Average council rates in Sydney for 2026-27
All 32 councils inside the Greater Sydney Commission boundary, ranked by what they charge a residential property, covering 760 suburbs. The headline number people ask for is the average, so this page gives both the mean and the median, and says plainly why they differ by $89.
Across the 32 councils covering Greater Sydney, the median council charges $1,424 a year in 2026-27 and the mean is $1,513. The range runs from $924 in the City of Sydney to $2,446 in Hunters Hill, a spread of $1,522, so Hunters Hill charges 2.6 times what the City of Sydney does. The mean sits $89 above the median because the top of the table pulls it up, with only 13 of the 32 councils charging above the mean. Figures are the average residential rate each council reports to the NSW Office of Local Government, uplifted by its IPART rate peg for 2026-27. That is a typical bill rather than a floor, and it is not comparable with the Queensland minimum general rate.
Key statistics
- Councils ranked
- 32
- Suburbs covered
- 760
- Median council
- $1,424
- Mean council
- $1,513
- Cheapest
- $924
- Most expensive
- $2,446
Why the average and the median are not the same number
Ask what council rates average in Sydney and there are two defensible answers, $1,513 and $1,424. The gap is $89 and it is not rounding.
The mean is dragged upward by a short, steep top end. Hunters Hill at $2,446 and Ku-ring-gai at $2,189 sit far enough above the pack that they move the average for all 32. Only 13 councils charge more than the mean, which is the signature of a skewed distribution rather than a balanced one. 19 of the 32 councils sit within $200 of the median, so the middle of Sydney is considerably tighter than the full $1,522 range suggests.
The median is the better guide if you are asking what a typical Sydney council charges. The mean is the better guide if you are adding up what the whole metro pays. Neither is wrong, and a page that quotes one without naming it is the thing to be suspicious of.
There is a third number worth separating out. Across all 760 suburbs rather than all 32 councils, the median rate is $1,497, which is $73 above the median council. That is not a contradiction. It happens because the councils covering the most ground skew expensive: four of the five councils with the most suburbs charge above the median, led by Hawkesbury City with 57 suburbs at $1,848, Northern Beaches with 54 at $1,766 and Sutherland with 53 at $1,617. So a suburb picked at random in Greater Sydney is likelier to sit in an expensive council area than a council picked at random is to be expensive.
Every Greater Sydney council ranked
Ordered most to least expensive. The last column is where that council sits among all 126 New South Wales councils on the same basis, so a Sydney council in the low hundreds is expensive by state standards too.
| # | Council | 2026-27 rate | vs Sydney median | Suburbs | NSW rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hunters Hill | $2,446 | $1,022 above | 5 | 1st of 126 |
| 2 | Ku-ring-gai | $2,189 | $765 above | 17 | 4th of 126 |
| 3 | Blue Mountains | $2,157 | $733 above | 42 | 5th of 126 |
| 4 | Woollahra | $1,894 | $470 above | 10 | 9th of 126 |
| 5 | Hawkesbury City | $1,848 | $424 above | 57 | 12th of 126 |
| 6 | Mosman | $1,766 | $342 above | 1 | 17th of 126 |
| 7 | Northern Beaches | $1,766 | $342 above | 54 | 17th of 126 |
| 8 | Burwood | $1,731 | $307 above | 4 | 20th of 126 |
| 9 | Randwick | $1,723 | $299 above | 14 | 21st of 126 |
| 10 | Sutherland | $1,617 | $193 above | 53 | 27th of 126 |
| 11 | Penrith | $1,604 | $180 above | 33 | 29th of 126 |
| 12 | Camden | $1,573 | $149 above | 21 | 30th of 126 |
| 13 | Hornsby | $1,541 | $117 above | 32 | 32nd of 126 |
| 14 | Lane Cove | $1,502 | $78 above | 7 | 35th of 126 |
| 15 | Campbelltown | $1,497 | $73 above | 35 | 36th of 126 |
| 16 | Georges River | $1,447 | $23 above | 21 | 41st of 126 |
| 17 | Inner West | $1,401 | $23 below | 20 | 46th of 126 |
| 18 | Canterbury-Bankstown | $1,377 | $47 below | 37 | 48th of 126 |
| 19 | Liverpool | $1,376 | $48 below | 35 | 49th of 126 |
| 20 | Blacktown City | $1,360 | $64 below | 50 | 51st of 126 |
| 21 | Waverley | $1,344 | $80 below | 9 | 52nd of 126 |
| 22 | Willoughby | $1,341 | $83 below | 12 | 53rd of 126 |
| 23 | North Sydney | $1,327 | $97 below | 12 | 57th of 126 |
| 24 | Strathfield | $1,309 | $115 below | 4 | 59th of 126 |
| 25 | Ryde | $1,278 | $146 below | 16 | 64th of 126 |
| 26 | Canada Bay | $1,268 | $156 below | 15 | 68th of 126 |
| 27 | Bayside | $1,265 | $159 below | 25 | 69th of 126 |
| 28 | The Hills | $1,261 | $163 below | 22 | 70th of 126 |
| 29 | Parramatta | $1,156 | $268 below | 27 | 79th of 126 |
| 30 | Cumberland | $1,083 | $341 below | 20 | 83rd of 126 |
| 31 | Fairfield | $1,030 | $394 below | 23 | 85th of 126 |
| 32 | Sydney | $924 | $500 below | 27 | 99th of 126 |
How Sydney compares with the rest of New South Wales
The median Greater Sydney council charges $1,424. Across all 126 councils in the state the median is $1,282. Sydney is $142 above the state median, a smaller difference than the housing market would suggest. The skew shows up at the top of the list rather than in the middle: Greater Sydney holds 25 per cent of the state's councils and 40 per cent of its 20 most expensive, 8 of the 20.
The reason is that rates are struck against unimproved land value, not against what a house sells for. A council in an area of high land value can raise the revenue it needs with a lower rate in the dollar, which is why the City of Sydney can charge $924, the lowest figure in Greater Sydney, while covering some of the most valuable land in Australia. Rates measure what a council needs and how much land value it has to spread that need across. They are not a proxy for property values, and reading them as one gets the relationship backwards.
For the state-wide picture, including which councils top the list and which charge least, see the most expensive council rates in NSW for 2026-27.
Methodology
Basis. The average residential rate each council reports to the NSW Office of Local Government, uplifted by that council's IPART rate peg for 2026-27. Where IPART has approved a special variation, the approved rate is used instead of the standard peg. This is a typical annual bill, not a floor and not a cap.
Not comparable with Queensland. Queensland publishes a minimum residential general rate for an owner-occupied principal place of residence, which is a floor most owner-occupiers pay more than. The two are different statistics. No ranking on this site mixes them, and no figure here should be set against a Queensland one.
Boundary. Greater Sydney here means the 32 councils inside the Greater Sydney Commission boundary, which covers 760 suburbs in this dataset. The Commission boundary contains 33 local government areas; Wollondilly is excluded, on the same reasoning the other Sydney studies on this site use, that its residents are not realistically commuting into the Sydney CBD. Central Coast is outside the boundary and is not included.
Excluded. Domestic waste management, stormwater and emergency services levies. These are charged separately and move independently of the general rate, so including them would make councils less comparable rather than more.
Special variations. 4 of the 32 councils are running an IPART-approved special variation above the standard peg for 2026-27, and their figures reflect the approved rate: Ku-ring-gai at $2,189, Hawkesbury City at $1,848, Blacktown City at $1,360, North Sydney at $1,327.
One rate per council. Every suburb inside a council carries that council's figure, so the ranking is a council-level ranking. Suburbs whose own council figure is not held, and suburbs standing in on a neighbouring council's rate, are excluded rather than estimated.
SuburbCost does not publish property prices, medians, valuations as market values or capital growth, here or anywhere else on the site.
Frequently asked questions
How much are council rates in Sydney?
The median Greater Sydney council charges $1,424 a year for 2026-27 and the mean across the 32 councils is $1,513. Which you pay depends entirely on which council covers your suburb, because the range runs from $924 in the City of Sydney to $2,446 in Hunters Hill. These are council rates only, not property prices.
What is the average council rate in Sydney?
$1,513 a year across the 32 Greater Sydney councils for 2026-27. The median is lower, at $1,424, because the top of the table pulls the mean up: 13 of the 32 councils charge above the mean and 19 charge below it. The median is the better guide to a typical council.
Which Sydney council has the highest rates?
Hunters Hill, at $2,446 a year for 2026-27. Ku-ring-gai follows at $2,189 and Blue Mountains at $2,157. Hunters Hill charges 2.6 times what the City of Sydney charges, a gap of $1,522 between the top and bottom of the same metropolitan area.
Which Sydney council has the cheapest rates?
The City of Sydney, at $924 a year. Fairfield is next at $1,030, then Cumberland at $1,083. Rates are struck against unimproved land value, so a council covering high-value land can fund itself with a lower rate in the dollar. A low rate is not evidence that a council is run more efficiently.
Are Sydney council rates higher than the rest of New South Wales?
Yes, but by less than most people expect. The median Greater Sydney council charges $1,424 against $1,282 across all 126 NSW councils, a difference of $142. Greater Sydney is 25 per cent of the state's councils but holds 40 per cent of the 20 most expensive, so it is over-represented at the top without running away with it. Rates follow unimproved land value, and regional councils with low land values still need substantial revenue per property.
Is this council rates or property prices?
Council rates only. SuburbCost never publishes property prices, medians, valuations as market values or capital growth. Every figure here is what a council charges annually to service a residential property, which is a running cost you pay every year you live there.
From a ranking to your own bill
This page ranks councils. Rates are only one of four recurring bills that come with an address, and the other three vary by suburb rather than by council. Open your own suburb to get council rates, water, commute and building insurance totalled for where you actually live.
Get the free suburb running cost report →Or browse every NSW and QLD council for the rating detail behind these figures.
Cite this data
SuburbCost data is free to cite with attribution. Please link to this page as the source.
Every council figure used here is available to reuse. You can take these rates as a CSV under CC BY 4.0 rather than retyping them.
Related studies
- Top 20 most expensive council rates in NSW 2026-27, all 126 councils ranked across the whole state.
- How council rates are calculated, the difference between the NSW and Queensland bases set out in full.
- Why council rates went up in 2026-27, the IPART peg and the approved special variations.
- What a Sydney house costs to run, rates alongside water, commute and insurance.