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Sales Activity
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Population
An assessment of population growth drivers in Rankin Park reveals an overall ranking slightly below national averages considering recent, and medium term trends
As of November 2025, the estimated population of Rankin Park is around 2,772 people. This figure represents an increase of 225 individuals since the 2021 Census, which reported a population of 2,547 people in the suburb. The latest estimate is inferred from AreaSearch's validation of resident population at 2,757 following examination of ABS' ERP data release in June 2024 and an additional 16 new addresses since the Census date. This results in a density ratio of 1,885 persons per square kilometer for Rankin Park, which is higher than the average across national locations assessed by AreaSearch. The suburb's population growth rate of 8.8% since the 2021 census exceeds both the non-metro area (5.1%) and SA4 region, making it a growth leader in the region. Overseas migration contributed approximately 67.0% of overall population gains during recent periods in Rankin Park.
AreaSearch's projections for the suburb are based on ABS/Geoscience Australia projections released in 2024 with a base year of 2022, and NSW State Government's SA2 level projections released in 2022 with a base year of 2021 for areas not covered by ABS data. Considering these projections, the suburb is expected to experience an above median population growth for Australian non-metropolitan areas, with an anticipated expansion of 404 persons by 2041, reflecting a total gain of 13.3% over the 17-year period.
Frequently Asked Questions - Population
Development
Residential development activity is lower than average in Rankin Park according to AreaSearch's national comparison of local real estate markets
Rankin Park has seen approximately 10 new homes approved annually. Between financial years FY-21 and FY-25, around 52 homes were approved, with an additional 3 approved in FY-26 so far. Each dwelling accommodates an average of 2.2 new residents per year over the past five financial years, indicating strong demand that supports property values.
New homes are being constructed at an average cost of $401,000, aligning with broader regional development trends. In FY-26, commercial development approvals totalled $144,000, suggesting minimal commercial activity in the area. Residential development consists of 33.0% standalone homes and 67.0% attached dwellings, shifting away from the existing housing stock which is currently 99.0% houses. This change reflects decreasing developable sites and evolving lifestyles preferring more affordable, diverse housing options.
As of dwelling approvals, Rankin Park has around 341 people per approval, indicating a growing market. By 2041, the area is projected to grow by approximately 370 residents, with development keeping pace with this projected growth. However, increasing competition among buyers is expected as the population expands.
Frequently Asked Questions - Development
Infrastructure
Rankin Park has very high levels of nearby infrastructure activity, ranking in the top 10% nationally
The performance of an area can significantly be influenced by changes in local infrastructure, major projects, and planning initiatives. AreaSearch has identified four projects that are expected to impact the area. Notable among these are John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct, Vida at 2 Turrug Street Whitebridge, Infinite Early Learning Elermore Vale, and Elermore Fields Estate, with the following list providing more details on those most likely to be relevant.
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INFRASTRUCTURE SEARCH
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Frequently Asked Questions - Infrastructure
John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct
The John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct is the redevelopment and expansion of John Hunter Hospital in New Lambton Heights, Newcastle. The project centres on a new seven-storey Acute Services Building delivering an expanded Emergency Department, 60% more ICU capacity, 50% additional operating theatres, new maternity and birthing suites, neonatal intensive care, paediatric services, research and innovation spaces, public realm improvements and a multi-storey car park. The $835 million project is being delivered by Health Infrastructure NSW in partnership with Hunter New England Local Health District, with Multiplex as the managing contractor and BVN as lead architect. Practical completion is anticipated in 2026.
High Speed Rail - Newcastle to Sydney (Stage 1)
The first stage of the proposed National High Speed Rail network aims to connect Newcastle to Sydney via the Central Coast, reducing travel time to approximately one hour with trains reaching speeds up to 320 km/h. The project is focused on the development phase, which includes design refinement, securing planning approvals, and corridor preservation. It is being advanced by the Australian Government's High Speed Rail Authority (HSRA). Stations are planned for Broadmeadow, Lake Macquarie, Central Coast, and Central Sydney. The long-term vision is a national network connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne.
Kotara Transport Oriented Development Precinct
The Kotara Transport Oriented Development (TOD) Precinct is part of the NSW Government's TOD Program. New planning controls, which commenced on **13 May 2024**, apply to land generally within **400m of Kotara station** to encourage higher-density residential and mixed-use development. This involves allowing residential flat buildings and shop-top housing with a maximum building height of **22m** (approx. 7 storeys) and a maximum Floor Space Ratio (FSR) of **2.5:1** within certain zones. These changes aim to deliver more affordable and well-located homes near public transport. The controls were implemented through the State Environmental Planning Policy (Housing) - Chapter 5 Transport Oriented Development.
Westfield Kotara Mixed-Use Redevelopment
Scentre Group is exploring rezoning opportunities with the NSW Government to potentially develop a mixed-use precinct at the Westfield Kotara site. This is part of Scentre Group's long-term $4+ billion pipeline focused on integrating living, working, and shopping spaces on their strategic land holdings. The vision for Kotara may include a large-scale residential component, adding housing supply near the existing retail hub, reflecting a shift towards creating 'town centres of the future.' As of early 2025, Scentre Group had commenced preliminary talks about rezoning at the Kotara centre, with the overall goal of securing rezoning approvals for residential development on a number of its sites.
Newcastle Inner City Bypass - Rankin Park to Jesmond
The 3.4 km Rankin Park to Jesmond section is the fifth and final stage of the Newcastle Inner City Bypass. It delivers a new four lane divided road with three interchanges (southern at Lookout Road, hospital, and northern at Newcastle Road), removes up to 30,000 vehicles per day from local roads, and provides off road links for pedestrians and cyclists including a new steel arch bridge at the northern interchange. Traffic switches at Jesmond (Dec 2024) and Lookout Rd/McCaffrey Dr (mid 2025) mark major milestones. Opening to traffic is targeted for late 2025, weather permitting.
Infinite Early Learning Elermore Vale
A 141-place state-of-the-art childcare centre with six indoor play areas, originally planned as a medical and childcare facility including pharmacy, cafe, and pathology services, now changed to childcare only and under construction, set to open in Q3 2025.
Hunter Sports Centre Kaiyu Nungkiliko Expansion
The $52 million Hunter Sports Centre, Kaiyu Nungkiliko expansion has delivered a world-class athletics centre and an Australian-first Trampoline Centre of Excellence. The expansion includes a three-level, 4500m2 sport and community centre with community and function rooms, a 24-hour health and fitness centre, offices, caf' with commercial kitchen, and conference spaces. The NSW Trampoline Centre of Excellence features a 1300m2 hall with ten trampolines, two tumbling strips, a foam pit, warm-up areas, and grandstand seating for 400. The facility also houses the Trevor Height Athlete Testing Facility in collaboration with the University of Newcastle, offering cutting-edge sports performance analysis with VO2 max testing equipment for athletes of all levels. The centre serves as the Hunter region's premier sporting venue with Olympic-standard facilities including nine-lane Olympic running tracks and gymnastics centre.
Newcastle 2040
City of Newcastle's Community Strategic Plan (CSP) setting the shared vision and priorities for the next 10+ years. Originally adopted in 2022 and revised in 2024/25, the updated CSP was endorsed by Council on 15 April 2025. It guides policies, strategies and actions across the LGA and is implemented through the Delivery Program and Operational Plan known as Delivering Newcastle 2040.
Employment
AreaSearch analysis of employment trends sees Rankin Park performing better than 90% of local markets assessed across Australia
Rankin Park's workforce is highly educated with strong representation in essential services sectors. The unemployment rate was 1.0% as of June 2025.
Employment growth over the past year was estimated at 3.3%, based on AreaSearch aggregation of statistical area data. In June 2025, 1,519 residents were employed, with an unemployment rate of 2.7% below Rest of NSW's rate of 3.7%. Workforce participation in Rankin Park was 65.0%, compared to Rest of NSW's 56.4%. Key industries of employment among residents are health care & social assistance, education & training, and professional & technical services.
The area has a particular specialization in health care & social assistance, with an employment share 1.3 times the regional level. Conversely, agriculture, forestry & fishing shows lower representation at 0.0% versus the regional average of 5.3%. Employment opportunities locally may be limited, as indicated by the count of Census working population vs resident population. Between June 2024 and June 2025, employment levels increased by 3.3% and labour force increased by 3.2%, keeping the unemployment rate relatively stable. By comparison, Rest of NSW recorded an employment decline of 0.1%, labour force growth of 0.3%, with unemployment rising by 0.4 percentage points. National employment forecasts from Jobs and Skills Australia (Sep-22) project national employment to expand by 6.6% over five years and 13.7% over ten years, but growth rates differ significantly between industry sectors. Applying these projections to Rankin Park's employment mix suggests local employment should increase by 7.1% over five years and 14.8% over ten years, based on a simple weighting extrapolation for illustrative purposes.
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
Rankin Park had a median taxpayer income of $66,611 and an average of $78,811 in financial year 2022. These figures are among the highest in Australia, contrasting with Rest of NSW's median income of $49,459 and average income of $62,998. Based on Wage Price Index growth of 12.61% since financial year 2022, current estimates would be approximately $75,011 (median) and $88,749 (average) as of September 2025. According to 2021 Census figures, incomes in Rankin Park cluster around the 74th percentile nationally. Distribution data shows that 34.6% of individuals earn between $1,500 and $2,999 per week (959 individuals). Economic strength is evident with 30.8% of households earning over $3,000 weekly. After housing costs, residents retain 88.2% of income. The area's SEIFA income ranking places it in the 7th decile.
Frequently Asked Questions - Income
Housing
Rankin Park is characterized by a predominantly suburban housing profile, with above-average rates of outright home ownership
Rankin Park's dwelling structure, as per the latest Census, consisted of 98.8% houses and 1.2% other dwellings (semi-detached, apartments, 'other' dwellings). Non-Metro NSW had no recorded houses or other dwellings at that time. Home ownership in Rankin Park stood at 43.1%, with mortgaged dwellings at 45.3% and rented ones at 11.7%. The median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,000, aligning with Non-Metro NSW's figure. The median weekly rent was $450, whereas Non-Metro NSW had no recorded rents. Nationally, Rankin Park's mortgage repayments exceeded the Australian average of $1,863, and its rents were substantially higher than the national figure of $375.
Frequently Asked Questions - Housing
Household Composition
Rankin Park features high concentrations of family households, with a median household size of 2.7 people
Family households constitute 81.9% of all households, including 36.2% couples with children, 31.7% couples without children, and 11.8% single parent families. Non-family households account for the remaining 18.1%, with lone person households at 15.9% and group households comprising 2.9%. The median household size is 2.7 people.
Frequently Asked Questions - Households
Local Schools & Education
Rankin Park demonstrates exceptional educational outcomes, ranking among the top 5% of areas nationally based on AreaSearch's comprehensive analysis of qualification and performance metrics
Rankin Park has a notably higher proportion of residents with university qualifications than broader regions. 35.3% of its residents aged 15 and above have university degrees compared to 21.3% in the Rest of NSW and 26.1% in the SA4 region. Bachelor degrees are most prevalent at 23.7%, followed by postgraduate qualifications (7.7%) and graduate diplomas (3.9%). Vocational credentials are also prominent, with 34.0% of residents aged 15 and above holding such qualifications – advanced diplomas account for 11.2% and certificates for 22.8%.
Educational participation is high, with 29.0% of residents currently enrolled in formal education. This includes 10.2% in primary education, 7.0% in secondary education, and 5.2% pursuing tertiary education. Schools appear to be located outside Rankin Park's immediate boundaries, requiring families to access them in neighboring areas.
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
Rankin Park has 24 operational public transport stops, all of which are bus stops. These stops are served by 31 different routes that together facilitate 449 weekly passenger trips. Residents enjoy excellent transport accessibility, with an average distance of 152 meters to the nearest stop.
On average, there are 64 daily trips across all routes, translating to about 18 weekly trips per individual stop.
Frequently Asked Questions - Transport
Transport Stops Detail
Health
Health performance in Rankin Park is lower than average with common health conditions somewhat prevalent across both younger and older age cohorts
Rankin Park faces significant health challenges with common health conditions prevalent among both younger and older age cohorts.
Approximately 58% of its total population of 1,609 has private health cover, a rate higher than that found across Australia as a whole (47%). The most common medical conditions in the area are mental health issues and asthma, affecting 9.7% and 9.1% of residents respectively. Conversely, 64.5% of residents declared themselves completely clear of medical ailments, compared to the Rest of NSW where this figure was 0%. The area has a higher proportion of older residents, with 20.0% aged 65 and over (554 people), performing better than the general population in health metrics.
Frequently Asked Questions - Health
Cultural Diversity
Rankin Park ranks below the Australian average when compared to other local markets across a number of language and cultural background related metrics
Rankin Park, surveyed in June 2016, had a predominantly Australian-born population with 87.6% born there. Citizenship was high at 94.8%, and English-only speakers at home were 92.4%. Christianity was the dominant religion, practiced by 48.5%.
This contrasts with no specified percentage for Rest of NSW. Top three ancestry groups were English (30.9%), Australian (29.1%), and Irish (8.4%). Notable divergences included Welsh at 1.0% (vs none regionally), Polish at 1.0%, and Macedonian at 0.4%.
Frequently Asked Questions - Diversity
Age
Rankin Park's median age exceeds the national pattern
The median age in Rankin Park is 39 years, which is significantly lower than Rest of NSW's average of 43 but aligns with Australia's median age of 38 years. Compared to Rest of NSW, Rankin Park has a higher percentage of residents aged 35-44 (15.8%) but fewer residents aged 55-64 (8.7%). According to the 2021 Census, the population aged 25-34 grew from 11.6% to 13.4%, while the percentage of those aged 55-64 decreased from 9.6% to 8.7%. By 2041, demographic projections indicate significant shifts in Rankin Park's age structure. The 25-34 age group is expected to grow by 34%, increasing from 371 to 496 people. Conversely, the 55-64 and 65-74 age groups are projected to experience population declines.