Chart Color Schemes
This analysis uses ABS Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2) boundaries, which can materially differ from Suburbs and Localities (SAL) even when sharing similar names.
SA2 boundaries are defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and are designed to represent communities for statistical reporting (e.g., census and ERP).
Suburbs and Localities (SAL) represent commonly-used suburb/locality names (postal-style areas) and may use different geographic boundaries. For comprehensive analysis, consider reviewing both boundary types if available.
est. as @ -- *
ABS ERP | -- people | --
2021 Census | -- people
Sales Activity
Curious about local property values? Filter the chart to assess the volume and appreciation (including resales) trends and regional comparisons, or scroll to the map below view this information at an individual property level.
Find a Recent Sale
Sales Detail
Population
Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan is positioned among the lower quartile of areas assessed nationally for population growth based on AreaSearch's assessment of recent, and medium term trends
Based on AreaSearch's analysis, Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan's population is around 11,758 as of November 2025. This reflects a decrease of 32 people since the 2021 Census, which reported a population of 11,790 people. The change is inferred from the estimated resident population of 11,735 from the ABS as of June 2024 and an additional 14 validated new addresses since the Census date. This level of population equates to a density ratio of 143 persons per square kilometer. Population growth for the area was primarily driven by overseas migration, contributing approximately 62.7% of overall population gains during recent periods.
AreaSearch is adopting ABS/Geoscience Australia projections for each SA2 area, as released in 2024 with a base year of 2022. For any SA2 areas not covered by this data, AreaSearch is utilising the NSW State Government's SA2 level projections, as released in 2022 with a base year of 2021. Growth rates by age group from these aggregations are applied to all areas for years 2032 to 2041. Examining future population trends, lower quartile growth is anticipated, with the area expected to expand by 399 persons to 2041 based on the latest annual ERP population numbers, reflecting a gain of 3.1% in total over the 17 years.
Frequently Asked Questions - Population
Development
AreaSearch assessment of residential development drivers sees a low level of activity in Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan, placing the area among the bottom 25% of areas assessed nationally
Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan averaged approximately 24 new dwelling approvals annually between FY-21 and FY-25, totalling 122 homes. In FY-26, 8 approvals have been recorded so far. Despite a decrease in population during this period, housing supply has remained adequate relative to demand, indicating a balanced market with good buyer choice.
The average construction cost of new properties is $479,000, suggesting developers target the premium market segment. Commercial approvals amounted to $11.3 million in FY-26, reflecting balanced commercial development activity. Compared to Greater Sydney, Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan has about three-quarters the rate of new dwelling approvals per person and ranks at the 38th percentile nationally, implying limited buyer choices and supporting demand for existing homes. New building activity comprises 95% detached dwellings and 5% townhouses or apartments, preserving the area's traditional low-density character focused on family homes.
The estimated population density is 427 people per dwelling approval, indicating a quiet development environment. By 2041, Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan is projected to grow by 370 residents. Given current development patterns, new housing supply should meet demand, providing favourable conditions for buyers and potentially facilitating population growth beyond projections.
Frequently Asked Questions - Development
Infrastructure
Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan has strong levels of nearby infrastructure activity, ranking in the top 40% nationally
AreaSearch has identified three projects that could impact the area: Newcastle-Sydney and Wollongong-Sydney Rail Line Upgrades, Kooroowall-undi (Peat Island) and Foreshore Development Project, Old Mooney Mooney Creek Bridge Maintenance, Connecting Northern Beaches - Cycling & Walking Paths. The latter two are likely most relevant.
Professional plan users can use the search below to filter and access additional projects.
INFRASTRUCTURE SEARCH
Denotes AI-based impression for illustrative purposes only, not to be taken as definitive under any circumstances. Please follow links and conduct other investigations from the project's source for actual imagery. Developers and project owners wishing us to use original imagery please Contact Us and we will do so.
Frequently Asked Questions - Infrastructure
Northern Beaches Coast Walk
A 36km continuous coastal walking trail linking Manly to Palm Beach via beaches, headlands and existing paths. The project upgrades and connects existing sections with new boardwalks, viewing platforms, signage and accessibility improvements. Works are staged with multiple sections already complete and major construction underway on remaining gaps, particularly around Narrabeen, Warriewood and North Narrabeen.
Mona Vale Hospital Reconfiguration
NSW Health Infrastructure has completed the reconfiguration of Mona Vale Hospital to focus on rehabilitation, sub-acute and community health services. Works included establishing a 20-bed geriatric evaluation and management and palliative care building (10-bed GEM and 10-bed palliative), creating an urgent care centre from the former ED, a new support services building, helipad relocation, and demolition of redundant buildings. The program complements services at Northern Beaches Hospital and ensures ongoing local access to appropriate care.
Low and Mid-Rise Housing Policy
State-wide NSW planning reforms via amendments to the State Environmental Planning Policy to enable more diverse low and mid-rise housing (dual occupancies, terraces, townhouses, manor houses and residential flat buildings up to 6 storeys) in well-located areas within 800 m of selected train, metro and light-rail stations and town centres. Stage 1 (dual occupancies in R2 zones statewide) commenced 1 July 2024. Stage 2 (mid-rise apartments, terraces and dual occupancies near stations) commenced 28 February 2025. Expected to facilitate up to 112,000 additional homes over the next five years.
Sydney Metro
Australia's biggest public transport infrastructure program, delivering four new metro railway lines (City & Southwest, West, Western Sydney Airport, and extensions). As of December 2025, the City & Southwest line (M1) is fully operational from Chatswood to Sy1 Sydenham-Bankstown conversion is under construction with target opening 2026-2027. Sydney Metro West tunnelling is over 70% complete with all TBMs now at or past Parramatta, targeted for 2032 opening. Western Sydney Airport line civil works and station construction are progressing with services planned for airport opening in late 2026.
Sydney Metro Northwest
First stage of Sydney Metro featuring a 36km automated rail line from Chatswood to Tallawong with 13 stations including Tallawong and Rouse Hill. The system includes 15.5km twin tunnels (longest in Sydney), 4km elevated skytrain, and 4,000 car parking spaces across stations. Automated trains run every 4 minutes during peak hours. This $8.3 billion investment opened in May 2019 and serves as a crucial transport backbone for northwest Sydney development.
Hills Shire Council Delivery Program and Operational Plan 2024-2025 Infrastructure Works
The Hills Shire Council's 2024-2025 infrastructure program is a significant component of the overall $308.5 million Delivery Program and Operational Plan. The total infrastructure expenditure for 2024-2025 is $162.8 million, focusing on maintaining, renewing, and building new assets like roads, parks, paths, and playgrounds across the Shire to accommodate rapid population growth. Key works include road upgrades (Annangrove Road, Withers Road, Boundary Road), new footpaths, cycleways, bridges, and new and refurbished parks and playgrounds, including Livvi's Place extension at Bernie Mullane Sports Complex. The Council is also actively campaigning for state and federal funding for critical infrastructure, particularly in high-growth areas like Box Hill and the Kellyville/Bella Vista precincts.
Newcastle-Sydney and Wollongong-Sydney Rail Line Upgrades
Program of upgrades to existing intercity rail corridors linking Newcastle-Central Coast-Sydney and Wollongong-Sydney to reduce travel times and improve reliability. Current scope includes timetable and service changes under the Rail Service Improvement Program, targeted network upgrades (signalling, power, station works) and the introduction of the Mariyung intercity fleet on the Central Coast & Newcastle Line, alongside Federal planning led by the High Speed Rail Authority for a dedicated Sydney-Newcastle high speed corridor.
Opal Next Generation Ticketing System
NSW is upgrading the Opal ticketing system to an account-based platform (Opal Next Gen). The program adds digital Opal cards to device wallets, expands contactless options, modernises bus equipment, and improves apps and web services for planning, payment and travel information. Procurement and enabling contracts are underway led by Transport for NSW.
Employment
Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan has seen below average employment performance when compared to national benchmarks
Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan, as of September 2025, has an unemployment rate of 4.8%, with 6,361 residents employed. This rate is 0.6% higher than Greater Sydney's rate of 4.2%.
The workforce participation rate in the area is 67.8%, compared to Greater Sydney's 60.0%. Leading employment industries include health care & social assistance, education & training, and professional & technical services. Education & training has a particularly high representation, with an employment share 1.4 times the regional level. However, transport, postal & warehousing is under-represented, at 3.2% compared to Greater Sydney's 5.3%.
Between September 2024 and September 2025, the labour force increased by 0.2%, while employment declined by 0.9%, leading to a 1.1 percentage point rise in unemployment. In contrast, Greater Sydney experienced employment growth of 2.1% and labour force growth of 2.4%. As of 25-November 2025, NSW employment contracted by 0.03%, with the state unemployment rate at 3.9%. Nationally, employment is forecast to grow by 6.6% over five years and 13.7% over ten years. Applying these projections to Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan's employment mix suggests local employment should increase by 7.0% over five years and 14.3% over ten years, assuming constant population projections.
Frequently Asked Questions - Employment
Income
Income metrics indicate excellent economic conditions, with the area achieving higher performance than 75% of national locations assessed by AreaSearch
AreaSearch's latest postcode level ATO data for financial year 2022 shows that median income in Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan SA2 is $60,388 and average income is $81,606. This contrasts with Greater Sydney's figures of a median income of $56,994 and an average income of $80,856. Using Wage Price Index growth of 12.61% since financial year 2022, current estimates for Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan as of September 2025 would be approximately $68,003 (median) and $91,897 (average). Census data reveals that household, family, and personal incomes in Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan rank highly nationally, between the 75th and 90th percentiles. Income brackets indicate that 28.0% of locals fall into the $1,500 - $2,999 category, consistent with broader trends across the broader area showing 30.9% in the same category. A substantial proportion of high earners (42.0%) are those earning above $3,000 per week, indicating strong economic capacity throughout Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan. Housing accounts for 13.9% of income while strong earnings rank residents within the 90th percentile for disposable income. The area's SEIFA income ranking places it in the 9th decile.
Frequently Asked Questions - Income
Housing
Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan is characterized by a predominantly suburban housing profile, with above-average rates of outright home ownership
The dwelling structure in Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan, as per the latest Census evaluation, consisted of 94.2% houses and 5.9% other dwellings (semi-detached, apartments, 'other' dwellings). This contrasts with Sydney metro's 61.4% houses and 38.6% other dwellings. Home ownership in Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan stood at 40.0%, with mortgaged dwellings at 47.6% and rented ones at 12.3%. The median monthly mortgage repayment in the area was $2,528, exceeding Sydney metro's average of $2,500. The median weekly rent figure was recorded at $560, compared to Sydney metro's $480. Nationally, Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan's mortgage repayments were significantly higher than the Australian average of $1,863, while rents were substantially above the national figure of $375.
Frequently Asked Questions - Housing
Household Composition
Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan features high concentrations of family households, with a higher-than-average median household size
Family households account for 83.1% of all households, including 46.9% couples with children, 26.4% couples without children, and 9.4% single parent families. Non-family households constitute the remaining 16.9%, with lone person households at 15.9% and group households comprising 1.1%. The median household size is 2.9 people, larger than the Greater Sydney average of 2.7.
Frequently Asked Questions - Households
Local Schools & Education
Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan shows strong educational performance, ranking in the upper quartile nationally when assessed across multiple qualification and achievement indicators
The area's university qualification rate is 36.6%, significantly lower than the SA4 region average of 57.1%. This disparity presents both a challenge and an opportunity for targeted educational initiatives. Bachelor degrees are most common at 24.1%, followed by postgraduate qualifications (9.2%) and graduate diplomas (3.3%). Vocational credentials are also prevalent, with 34.5% of residents aged 15+ holding such qualifications - advanced diplomas (11.9%) and certificates (22.6%).
Educational participation is notably high, with 31.0% of residents currently enrolled in formal education. This includes primary education (10.6%), secondary education (9.6%), and tertiary education (5.0%).
Frequently Asked Questions - Education
Schools Detail
Nearby Services & Amenities
Transport
Transport servicing is good compared to other areas nationally based on assessment of service frequency, route connectivity and accessibility
The analysis of public transport in the Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan area shows that there are 103 active transport stops operating. These stops offer a mix of ferry, train, and bus services. There are 25 individual routes serving these stops, which together facilitate 4,350 weekly passenger trips.
The accessibility to public transport is rated as good, with residents on average being located 236 meters from the nearest transport stop. Across all routes, there is an average of 621 trips per day, equating to approximately 42 weekly trips per individual stop.
Frequently Asked Questions - Transport
Transport Stops Detail
Health
The level of general health in Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan is notably higher than the national average with both young and old age cohorts seeing low prevalence of common health conditions
Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan demonstrates above-average health outcomes. Both young and old age cohorts have low prevalence of common health conditions.
The rate of private health cover is exceptionally high at approximately 61% of the total population (7,148 people), compared to the national average of 55.3%. The most common medical conditions are asthma and arthritis, impacting 8.3% and 7.8% of residents respectively. 69.7% of residents declare themselves completely clear of medical ailments, compared to 74.0% across Greater Sydney. 18.3% of residents are aged 65 and over (2,148 people), higher than the 17.1% in Greater Sydney. Health outcomes among seniors are particularly strong, broadly in line with the general population's health profile.
Frequently Asked Questions - Health
Cultural Diversity
In terms of cultural diversity, Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan records figures broadly comparable to the national average, as found in AreaSearch's assessment of a number of language and cultural background related metrics
Berowra-Brooklyn-Cowan, found in a study dated "2016 Census", exhibited above-average cultural diversity with 11.4% of its population speaking languages other than English at home and 23.7% born overseas. Christianity was the predominant religion, comprising 51.5%. Notably, Judaism had an overrepresentation at 0.5%, compared to Greater Sydney's 0.4%.
In terms of ancestry, the top three groups were English (30.7%), Australian (26.6%), and Irish (8.4%). These figures exceeded regional averages for each group respectively: English by 9%, Australian by 7.1%, and Irish by 5.7%. Additionally, Welsh (0.8%) was notably overrepresented compared to the region's 0.5%, as were Russian (0.5% vs 0.6%) and Hungarian (0.4% vs 0.3%).
Frequently Asked Questions - Diversity
Age
Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan's median age exceeds the national pattern
The median age in Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan is 42 years, which is significantly higher than Greater Sydney's average of 37 years and Australia's average of 38 years. The 45-54 age group constitutes 15.8% of the population compared to Greater Sydney, while the 25-34 cohort makes up 5.6%. According to post-2021 Census data, the 15 to 24 age group has increased from 12.7% to 14.4%, and the 75 to 84 cohort has risen from 5.5% to 6.9%. Conversely, the 25 to 34 cohort has decreased from 6.8% to 5.6%, and the 5 to 14 group has fallen from 15.2% to 14.0%. Population forecasts for 2041 indicate substantial demographic changes in Berowra - Brooklyn - Cowan, with the 85+ age group expected to grow by 183% (363 people), reaching a total of 562 from 198. Notably, the combined 65+ age groups will account for 95% of total population growth, reflecting the area's aging demographic profile. In contrast, the 55 to 64 and 0 to 4 cohorts are expected to experience population declines.