Hunter running costs 2026, all 286 suburbs ranked cheapest first
Newcastle City charges $1,858 in residential rates, more than three of the five Hunter councils, and its suburbs are still the cheapest in the region to run. The median Newcastle suburb costs $7,714 a year against $12,770 in Maitland, a gap of $5,056 that the rates bill does not explain. Here are all 286 Hunter suburbs ranked on what they actually cost to run, being council rates, water and sewerage, the driving commute and building insurance.
The Hill is the cheapest Hunter suburb to run in 2026 at $5,449 a year, followed by Merewether Heights at $6,512 and Cooks Hill at $6,549. On a comparable basis the dearest is Bishops Bridge at $13,762. Across all 286 suburbs the median is $10,930. These are annual running costs, being council rates, water, commute and building insurance. They are not purchase prices.
Key statistics
- Suburbs ranked
- 286
- Cheapest
- $5,449 (The Hill)
- Dearest, comparable basis
- $13,762 (Bishops Bridge)
- Median
- $10,930
- Spread
- $8,313
- Councils covered
- 5
Methodology
Each suburb total is the sum of four annual costs: the council residential rate, water and sewerage, the modelled driving commute, and building insurance for a house. Council rates are the 2026-27 New South Wales figure, being the Office of Local Government average residential rate uplifted by that council's IPART rate peg. Water is 2025-26. The commute is modelled, not measured: 234 of the 287 suburbs in these five councils are costed on the trip to Newcastle, and the remainder on the trip to Sydney, because they sit outside the Newcastle catchment. Building insurance is AI-estimated and labelled as an estimate wherever it appears. 5 suburbs sit beyond 100km from any centre and carry the flat regional driving allowance rather than a modelled commute, so they are listed separately rather than ranked. Suburbs carrying a neighbouring council's rate or a neighbouring utility's water figure are excluded entirely, because the top and bottom of a ranking is exactly where a stand-in figure becomes a published error. No property prices, medians or capital growth figures appear anywhere on this page.
The short version
- The Hill is the cheapest of the 286 suburbs at $5,449 a year, Bishops Bridge the dearest on a comparable basis at $13,762
- The median is $10,930, and the gap between cheapest and dearest is $8,313 a year, or $95,299 over ten years at 3% growth
- Newcastle City charges $1,858 in residential rates and has the lowest median total at $7,714. Maitland charges $1,970 and its median suburb costs $12,770. Rates rank the councils close to the opposite order of total cost
- Commute averages $5,048 a year across the region against $1,701 for council rates, so the trip to work moves the total roughly 3.0 times as hard as the rates bill
- 251 of the 286 suburbs cost less by public transport than by car
How the five Hunter councils compare
Median total running cost by council, alongside the residential rate each charges. The council with the highest rate is not the dearest place to live, because rates are the smallest of the four costs and the commute is the largest.
| Council | Suburbs | Residential rate | Median total / yr | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Newcastle | 50 | $1,858 | $7,714 | $5,449 to $11,061 |
| Lake Macquarie | 93 | $1,763 | $10,148 | $7,487 to $11,610 |
| Cessnock | 54 | $1,458 | $11,858.5 | $8,900 to $23,435 |
| Port Stephens | 44 | $1,415 | $12,412.5 | $8,182 to $13,214 |
| Maitland | 45 | $1,970 | $12,770 | $11,165 to $13,762 |
Rates are the smallest of the four costs
Across the 286 suburbs the average council bill is $1,701 and the average driving commute is $5,048. Water averages $1,377 and building insurance $2,718. A council rate rise of a few per cent moves the annual total by less than a change of suburb within the same council area.
The 20 cheapest suburbs to run
Ranked on the full annual running cost, not on rates alone. Equal totals share a rank.
| Rank | Suburb | Council | Rates | Water | Commute | Insurance | Total / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Hill | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $514 | $1,700 | $5,449 |
| 2 | Merewether Heights | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $1,577 | $1,700 | $6,512 |
| 3 | Cooks Hill | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $514 | $2,800 | $6,549 |
| 3 | Newcastle East | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $514 | $2,800 | $6,549 |
| 3 | Carrington | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $514 | $2,800 | $6,549 |
| 3 | Newcastle | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $514 | $2,800 | $6,549 |
| 7 | Bar Beach | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $581 | $2,800 | $6,616 |
| 8 | Newcastle West | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $681 | $2,800 | $6,716 |
| 9 | The Junction | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $781 | $2,800 | $6,816 |
| 10 | Hamilton East | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $846 | $2,800 | $6,881 |
| 10 | Wickham | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $846 | $2,800 | $6,881 |
| 10 | Stockton | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $846 | $2,800 | $6,881 |
| 13 | Maryville | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $1,041 | $2,800 | $7,076 |
| 14 | Hamilton South | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $1,073 | $2,800 | $7,108 |
| 15 | Hamilton | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $1,170 | $2,800 | $7,205 |
| 15 | Tighes Hill | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $1,170 | $2,800 | $7,205 |
| 17 | Islington | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $1,201 | $2,800 | $7,236 |
| 18 | Waratah | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $1,939 | $2,150 | $7,324 |
| 19 | Kotara | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $2,403 | $1,700 | $7,338 |
| 20 | Adamstown Heights | Newcastle | $1,858 | $1,377 | $2,174 | $2,000 | $7,409 |
The 10 dearest suburbs to run
Excluding 5 suburbs that sit on the flat regional driving allowance, which are listed separately below because they are not costed on the same basis.
| Rank | Suburb | Council | Rates | Water | Commute | Insurance | Total / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 281 | Bishops Bridge | Maitland | $1,970 | $1,377 | $6,915 | $3,500 | $13,762 |
| 280 | Tocal | Maitland | $1,970 | $1,377 | $6,964 | $3,100 | $13,411 |
| 279 | Oakhampton | Maitland | $1,970 | $1,377 | $6,769 | $3,100 | $13,216 |
| 278 | Shoal Bay | Port Stephens | $1,415 | $1,377 | $6,922 | $3,500 | $13,214 |
| 277 | Oakhampton Heights | Maitland | $1,970 | $1,377 | $6,762 | $3,100 | $13,209 |
| 276 | Bolwarra Heights | Maitland | $1,970 | $1,377 | $6,716 | $3,100 | $13,163 |
| 275 | Farley | Maitland | $1,970 | $1,377 | $6,702 | $3,100 | $13,149 |
| 274 | Karuah | Port Stephens | $1,415 | $1,377 | $6,837 | $3,500 | $13,129 |
| 273 | Taylors Beach | Port Stephens | $1,415 | $1,377 | $6,815 | $3,500 | $13,107 |
| 272 | Bolwarra | Maitland | $1,970 | $1,377 | $6,658 | $3,100 | $13,105 |
Five suburbs shown separately
Yengo, Corrabare, Wollombi, Sweetmans Creek, Cedar Creek each sit beyond 100km from the nearest centre, where a daily commute is not a realistic assumption. They carry the flat regional driving allowance of $18,200 a year, which represents general household driving of about 20,000km rather than a modelled commute. That puts each of them at $23,435 a year. They are excluded from the ranked tables above because the figure is not comparable with a tapered commute.
Two suburbs, same council, different cost
Within Newcastle City alone the range runs from $5,449 to $11,061 a year, a gap of $5,612 between suburbs paying the identical council rate and the identical water charge. The difference is commute distance and the insurance band. Comparing two suburbs directly shows which of the four costs is doing the work.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Hunter suburb to run in 2026?
The Hill at $5,449 a year across council rates, water, commute and building insurance. It sits in Newcastle City, close to the Newcastle city centre, so its modelled commute is the lowest in the region.
Which Hunter council area is cheapest to live in?
Newcastle City, with a median suburb total of $7,714 a year. Maitland is the dearest at $12,770. Newcastle achieves this while charging $1,858 in residential rates, more than three of the other four councils.
Why is the commute the biggest cost?
Across the 286 suburbs the driving commute averages $5,048 a year against $1,701 for council rates. The commute is modelled at the ATO rate of 91 cents per kilometre, with trip frequency tapering as distance rises. For 251 of the 286 suburbs, public transport costs less than driving.
Do these figures include the property price?
No. SuburbCost shows running costs only, being what it costs to stay in a suburb each year. Purchase prices, medians and capital growth are deliberately not shown anywhere on the site.
Why are five suburbs listed separately?
Yengo, Corrabare, Wollombi, Sweetmans Creek, Cedar Creek sit beyond 100km from the nearest centre, where a daily commute is not a realistic assumption. They carry a flat regional driving allowance of $18,200 a year representing general household driving of about 20,000km, which is not comparable with a modelled commute, so ranking them against tapered suburbs would compare two different measures.
Get the figure for your own Hunter suburb
The table above ranks 286 suburbs. Your own council page carries a picker that resolves a suburb to its full annual cost, with the commute priced to Newcastle rather than to Sydney.
Newcastle council rates →Or compare two suburbs side by side in the SuburbCost tool.
Cite this data
SuburbCost data is free to cite with attribution. Please link to this page as the source.
The Hunter councils here also appear in the underlying council dataset, free to download.