Living in Broken Hill

In Broken Hill, the median rent tenants pay is €605 a month (2021) and unemployment is 3.1% (2026).

The population of Broken Hill, in Australia, was 17,588 in August 2021. The city covered 170.1 km² in 2021. In March 2026, the unemployment rate was 3.1%.

Last checked 2026-10-078 sources

Population17,588people10 Aug 2021Official source · 2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia

Median gross salary (region)1,739EUR/month31 Dec 2021Official source · www.abs.gov.au

Median rent605.3EUR/month31 Dec 2021Official source · 2021 Census General Community Profile, SUA, G02

Unemployment rate3.1%country median 4.5% — 31% belowIndependent source · DEWR — Small Area Labour Markets, smoothed unemployment rate by LGA, March quarter 2026

Which Australia-wide rules apply when you move to Broken Hill?

National rules stay on the country page instead of being relabelled as city data.

Visa and entry rulesPassport-specific entry and national residence context.BenefitsCountry-wide eligibility and official application routes.Taxes in AustraliaNational rates and thresholds that apply in Broken Hill.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

Median rent was A$220 per week, and median monthly mortgage repayment was A$867 in August 2021.

What recurs every month2 published recurring costs, € per month

€ / month

Internet, 60 Mbps€70

Mobile plan, 10 GB€46

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Internet, 60 Mbps unlimited	69.92 EUR/month	31 Jul 2026	Telstra nbn100⁴Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	45.79 EUR/month	31 Jul 2026	Telstra Upfront Basic⁵Official · national market
Dwellings	8,836 dwellings	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Main residence dwellings	7,308 dwellings	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Median weekly rent (AUD)	220 AUD/week	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official
Median monthly rent	605.3 EUR/month	31 Dec 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile, SUA, G02¹Official
Median monthly rent (whole dwelling)	605.3 EUR/month	31 Dec 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile, SUA, G02¹Official

Is Broken Hill a good place to live?

There is no universal answer. The profile scores below show who the available published evidence may suit; they are a decision aid, not a personal recommendation.

Try your profile

Remote worker52%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 42–62%

Skilled employee56%strong on work, weak on safety · range 48–64%

Student27%strong on housing, weak on safety · range 19–35%

Family53%strong on family, weak on safety · range 44–62%

Retirement58%strong on legal route, weak on admin · range 45–71%

Worked out from these numbers

How international is the population?

5.1% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 902 of 17,588 people. This counts nationality, not place of birth, so long-settled residents who naturalised are not in it.

Work and income

Median personal income was A$647 per week in August 2021. Median household income was A$1,173 per week in August 2021.

Unemployment across cities in AustraliaUnemployment in Broken Hill is 3.1%. Of 100 cities with data, 32 have unemployment of 4 to under 5%.

1–22–33–44–55–66–77–88–99–1013–14

Broken Hill 3.1%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
People in full-time employment	4,422 people	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Employment rate	49.1 %	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Median household income (AUD/week)	1,173 AUD/week	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official
Median personal income (AUD/week)	647 AUD/week	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official
Median gross salary (regional)	1,739 EUR/month	31 Dec 2021	www.abs.gov.au⁷Official
Unemployment rate	3.1 %country median 4.5%	31 Mar 2026	DEWR — Small Area Labour Markets, smoothed unemployment rate by LGA, March quarter 2026⁸Independent

What does a salary buy in Broken Hill?

Take-home pay after tax, minus rent and the everyday bills this city publishes. Each line names its source.

Left over each month€0of €0 take-home

Rent
Internet
Mobile

Line-by-line breakdown and sources

Each month	€
Take-home payOECD Taxing Wages 2025, single, no children. Includes central and local income tax and employee social contributions; euro amounts at the ECB average for 2026-08.	outside the model's range
Rentmedian rent of a whole dwelling · official · 2021 Census General Community Profile, SUA, G02 · 2021-12-31	− €605
Internet€70 · official · Telstra nbn100 · 2026-07-31	− €70
Mobile plan€46 · official · Telstra Upfront Basic · 2026-07-31	− €46
Other everyday billsnot published for this city: public transport pass, utilities	—
Left overbefore the bills this city does not publish	—

Take-home pay for other salaries and households Compare with another city Check a job offer in Broken Hill Salary needed to live in Broken Hill

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Broken Hill. The verified national service may still offer online registration, job search or an official office finder.

Country-level information

Workforce Australia — Public employment service

Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations

Job Search

Open official service

Open the Australia service overview

Country-level service information is not treated as proof of a physical office in Broken Hill. Sources checked through 11 Aug 2026.

Family and education

Metric	Value	Period	Source
People who speak a language other than English at home	3.39 %	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Broken Hill. These verified national programmes may still apply; use the official programme page to check local availability.

Country-level information

Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) — State Language Course

Australian Government Department of Home Affairs

For eligible migrants, humanitarian entrants.

EnglishIn Person, Online, HybridFree

Open official information

Humanitarian Settlement Program (HSP) — Newcomer Adaptation

Australian Government Department of Home Affairs

For humanitarian entrants.

In Person, HybridFree

Open official information

Open the full Australia section

National programme information is not treated as proof of a course location in Broken Hill.

Find courses near Broken Hill

Climate and air quality

Temperature through the yearAverage daytime high and night-time low, °C

34°19°

33°19°

29°15°

24°11°

19°8°

16°6°

16°5°

18°6°

22°9°

26°12°

29°15°

32°17°

JFMAMJJASOND

Night-time low to daytime high

Rainfall through the yearAverage monthly precipitation, mm

JFMAMJJASOND

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Average daytime high by month	Jan 33.8 · Feb 32.7 · Mar 29.1 · Apr 24.5 · May 19.3 · Jun 16.1 · Jul 15.7 · Aug 18 · Sep 21.9 · Oct 25.7 · Nov 29.1 · Dec 31.6 °C	1991–2020	WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station BROKEN HILL⁶Official · nearest-station reading
Average night-time low by month	Jan 19.3 · Feb 18.7 · Mar 15.3 · Apr 11.3 · May 7.8 · Jun 5.6 · Jul 4.9 · Aug 5.6 · Sep 8.6 · Oct 11.6 · Nov 15 · Dec 17.3 °C	1991–2020	WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station BROKEN HILL⁶Official · nearest-station reading
Average temperature by month	Jan 26.5 · Feb 25.7 · Mar 22.2 · Apr 17.9 · May 13.6 · Jun 10.8 · Jul 10.3 · Aug 11.8 · Sep 15.2 · Oct 18.7 · Nov 22 · Dec 24.5 °C	1991–2020	WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station BROKEN HILL⁶Official · nearest-station reading
Average precipitation by month	Jan 27.3 · Feb 27.2 · Mar 16.1 · Apr 13.4 · May 15.6 · Jun 16.5 · Jul 18.1 · Aug 15.2 · Sep 20.5 · Oct 19.9 · Nov 24.4 · Dec 25 mm	1991–2020	WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station BROKEN HILL⁶Official · nearest-station reading

Similar climate. Elsewhere: Ventura (United States) ±7.1 °C, Downey (United States) ±8.1 °C, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain) ±7.6 °C, Telde (Spain) ±7.6 °C, Simi Valley (United States) ±9.1 °C. Twenty closest, compared month by month

Monthly highs and lows against the 1991–2020 station normals of the nearest station; ± is the average monthly difference.

Population and city profile

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport94.9%

Calculated from the population and foreign-resident facts on this page.

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	170.1 km²	31 Dec 2021	Official ASGS2016 SUA area from ABS ArcGIS attributes, area albers sqkm. Exact queue geography; not GCCSA or LGA.²Official
Foreign-resident share	5.13 %	31 Dec 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile DataPacks — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official
Foreign residents	902 people	31 Dec 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile DataPacks — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official
Population density	103 people/km²	31 Dec 2025	Reproducible exact-ASGS2016-SUA density: ABS ERP at 30 June 2021 divided by ABS ASGS2016 SUA area. Existing local population baseline is only a recovered cross-check; no GCCSA/LGA observation.³Official
Female residents	9,020 people	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Male residents	8,565 people	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Population	17,588 people	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official

Population over time25 published observations, 2001–2025

17,242

18,562

19,882

21,202

17,515200120052011201520212025

Population fell 16.3% between 2001 and 2025, from 20,929 to 17,515.

International community in Broken Hill

Named groups from exact city-grain official distributions. Citizenship, birthplace, language and ancestry answer different questions and stay separate.

Country of birth

Persons usually resident in the ABS Significant Urban Area; 2021 Census G09 PERSONS total across age groups and sex · 2021 Census

Published group	People	Share
Total	17,588	100.0%
Australia	15,119	86.0%
Country of birth not stated	1,567	8.9%
Philippines	201	1.1%
England	137	0.8%
New Zealand	72	0.4%
Born elsewhere(d)	71	0.4%
India	67	0.4%
Germany	35	0.2%
United States of America	27	0.2%
Italy	25	0.1%

Show 27 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Malta	22	0.1%
Scotland	22	0.1%
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)(c)	18	0.1%
Netherlands	18	0.1%
South Africa	17	0.1%
Thailand	14	0.1%
Canada	10	0.1%
Malaysia	10	0.1%
Papua New Guinea	10	0.1%
Zimbabwe	10	0.1%
Fiji	9	0.1%
Greece	8	0.0%
Sri Lanka	8	0.0%
Ireland	7	0.0%
Nepal	7	0.0%
Vietnam	7	0.0%
Wales	6	0.0%
Indonesia	5	0.0%
Myanmar	5	0.0%
Bangladesh	4	0.0%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	4	0.0%
Croatia	4	0.0%
France	4	0.0%
Japan	4	0.0%
Egypt	3	0.0%
Iran	3	0.0%
Korea, Republic of (South)	3	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹

Country of birth

Persons usually resident in the ABS Significant Urban Area; 2021 Census G01 total persons denominator · 2021 Census

Published group	People	Share
Total persons	17,588	100.0%
Australia	15,119	86.0%
Elsewhere (excludes country of birth not stated)	907	5.2%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹

Citizenship

Persons usually resident in the ABS Significant Urban Area; 2021 Census G01 total persons denominator · 2021 Census

Published group	People	Share
Total persons	17,588	100.0%
Australian citizen	15,670	89.1%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source¹

Additional context

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Residents born abroad	5.16 %	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official
Households	7,308 households	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Labour force participation rate	52 %	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics¹Official
Median age	44 years	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official
Median monthly mortgage repayment (AUD)	867 AUD/month	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia¹Official

Alternatives for people set on Broken Hill

Three places for the three reasons people leave a city on the shortlist: stay in the region, stay in the country, or keep the budget and change the country. A percentage appears only where both cities publish that metric from the same source, period and grain. Distances are straight lines — travel times are not collected yet.

Darwin as a Broken Hill alternative in the same country

Better on 2 of 4 metrics measured the same way, worse on 1.

Foreign residents: 37.4% Darwin vs 5.1% Broken Hill+629%
Residents: 127,215 Darwin vs 17,588 Broken Hill+623%
Median gross pay, region: €3,017 Darwin vs €1,739 Broken Hill+73%
Unemployment: 3.3% Darwin vs 3.1% Broken Hill+6%

Full comparison More about Darwin

Alternative cities in Australia

Other cities in Australia to compare with Broken Hill, nearest in population first.

All Australia cities

Ulladulla17,567 residents Batemans Bay17,524 residents Singleton17,139 residents Mount Isa18,162 residents Karratha17,013 residents Horsham16,985 residents

How does Broken Hill compare?

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Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Broken Hill when the national insurance or residence conditions are met.

Healthcare access follows the country-wide insurance rules; local capacity facts remain city data and are not used as proof of eligibility.

Open the official coverage guide

Country rule verified 2026-08-03.

Put Broken Hill's key facts on your site — a card with this page's figures and a link back, free under CC BY 4.0.

Common questions

Answered from the published values on this page, each with its source and date.

What is the typical salary around Broken Hill?

The median gross salary is 1,739 EUR/month. Source: www.abs.gov.au.

What is the unemployment rate in Broken Hill?

The unemployment rate is 3.1 %. Source: DEWR — Small Area Labour Markets, smoothed unemployment rate by LGA, March quarter 2026.

How many people live in Broken Hill?

The published population is 17,588 people. Source: 2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia.

How many foreign residents live in Broken Hill?

902 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: 2021 Census General Community Profile DataPacks — Significant Urban Areas, Australia.

Is Broken Hill a good place to live?

Broken Hill may suit different people for different reasons. The page's profile scores compare published cost, work, housing, safety, healthcare and other available factors; they are a decision aid, not a universal recommendation.

How many people born in Australia live in Broken Hill?

The official country of birth distribution records 15,119 people (86.0%) in the source-defined population for 2021 Census. This is a country of birth measure, not a general estimate of ethnicity or migration status.

Cite this page

Open a format to select or copy this ImmigrationDB compilation citation. The native disclosure and text fallback work without JavaScript.

APA citation

ImmigrationDB. (2026, October 16). Broken Hill, Australia: population, rent, salary, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version a4cf7d9d71fafd8583c15611d1f31e02]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/au/broken-hill/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_broken-hill-australia-population-rent-salary-jobs_3640badacbfb,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Broken Hill, Australia: population, rent, salary, jobs},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {a4cf7d9d71fafd8583c15611d1f31e02},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/au/broken-hill/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Broken Hill, Australia: population, rent, salary, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/au/broken-hill/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version a4cf7d9d71fafd8583c15611d1f31e02; retrieved 2026-10-16; built 2026-10-16.

This citation identifies the ImmigrationDB compilation/page. Underlying source publishers and datasets retain their own terms; inspect the Sources section and cite those records separately. View the underlying source records.

Sources

JSON Markdown

2021 Census General Community Profile DataPacks — Significant Urban Areas, Australia 2021 Census General Community Profile DataPacks · abs.gov.au · checked 2026-09-25
Official ASGS2016 SUA area from ABS ArcGIS attributes, area albers sqkm. Exact queue geography; not GCCSA or LGA. geo.abs.gov.au · checked 2016-07-01
Reproducible exact-ASGS2016-SUA density: ABS ERP at 30 June 2021 divided by ABS ASGS2016 SUA area. Existing local population baseline is only a recovered cross-check; no GCCSA/LGA observation. abs.gov.au · checked 2021-06-30
Telstra nbn100 telstra.com.au · checked 2026-09-15
Telstra Upfront Basic telstra.com.au · checked 2026-09-15
WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 — station BROKEN HILL WMO Climatological Normals 1991-2020 · ncei.noaa.gov · checked 2026-07-31
www.abs.gov.au abs.gov.au · checked 2026-08-27
DEWR — Small Area Labour Markets, smoothed unemployment rate by LGA, March quarter 2026 DEWR · dewr.gov.au · checked 2026-07-26

Spotted a number that looks wrong? Every value here carries its source and date — tell us what you found and we will re-check it against the source.