Living in Nelson Bay

In Nelson Bay, the median rent tenants pay is €1,073 a month (2021) and unemployment is 4.7% (2021).

The city covered 115.5 km² in 2021. Population density was 251.2 people per km² in 2025. In August 2021, the foreign population was 4,771.

Last checked 2026-10-077 sources

Population28,329people30 Jun 2021Official source · ABS Regional population, 2024-25 — 32180DS0004 Table 2: Estimated resident population, Significant Urban Areas

Median gross salary (region)1,729EUR/month31 Dec 2021Official source · www.abs.gov.au

Median rent1,073EUR/month31 Dec 2021Official source · 2021 Census General Community Profile, SUA, G02

Unemployment rate4.7%country median 4.5% — 4% aboveOfficial source · 2021 Census GCP Significant Urban Areas for Australia (DataPack)

Which Australia-wide rules apply when you move to Nelson Bay?

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 Nelson Bay.Healthcare eligibilityCountry-wide insurance and residence conditions.

Housing and cost

Median rent was A$390 per week, and median monthly mortgage repayment was A$1,855 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 nbn100⁵Official · national market
Mobile plan, 10 GB	45.79 EUR/month	31 Jul 2026	Telstra Upfront Basic⁶Official · national market
Dwellings	15,766 dwellings	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Main residence dwellings	11,695 dwellings	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Median weekly rent (AUD)	390 AUD/week	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia²Official
Median monthly rent	1,073 EUR/month	31 Dec 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile, SUA, G02²Official
Median monthly rent (whole dwelling)	1,073 EUR/month	31 Dec 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile, SUA, G02²Official

Is Nelson Bay 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 worker41%strong on work, weak on air quality · range 31–51%

Skilled employee50%strong on work, weak on safety · range 42–58%

Student21%strong on education, weak on safety · range 13–29%

Family46%strong on family, weak on safety · range 37–55%

Retirement32%strong on legal route, weak on admin · range 19–45%

Worked out from these numbers

How international is the population?

16.8% of residents hold a foreign nationality — 4,771 of 28,329 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$643 per week in August 2021. Median household income was A$1,271 per week in August 2021.

Unemployment across cities in AustraliaUnemployment in Nelson Bay is 4.7%. Of 100 cities with data, 32 have unemployment of 4 to under 5%.

1–22–33–44–55–66–77–88–99–1013–14

Nelson Bay 4.7%

Unemployment rate (%)

Metric	Value	Period	Source
People in full-time employment	5,406 people	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Employment rate	44.7 %	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Median household income (AUD/week)	1,271 AUD/week	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia²Official
Median personal income (AUD/week)	643 AUD/week	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia²Official
Median gross salary (regional)	1,729 EUR/month	31 Dec 2021	www.abs.gov.au⁷Official
Unemployment rate	4.7 %country median 4.5%	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census GCP Significant Urban Areas for Australia (DataPack)²Official

What does a salary buy in Nelson Bay?

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	− €1,073
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 Nelson Bay Salary needed to live in Nelson Bay

Public employment service

No exact public employment office is currently linked to Nelson Bay. 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 Nelson Bay. Sources checked through 11 Aug 2026.

Family and education

Metric	Value	Period	Source
People who speak a language other than English at home	5.13 %	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia²Official

Language courses and integration

No exact city-level course record is currently published for Nelson Bay. 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 Nelson Bay.

Find courses near Nelson Bay

Population and city profile

Foreign residents and their share come from different publications that count different groups (for example citizens of another country, or people born abroad, or of foreign origin), so 4,771 is not 21.7% of the population. Each row names its source.

Who lives hereResidents by nationality, % of population

By nationality

National passport83.2%
Foreign residents16.8%

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

Metric	Value	Period	Source
City area	115.5 km²	31 Dec 2021	Official ASGS2016 SUA area from ABS ArcGIS attributes, area albers sqkm. Exact queue geography; not GCCSA or LGA.³Official
Foreign-resident share	21.7 %	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census GCP Significant Urban Areas for Australia (DataPack)²Official
Foreign residents	4,771 people	10 Aug 2021	Official 2021 Census GCP G01 Birthplace_Elsewhere_P: persons born outside Australia, at exact associated 2021 SUA grain. This is foreign-born, not foreign nationality.²Official
Population density	251.2 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.⁴Official · significant urban area
Female residents	14,735 people	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Male residents	13,682 people	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Population	28,329 people	30 Jun 2021	ABS Regional population, 2024-25 — 32180DS0004 Table 2: Estimated resident population, Significant Urban Areas¹Official

Population over time25 published observations, 2001–2025

21,987

24,506

27,026

29,545

29,024200120052011201520212025

Population rose 28.9% between 2001 and 2025, from 22,508 to 29,024.

International community in Nelson Bay

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 G01 total persons denominator · 2021 Census

Published group	People	Share
Total persons	28,418	100.0%
Australia	22,247	78.3%
Elsewhere (excludes country of birth not stated)	4,771	16.8%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source²

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	28,418	100.0%
Australia	22,247	78.3%
England	1,609	5.7%
Country of birth not stated	1,398	4.9%
New Zealand	465	1.6%
Born elsewhere(d)	419	1.5%
Scotland	207	0.7%
South Africa	187	0.7%
Germany	179	0.6%
United States of America	130	0.5%
Philippines	126	0.4%

Show 40 more groups

Published group	People	Share
Italy	106	0.4%
Netherlands	99	0.3%
Nepal	94	0.3%
India	91	0.3%
Ireland	82	0.3%
Thailand	79	0.3%
Canada	75	0.3%
Wales	73	0.3%
Croatia	67	0.2%
Malta	64	0.2%
China (excludes SARs and Taiwan)(c)	56	0.2%
Malaysia	51	0.2%
Greece	42	0.1%
Poland	37	0.1%
Chile	35	0.1%
Mauritius	35	0.1%
France	34	0.1%
Fiji	28	0.1%
Japan	28	0.1%
Papua New Guinea	27	0.1%
Singapore	25	0.1%
Indonesia	23	0.1%
Vietnam	23	0.1%
Brazil	21	0.1%
Egypt	21	0.1%
Hong Kong (SAR of China)(c)	20	0.1%
Turkey	18	0.1%
Zimbabwe	18	0.1%
North Macedonia	12	0.0%
Lebanon	11	0.0%
Cambodia	8	0.0%
Korea, Republic of (South)	8	0.0%
Myanmar	7	0.0%
Sri Lanka	7	0.0%
Iran	4	0.0%
Taiwan	4	0.0%
Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	0.0%
Iraq	3	0.0%
Pakistan	3	0.0%
Samoa	3	0.0%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source²

Citizenship

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

Published group	People	Share
Total persons	28,418	100.0%
Australian citizen	25,667	90.3%

Largest published groups; zero-count groups are omitted. Dimensions are source-native and are never merged. Official source²

Additional context

Metric	Value	Period	Source
Residents born abroad	16.79 %	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia²Official
Households	11,695 households	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Labour force participation rate	46.9 %	31 Dec 2021	Australian Bureau of Statistics²Official
Median age	54 years	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia²Official
Median monthly mortgage repayment (AUD)	1,855 AUD/month	10 Aug 2021	2021 Census General Community Profile — Significant Urban Areas, Australia²Official

Alternatives for people set on Nelson Bay

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.

Mackay as a Nelson Bay alternative in the same country

Better on 2 of 3 metrics measured the same way, worse on 0.

Residents: 85,408 Mackay vs 28,329 Nelson Bay+201%
Median gross pay, region: €2,382 Mackay vs €1,729 Nelson Bay+38%
Foreign residents: 22.5% Mackay vs 21.7% Nelson Bay+4%

Full comparison More about Mackay

Alternative cities in Australia

Other cities in Australia to compare with Nelson Bay, nearest in population first.

All Australia cities

Victor Harbor - Goolwa28,363 residents Burnie - Wynyard27,826 residents Maryborough27,820 residents Lismore28,859 residents Morisset - Cooranbong27,787 residents Kalgoorlie - Boulder29,072 residents

How does Nelson Bay compare?

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Nelson Bay in rankings

#23 of 30 in Most international cities in Australia

Yes — migrants can receive medical care in Nelson Bay 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 Nelson Bay'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 Nelson Bay?

The median gross salary is 1,729 EUR/month. Source: www.abs.gov.au.

What is the unemployment rate in Nelson Bay?

The unemployment rate is 4.7 %. Source: 2021 Census GCP Significant Urban Areas for Australia (DataPack).

How many people live in Nelson Bay?

The published population is 28,329 people. Source: ABS Regional population, 2024-25 — 32180DS0004 Table 2: Estimated resident population, Significant Urban Areas.

How many foreign residents live in Nelson Bay?

4,771 residents hold a foreign nationality. Source: Official 2021 Census GCP G01 Birthplace_Elsewhere_P: persons born outside Australia, at exact associated 2021 SUA grain. This is foreign-born, not foreign nationality..

Is Nelson Bay a good place to live?

Nelson Bay 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 Nelson Bay?

The official country of birth distribution records 22,247 people (78.3%) 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). Nelson Bay, Australia: population, rent, salary, jobs [ImmigrationDB compilation; version f2ee327e550bbe345c53535158bf7147]. ImmigrationDB. https://immigrationdb.com/cities/au/nelson-bay/ Retrieved 2026-10-16. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

BibTeX citation

@misc{immigrationdb_immigrationdb_nelson-bay-australia-population-rent-salary-jobs_1053749dd5d9,
  author = {ImmigrationDB},
  title = {Nelson Bay, Australia: population, rent, salary, jobs},
  publisher = {ImmigrationDB},
  year = {2026},
  date = {2026-10-16},
  version = {f2ee327e550bbe345c53535158bf7147},
  url = {https://immigrationdb.com/cities/au/nelson-bay/},
  note = {Retrieved 2026-10-16. ImmigrationDB compilation. Compilation license: CC BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/},
}

Markdown citation

[Nelson Bay, Australia: population, rent, salary, jobs](https://immigrationdb.com/cities/au/nelson-bay/) — ImmigrationDB; ImmigrationDB; version f2ee327e550bbe345c53535158bf7147; 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

ABS Regional population, 2024-25 — 32180DS0004 Table 2: Estimated resident population, Significant Urban Areas ABS Regional population, 2024-25 · abs.gov.au · checked 2026-09-19
Official 2021 Census GCP G01 Birthplace_Elsewhere_P: persons born outside Australia, at exact associated 2021 SUA grain. This is foreign-born, not foreign nationality. abs.gov.au · checked 2021-08-10
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
www.abs.gov.au abs.gov.au · checked 2026-08-27

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.