer to hand than the city. Working households and growing families are the backbone of local life, with family life visible on every street.

Local shops are sparse, so a fuller set of amenities usually means travelling to a neighbouring town or regional hub. Open space is thinner than in many comparable suburbs, so residents often travel a little further for a longer park day. Day-to-day life is more car-oriented here, with buses covering longer trips across the wider area.

Property sits in a premium price band and is harder to enter for many buyers.

At a glance

Cleveland snapshot

A quick read of housing, growth, livability, and risk

Median house price

$905k

+11% change

Median rent

$700/wk

Houses $730 · Units $500

Population (ERP)

23

0.0% annual growth

Dwelling vacancy

0.0%

Census unoccupied dwellings

How it compares

Relative standing using percentiles, ranks, and national deciles

Safety

24th

percentile in state (higher = safer)

Pop. growth

15th

percentile in NSW

Advantage (IRSAD)

8/10

national SEIFA decile

School ICSEA

35th

percentile among schools with ICSEA

Population growth

Recent ERP change over 1 and 5 years

Housing mix

Dwelling types from the 2021 Census

Risks & flags

Quick scan — open a section below for full context

Living here

Housing

Flats / units (January to March 2026)
$500
Houses (January to March 2026)
$730
All types (January to March 2026)
$700
Rental bonds lodged (January to March 2026)
156
Median house price (October to December 2025)
$905,000
Median price change
+10.5%

Median weekly rent from NSW DCJ rent tables. Figures can be unreliable where few bonds were lodged in the quarter.

Contributes to desirability score · Housing (15%) · Future Growth (7%)

Median price, rental yield and vacancy Recent price momentum

Data sources & freshness

Population

Estimated resident population

23(June 2025)

0.0% annual · +4.5% over 5 years · 15th percentile in NSW

Growth figures & methodology
Annual growth
0.0%
5-year growth
+4.5%
Change in 1 year
0
Change in 5 years
+1
Growth rank in NSW
15th percentile

ABS Estimated Resident Population allocated to this suburb from SA2-level data. Not an official ABS suburb count.

Methodology

Figures are allocated from ABS Estimated Resident Population at Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2), using 2021 Census share within overlapping SA2 regions. Where Census data is unavailable, area overlap is used instead.

The dashed chart line is a simple growth-trend estimate to June 2030 (~0), extrapolated at +0.7% average annual growth since 2011. It is illustrative only — not an official ABS forecast.

2021 Census figures

2021 Census

Population
22
Median age
39
Median household income / week
$900
Dwelling vacancy
0%
Unoccupied private dwellings
0 of 8
Median monthly mortgage
$800
Employment rate
71.4%
Dwelling mix (houses / semi / flats)
8 / 0 / 0

Contributes to desirability score · Community (5%)

Employment, household income and age diversity (2021 Census)

Data sources & freshness

  • 2021 Census — General Community ProfileAustralian Bureau of Statistics · Updated

    The 2026 Census runs in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.

  • Estimated Resident PopulationAustralian Bureau of Statistics · 2025 · Updated · SA2 ERP allocated to suburb boundaries

Community & culture

No 2021 Census cultural diversity data for this suburb yet.

Data sources & freshness

  • 2021 Census — General Community ProfileAustralian Bureau of Statistics · Updated

    The 2026 Census runs in August 2026; suburb-level updates are expected from mid-2027.

Crime & safety

Reported offences are unchanged compared with the previous period.

Offence counts & rates
Total offences (Jan 2025 to Dec 2025)
1
Against the person
0
Against property
0
Rate per 1,000 residents
43.5
State safety percentile
23.9th (lower crime is better)
Increase (daily rate)
+0.3%

Most common offence types

  • Breach Apprehended Violence Order123
  • Domestic Violence Related Assault129
  • Fraud127
  • Intimidation, Stalking And Harassment174
  • Malicious Damage To Property153

Contributes to desirability score · Safety (18%)

Crime rate and year-on-year trend

Data sources & freshness

  • BOCSAR postcode crime statisticsNSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research · Jan 2024 to Dec 2024 → Jan 2025 to Dec 2025; Jan 2025 to Dec 2025 · Updated · Rolling 12-month windows

Family & Lifestyle

Schools & preschools

Schools within 2 km
3
Median school ICSEA (3 schools)
975
Median ICSEA percentile
35th
School list
  • Dapto Public SchoolPrimary · Government · ICSEA 1006 · 50th percentile · LBOTE 11% · 790 students · Top SEA quarter 11% · 1.1 km awayView on My School →
  • Dapto High SchoolSecondary · Government · ICSEA 968 · 33th percentile · LBOTE 10% · 988 students · Top SEA quarter 5% · 1.4 km awayView on My School →
  • Mount Brown Public SchoolPrimary · Government · ICSEA 975 · 35th percentile · LBOTE 9% · 346 students · Top SEA quarter 6% · 1.9 km awayView on My School →

Contributes to desirability score · Education (15%)

School and preschool counts, median school ICSEA

Data sources & freshness

Public transport

2 public transport stops in this suburb

  • Dapto High School, Cleveland Rd
  • Dapto High School, Cleveland Rd

Contributes to desirability score · Accessibility (15%)

Public transport stop coverage

Data sources & freshness

  • Timetables Complete GTFS stops (© Transport for NSW, CC BY 4.0)Transport for NSW — Open Data Hub · current · Updated · Nightly GTFS feed

Amenities

No OpenStreetMap amenities mapped for this suburb yet.

Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (15%)

Food, shopping, recreation and sport (OpenStreetMap)

Data sources & freshness

  • Local amenity insightsSuburb Guide (derived) · current · Updated
  • OpenStreetMap amenitiesOpenStreetMap contributors · current · Updated

Green cover

Parks & woodland (OSM)
1
Parks (OSM)
0

OpenStreetMap parks and natural woodland features mapped within the suburb boundary.

Contributes to desirability score · Environment (10%)

Parks and green cover (OpenStreetMap)

Data sources & freshness

Health access

Nearest hospital
Shellharbour Hospital (8.9 km)
Nearest hospital type
Public hospital
Nearest hospital emergency
Emergency department

Contributes to desirability score · Accessibility (15%)

Hospitals and GP clinics

Data sources & freshness

NDIS participation

NDIS participants (31 March 2026)
1
Participants per 1,000 residents
43.5

Active NDIS participants allocated from NDIA Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2, ASGS 2016) counts to this suburb boundary. Not an official suburb-level NDIS figure · as at 31 March 2026.

For NDIS spend and service-demand exploration by SA2 or postcode, see the Care Sector Demand Map.

Data sources & freshness

Weather

Typical conditions by season for suburbs in the same ~44 km climate area. Rainfall totals are summed from monthly WorldClim layers; rainy-day counts are approximate.

Summer (Dec–Feb)

Usual max / min
25° / 17°
Rainfall
321 mm · ~40 rainy days

Autumn (Mar–May)

Usual max / min
22° / 14°
Rainfall
359 mm · ~45 rainy days

Winter (Jun–Aug)

Usual max / min
17° / 8°
Rainfall
263 mm · ~33 rainy days

Spring (Sep–Nov)

Usual max / min
21° / 12°
Rainfall
242 mm · ~30 rainy days

Contributes to desirability score · Lifestyle (15%)

Temperature and humidity comfort

Data sources & freshness

  • Seasonal climate normalsWorldClim 2.1 · Updated

Future & Planning

Planning & development

Development applications from NSW Planning Portal.

2026· 2 proposals
  • June 2026

  • Subdivision
    144 CLEVELAND ROAD CLEVELAND 2530Under Assessment
  • May 2026

  • Temporary building, structure or use; Exhibition village
    144 CLEVELAND ROAD CLEVELAND 2530Under Assessment
2024· 2 proposals
  • December 2024

  • Subdivision
    FAIRWATER DRIVE CLEVELAND 2530Determined
  • October 2024

  • Subdivision
    144 CLEVELAND ROAD CLEVELAND 2530Determined

Contributes to desirability score · Future Growth (7%)

Development and planning activity

Data sources & freshness

Hazards

Bushfire planning zone
No overlay at centroid

Bushfire overlay checked at suburb centroid via NSW bush fire prone land mapping.

Contributes to desirability score · Safety (18%)

Bushfire hazard overlays

Data sources & freshness

  • Hazard planning overlaysState government hazard layers · current · Updated

Politics & representation

Federal electorate
Whitlam
Member of Parliament
Carol BERRY (Australian Labor Party)
Results from
2025 federal election
Electorate enrolment (2025)
130,093
Turnout (2025)
93.2%
Swing since 2022 (2025)
-2.1 pp toward Coalition

Two-party preferred (2025)

Coalition 43.8%Labor 56.3%

Estimated suburb voting profile

Estimated from 8 nearby ordinary polling places (up to 4.4 km away).

Coalition 38.0%Labor 62.0%

5.7 percentage points more Labor-leaning than the electorate

Estimated swing since 2022: -4.8 pp toward Coalition

Nearest polling places

  • Horsley SouthLabor 62.3% · Coalition 37.7% TPP (2025)1.2 km away
  • HorsleyLabor 61.3% · Coalition 38.7% TPP (2025)1.6 km away
  • Dapto SouthLabor 60.2% · Coalition 39.8% TPP (2025)2.0 km away
  • DaptoLabor 59.4% · Coalition 40.6% TPP (2025)2.2 km away
  • Dapto EastLabor 66.8% · Coalition 33.2% TPP (2025)2.4 km away

Federal electorate from AEC federal division boundaries (2025 redistribution). Division-level results are official AEC figures from the latest general election, with by-election updates where applicable. The estimated suburb profile blends up to eight nearest ordinary polling booths in the same electorate using inverse-distance weighting from the suburb centroid — an approximation, not official AEC data. Nearest polling places are shown for reference.

Data sources & freshness

Socio-economic

IRSAD decile (2021)
8/10
IRSD decile (2021)
8/10

ABS Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), 2021 release — the latest available, derived from the 2021 Census. Deciles rank suburbs nationally from 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest).

What do IRSAD and IRSD measure?

IRSAD — Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantage. Combines indicators of advantage (e.g. high income, skilled occupations) and disadvantage. Higher decile = more advantaged relative to other Australian areas.

IRSD — Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage. Focuses on disadvantage only (e.g. low income, unemployment, limited education). Higher decile = less disadvantage nationally.

A new SEIFA edition typically follows each census; the ABS has not announced a release date beyond 2021.

Contributes to desirability score · Community (5%)

Socio-economic advantage (IRSAD decile)

Data sources & freshness

More in Wollongong Council

Other suburbs in the same local government area.

Cleveland, NSW 2530 profile | Suburb Guide