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What it costs to live in Ballina, NSW
Ballina council area, New South Wales. About 48,603 people lived here in 2025. Here's what rent, power, fuel, the pokies and crime look like, and how each one sits against the rest of New South Wales.
Rent
$780
A week. That's the median rent on new leases in the June quarter 2026.
Pokies losses
$871
Lost for every resident in a year. That's 78% of the NSW average.
See pokies losses in BallinaElectricity
$2,604
A year on the default offer in the Essential Energy network area, for 4,600 kWh. That's the most a standing offer can cost. A typical plan here costs $2,396.
See electricity pricesUnleaded petrol
195c
A litre, on average, at 13 stations here over the year to September 2026. That's 3c more than the NSW average.
See when fuel is cheapestCrime police recorded
Violent crime, 2025–26
Police recorded 555 of these in Ballina. That's 1,158 for every 100,000 people, or about the NSW average. Five years before, in 2020–21, it was 913, so it has gone up 27%.
See each year
| Year | Recorded | Per 100,000 | NSW per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | 555 | 1,158 | 1,183 |
| 2024–25 | 460 | 960 | 1,171 |
| 2023–24 | 494 | 1,031 | 1,156 |
| 2022–23 | 402 | 850 | 1,084 |
| 2021–22 | 394 | 841 | 981 |
| 2020–21 | 422 | 913 | 1,055 |
| 2019–20 | 316 | 693 | 1,009 |
| 2018–19 | 334 | 749 | 1,008 |
| 2017–18 | 371 | 840 | 999 |
| 2016–17 | 366 | 842 | 1,000 |
Property crime, 2025–26
Police recorded 1,062 of these in Ballina. That's 2,216 for every 100,000 people, or 1.4 times the NSW average. Five years before, in 2020–21, it was 1,175, so it has gone up 88%.
See each year
| Year | Recorded | Per 100,000 | NSW per 100,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025–26 | 1,062 | 2,216 | 1,622 |
| 2024–25 | 952 | 1,986 | 1,589 |
| 2023–24 | 931 | 1,942 | 1,651 |
| 2022–23 | 696 | 1,472 | 1,572 |
| 2021–22 | 757 | 1,616 | 1,381 |
| 2020–21 | 543 | 1,175 | 1,544 |
| 2019–20 | 688 | 1,510 | 1,826 |
| 2018–19 | 903 | 2,024 | 2,022 |
| 2017–18 | 976 | 2,210 | 2,066 |
| 2016–17 | 873 | 2,008 | 2,184 |
This is crime that police recorded in the area over a year, July to June. Lots of crime is never reported, and a rise can mean police are looking harder, not just that more crime happened. Each state counts crime its own way, so only compare a council with its own state.
Suburbs in Ballina
Who lives in each one, their homes and how they get around.
- Alstonvale
- Alstonville
- Bagotville
- Ballina
- Broken Head (part)
- Brooklet
- Cabbage Tree Island (Ballina - NSW)
- Coolgardie
- Cumbalum
- Dalwood (Ballina - NSW)
- East Ballina
- East Wardell
- Empire Vale
- Fernleigh
- Goat Island
- Keith Hall
- Kinvara
- Knockrow
- Lennox Head
- Lynwood
- Marom Creek (part)
- McLeans Ridges (part)
- Meerschaum Vale
- Newrybar
- Patchs Beach
- Pearces Creek (part)
- Pimlico
- Pimlico Island
- Rous
- Rous Mill
- Skennars Head
- South Ballina
- Teven
- Tintenbar
- Tuckombil
- Uralba
- Wardell
- West Ballina
- Wollongbar
Look further
- Rents across Australia: what tenants really pay by suburb and postcode.
- Pokies losses by council: where the most is lost, in four states.
- Fuel prices: the price cycle and the cheapest day to fill up.
- Compare Ballina with another area, side by side.
- Look up another area.
Sources: recorded crime, NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. Population: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Regional population, CC BY 4.0. Pokies losses: the state's gambling regulator (see the pokies page for its credit). Rent: state rental bond data (see the rent pages). Electricity: Default Market Offer 2026–27: © Commonwealth of Australia (Australian Energy Regulator), CC BY 4.0; retailers' plans under the Consumer Data Right. Fuel: NSW Government FuelCheck, CC BY-SA, so the fuel figure can be reused under the same licence.