Illawarra running costs 2026, all 105 suburbs ranked cheapest first
Every one of the 105 Illawarra suburbs costs less to commute from by train than by car. The spread between the cheapest and dearest suburb is $5,324 a year, tighter than any other New South Wales region SuburbCost ranks, and almost all of it is commute distance rather than council rates. Here are all 105 suburbs across Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama ranked on what they actually cost to run.
Cordeaux Heights is the cheapest Illawarra suburb to run in 2026 at $8,564 a year, followed by Mangerton at $8,601 and Farmborough Heights at $8,621. On a comparable basis the dearest is Stanwell Park at $13,888. Across all 105 suburbs the median is $9,884. These are annual running costs, being council rates, water, commute and building insurance. They are not purchase prices.
Key statistics
- Suburbs ranked
- 105
- Cheapest
- $8,564 (Cordeaux Heights)
- Dearest, comparable basis
- $13,888 (Stanwell Park)
- Median
- $9,884
- Spread
- $5,324
- Councils covered
- 3
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: 11 of the 105 suburbs are costed on the trip to Wollongong and the remaining 94 on the trip to Sydney, since the Illawarra sits inside 100km of Sydney and a Sydney commute is a realistic assumption across most of the region. Building insurance is AI-estimated and labelled as an estimate wherever it appears. No suburb in this region carries the flat regional driving allowance, so every figure on this page is on the same tapered basis. Suburbs carrying a neighbouring council's rate or a neighbouring utility's water figure are excluded entirely. No property prices, medians or capital growth figures appear anywhere on this page.
The short version
- Cordeaux Heights is the cheapest of the 105 suburbs at $8,564 a year, Stanwell Park the dearest on a comparable basis at $13,888
- The median is $9,884, and the gap between cheapest and dearest is $5,324 a year, or $61,034 over ten years at 3% growth
- All 105 suburbs cost less by public transport than by car, the only region SuburbCost ranks where that is true of every suburb
- Commute averages $4,462 a year across the region against $1,852 for council rates, so the trip to work moves the total roughly 2.4 times as hard as the rates bill
- 105 of the 105 suburbs cost less by public transport than by car
How the three Illawarra councils compare
Median total running cost by council, alongside the residential rate each charges. Kiama charges the highest rate of the three and also has the highest median total, but the rate accounts for only a small part of that difference.
| Council | Suburbs | Residential rate | Median total / yr | Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wollongong | 66 | $1,819 | $9,815 | $8,564 to $13,888 |
| Shellharbour | 21 | $1,865 | $9,856 | $9,131 to $10,492 |
| Kiama | 18 | $1,959 | $12,660 | $9,630 to $13,591 |
Rates are the smallest of the four costs
Across the 105 suburbs the average council bill is $1,852 and the average driving commute is $4,462. Water averages $1,548 and building insurance $2,624. 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 | Cordeaux Heights | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,197 | $2,000 | $8,564 |
| 2 | Mangerton | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,084 | $2,150 | $8,601 |
| 3 | Farmborough Heights | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,254 | $2,000 | $8,621 |
| 4 | West Wollongong | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,187 | $2,150 | $8,704 |
| 5 | Unanderra | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,223 | $2,150 | $8,740 |
| 6 | Lake Heights | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,294 | $2,150 | $8,811 |
| 7 | Cordeaux | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,127 | $2,400 | $8,894 |
| 8 | Mount Kembla | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,132 | $2,400 | $8,899 |
| 9 | Figtree | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,084 | $2,450 | $8,901 |
| 10 | Mount Saint Thomas | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,088 | $2,450 | $8,905 |
| 11 | Kembla Heights | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,150 | $2,400 | $8,917 |
| 12 | Keiraville | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,565 | $2,000 | $8,932 |
| 13 | Dapto | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,459 | $2,150 | $8,976 |
| 14 | Horsley | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,472 | $2,150 | $8,989 |
| 15 | Avondale | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,634 | $2,000 | $9,001 |
| 16 | Cringila | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,241 | $2,450 | $9,058 |
| 17 | Blackbutt | Shellharbour | $1,865 | $1,548 | $3,718 | $2,000 | $9,131 |
| 18 | Dombarton | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,368 | $2,400 | $9,135 |
| 19 | Mount Warrigal | Shellharbour | $1,865 | $1,548 | $3,612 | $2,150 | $9,175 |
| 20 | Mount Keira | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $3,416 | $2,400 | $9,183 |
The 10 dearest suburbs to run
Every suburb here is costed on the same tapered commute basis.
| Rank | Suburb | Council | Rates | Water | Commute | Insurance | Total / yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 105 | Stanwell Park | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $6,871 | $3,650 | $13,888 |
| 104 | Gerroa | Kiama | $1,959 | $1,548 | $6,984 | $3,100 | $13,591 |
| 103 | Toolijooa | Kiama | $1,959 | $1,548 | $6,971 | $3,100 | $13,578 |
| 102 | Gerringong | Kiama | $1,959 | $1,548 | $6,900 | $3,100 | $13,507 |
| 101 | Werri Beach | Kiama | $1,959 | $1,548 | $6,837 | $2,800 | $13,144 |
| 100 | Coalcliff | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $6,756 | $3,000 | $13,123 |
| 99 | Rose Valley | Kiama | $1,959 | $1,548 | $6,743 | $2,850 | $13,100 |
| 98 | Austinmer | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $6,019 | $3,650 | $13,036 |
| 97 | Scarborough | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $6,560 | $3,000 | $12,927 |
| 96 | Helensburgh | Wollongong | $1,819 | $1,548 | $6,981 | $2,550 | $12,898 |
Two suburbs, same council, different cost
Wollongong council spans the full range of the region on its own, from $8,564 to $13,888 a year. Both ends pay the same council rate and the same water charge, so the entire $5,324 gap comes from commute distance and the insurance band. The northern suburbs above Wollongong sit closer to Sydney and are costed on that longer trip.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest Illawarra suburb to run in 2026?
Cordeaux Heights at $8,564 a year across council rates, water, commute and building insurance. The dearest on the same basis is Stanwell Park at $13,888.
Which Illawarra council area is cheapest to live in?
Wollongong, with a median suburb total of $9,815 a year, just ahead of Shellharbour. Kiama is the dearest at $12,660 and also charges the highest residential rate of the three at $1,959.
Is the train cheaper than driving in the Illawarra?
For all 105 of the 105 suburbs ranked here, the modelled public transport cost is lower than the modelled driving cost. The driving commute averages $4,462 a year across the region. Public transport is costed on the Opal adult fare for the suburb's distance band across 46 commuting weeks.
Why is the spread so much smaller than other regions?
The three councils charge similar residential rates and the region is geographically compact, so commute distance varies less than it does across a larger region. The gap between cheapest and dearest is $5,324 a year, against $8,313 across the Hunter on the same comparable basis.
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.
Look up a single Illawarra suburb
Rankings show where a suburb sits. The council pages show what it costs, suburb by suburb, with water and insurance alongside the rates figure.
Wollongong 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 same cost model is published as council-level figures in an open CSV.