Moving to Nowra from Balgownie (Fairy Meadow area)
Schools, childcare, demographics and house prices for Nowra and Balgownie - Fairy Meadow, side by side - all from public government data.
Nowra has 23,716 people (ABS, June 2025), +0.2% in a year, a median house price of $780,000, 10 schools and 28 childcare services. Full Nowra suburb profile.
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Sources: ABS ERP June 2025 · ABS Census 2021 · ABS SEIFA 2021 · ACARA School Profile 2025 · ACECQA NQS register · Valuer-General Victoria & DFFH (VIC) · DCJ Housing sales Mar 2026 and rent Jun 2026 (NSW) · RTA Queensland rents (QLD) · NSW BOCSAR (NSW) · CSA Victoria (VIC). How we source this data →
Which school is zoned?
The free government school your child can attend in each area - side by side, never a blended average.
Mount Ousley Public School
The government school your child can attend for free by living in Balgownie - Fairy Meadow.
This is the zoned government school for the centre of Balgownie - Fairy Meadow (NSW catchment data) - addresses elsewhere in the suburb may be zoned to a different school.
See the catchment on the mapFee-paying schools can’t be enrolled in by zone - they’re shown for context, not as the area’s school quality.
We show school intake context and catchments, not exam results. We don’t publish a school ranking.
Nowra Public School
The government school your child can attend for free by living in Nowra.
This is the zoned government school for the centre of Nowra (NSW catchment data) - addresses elsewhere in the suburb may be zoned to a different school.
See the catchment on the mapFee-paying schools can’t be enrolled in by zone - they’re shown for context, not as the area’s school quality.
We show school intake context and catchments, not exam results. We don’t publish a school ranking.
Honest tradeoff
Nowra's government schools have an average ICSEA of 915, compared to 1,053 in Balgownie - Fairy Meadow. ICSEA reflects the socioeconomic intake of students, not teaching quality - it is not a ranking of school performance.
Catholic/independent schools are separate from the free government catchment - average ICSEA Nowra 984 (4 schools), Balgownie - Fairy Meadow 1,028 (3 schools).
Childcare services matched by suburb name: 28 in Nowra vs 18 in Balgownie - Fairy Meadow.
The proportion of children from non-English-speaking backgrounds is lower in Nowra at 7.7% (vs 18.4% in Balgownie - Fairy Meadow).
Nowra has a SEIFA advantage (IRSAD) of Decile 2, below Balgownie - Fairy Meadow's Decile 6. Decile 10 is the most advantaged nationally.
Median house prices are 43% lower in Nowra ($780,000 vs $1.37M).
Similar suburbs near Nowra
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What is the population of Nowra?
23,716 people lived in Nowra at June 2025 (ABS Estimated Resident Population), a change of +0.2% over the year. Balgownie (Fairy Meadow area) had 22,303.
Are houses cheaper in Nowra than in Balgownie (Fairy Meadow area)?
Yes. The median house price is $780,000 in Nowra and $1.37M in Balgownie (Fairy Meadow area), 43% lower in Nowra.
How many schools are in Nowra?
ACARA lists 10 schools in Nowra, against 10 in Balgownie (Fairy Meadow area). The zoned government school for an address is shown above under "Which school is zoned?".
Make this comparison yours
The Move Planner adds your kids' ages, school catchment zones on the map, and a shareable link for your partner.
Plan the move: Balgownie - Fairy Meadow → Nowra