Punchbowl
New South Wales · Canterbury, Sydney - Inner South West
Live · ABS ERP June 2025
The median age is 33, lower than the middle New South Wales area (40, Census 2021). Children under 15 are 21.1% of residents, against 17.9% in the middle New South Wales area (Census 2021). A 3-bedroom house rents for $830 a week, against $713 in the middle New South Wales area.
Punchbowl has 4 schools (2 government, 2 non-government; ACARA School Profile 2025). The median house price is $1,635,000, +10.8% YoY (NSW DCJ Sales Mar 2026). Population is 22,463 (ABS ERP June 2025).
Punchbowl at a glance
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Boundaries: ABS Suburbs & Localities 2021. School pins are ACARA's published locations. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors, © CARTO. Open the full NSW map →
How the Family-Fit score is built52/100
Family-Fit score
Method published in fullMixed for families - strongest on families already here, weakest on housing affordability.
- Schools in the area · 20% of the score
- 70/100
- Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
- 78/100
- Getting around · 15% of the score
- 50/100
- Housing affordability · 15% of the score
- 9/100
- Families already here · 10% of the score
- 87/100
- Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
- 11/100
NSW median 70/100
4 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 950
NSW median 78/100
14 parks · no GP mapped (not counted) · 1 supermarket · 5 playgrounds
NSW median 50/100
1 train station in this SA2 (no train-time data for NSW yet)
NSW median 38/100
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 29.9% of mortgage-holding households, 46.3% of renting households
NSW median 67/100
21.1% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 55.0% of families are couples with children
NSW median 56/100
SEIFA IRSAD decile 2 of 10 nationally
The grey marker on each bar is the median across the 612 New South Wales areas we publish a score for (state median overall: 64/100). It is context, not a pass mark.
Not scored here (no published data for this area, so it is left out rather than counted as zero): Childcare & early years. The remaining inputs were rescaled to 100.
How this score is calculated
Each published figure for the Punchbowl SA2 is mapped onto 0–100 by fixed thresholds, then weighted. Inputs with no data here are dropped and the rest rescaled - never scored as zero. Every threshold and weight →
School results, crime and flood or bushfire overlays are not graded into this score. Limits of the score →
What families notice
What families notice
- 14 parks mapped inside this SA2 (OpenStreetMap).
- The zoned government school for part of this area sits just outside this SA2 - check the exact catchment boundary before assuming.
- We don't yet have official crime data for NSW (only NSW and VIC) - that's a data gap on our side, not a claim this area is safe.
- About 46% of renters here spend over 30% of income on rent - above the standard affordability guideline (ABS Census 2021).
Living in Punchbowl: family snapshot
Living in Punchbowl
A large suburb particularly popular with young families. Strong Lebanon and Vietnam communities here (2021 Census).
Punchbowl compared with New South Wales10 measures
| Measure | Punchbowl | NSW average | Against NSW |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children aged 0 to 4 | 6.8% | 5.8% | Higher |
| Children aged 5 to 14 | 14.3% | 12.4% | Higher |
| Couple families with children | 55.0% | 44.5% | Higher |
| One-parent families | 19.5% | 15.9% | Higher |
| Homes owned outright | 28.3% | 31.9% | Lower |
| Homes owned with a mortgage | 30.7% | 33.7% | Lower |
| Homes rented | 39.4% | 32.5% | Higher |
| Separate houses | 58.3% | 67.4% | Lower |
| Flats and apartments | 23.0% | 20.3% | Higher |
| Born overseas | 47.5% | 29.3% | Higher |
Source: ABS Census 2021. The NSW figure is the population-weighted average of the 641 NSW areas with a published value. "Higher" and "Lower" describe the number only.
About this area and its boundary
Punchbowl is a locality in the Canterbury area of New South Wales. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Punchbowl SA2.
22,463 residents - 21.1% are children under 15, median age 33, the largest overseas-born community is Lebanon (11.9%).
This profile uses the ABS Punchbowl statistical area (SA2) - the level Australian government data is published at. SA2 boundaries don’t always match suburb boundaries. It covers the gazetted suburb of Punchbowl (Canterbury-Bankstown - NSW), drawn separately on the map above.
Property market
The median house price is $1,635,000, up 10.8% in a year, and a 3-bedroom house rents for a median $830 a week.
Source: NSW DCJ Sales Mar 2026 · Rent Jun 2026. © State of New South Wales (Department of Communities and Justice), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (copyright notice).
Homes and households
Source: ABS Census 2021. Where the shares do not add to 100%, the rest is "other" or "not stated".
Housing cost pressuremortgage and rent against income
Housing cost pressure
In Punchbowl, 46.3% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 29.9% of households with a mortgage spend more than 30% on repayments - the ABS's stretched-household threshold (Census 2021).
ABS published figures, not our calculation.
- Mortgage over 30% of income
- 29.9%
- Rent over 30% of income
- 46.3%
NSW avg 17.3%
Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 551 of 1,609 households with a stated repayment.
NSW avg 35.5%
Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 1,098 of 2,120 households with a stated rent.
The two figures cover different households (mortgage-holding vs renting), so never add them. How the ABS counts these → Grey marker: NSW average (622 for mortgage and 622 for rent). Census 2021 - housing costs have moved since. Not financial advice.
What's being built herenew homes approved, year by year
What's being built here
74 new homes were approved in Punchbowl in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 475 new dwellings here across the 6 years to June 2025 - an approval is permission to build, not a home that exists yet.
Approved in the year to June 2025
Middle NSW area: 37
Separate houses
Private sector, over these 6 years
Townhouses & apartments
Private sector, over these 6 years
Counts are for the whole Punchbowl statistical area. What these counts include → Dashed line: the median of 599New South Wales areas.
Schools and childcare
4 schools are located in the area, and the centre of the area is zoned to Mount Lewis Infants School. No childcare service is matched to this area on the national register.
Mount Lewis Infants School
The government school your child can attend for free by living in Punchbowl.
The government catchment school for parts of Punchbowl is Mount Lewis Infants School - just outside the suburb boundary (NSW catchment data).
See the catchment on the mapMore than one Year 7 zone covers the centre of Punchbowl (NSW catchment data) - which one applies depends on the address and, for single-sex schools, the student.
Fee-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.
All school zones in the Canterbury-Bankstown council area →
To look beyond Punchbowl, every New South Wales school is on the Australian schools and catchment zones map.
Find the school zone for an address in Punchbowl
Type a street address in Victoria, NSW or Queensland. We show the government primary and secondary school zones it is in, from the official zone maps.
Your address goes from your browser straight to OpenStreetMap's address search to find it on the map. We never see it or store it. Address search © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Schools in Punchbowl
- Students
- 1,198
- ICSEA
- 1054
- Students
- 528
- ICSEA
- 976
- Students
- 472
- ICSEA
- 923
- Students
- 175
- ICSEA
- 1004
ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). Source: ACARA School Profile 2025. All NSW schools →
Childcare services, ratings and fees
No childcare services matched to this area on the ACECQA register.
- Centre-based day care
- $13.65/hr
- Outside school hours care
- $11.17/hr
Mean hourly fee across CCS-approved services, December quarter 2025 - Dept of Education, © Commonwealth of Australia, CC BY 4.0. Published at SA3 level (a wider area than this suburb's SA2), so it's an average across Canterbury and surrounds, not this specific service list.
Verify locations before visiting. A rating over 3 years old is flagged. What the NQS ratings mean → Childcare places per child, by suburb →
Who lives here
More people born overseas than New South Wales overall: 47.5% of residents, against 29.3% statewide.
Ages of people here
Share of residents in each age band, in years. Source: ABS Census 2021.
How the area is changingCensus 2011 to 2021
Each line is drawn on its own scale, so compare the numbers, not the heights. Source: ABS Census 2011, 2016 and 2021; Travel Zone Projections 2024 (TZP24), Transport for NSW forecast, published for the council area, not the suburb.
Census trends against the middle NSW areafull charts
Which way this area is moving
The 2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses for Punchbowl, counted on today's boundaries.
Since 2011, Punchbowl has seen a smaller share of children, more residents born overseas and fewer residents speaking another language at home.
- People counted
- +2,345 people since 2011
- Median age
- +1 year since 2011
- Children aged 0–14
- −2.5 pts since 2011
- Born overseas
- +2.0 pts since 2011
- Speak another language at home
- −2.6 pts since 2011
Usual residents counted on Census night.
Half the residents are older than this, half younger.
Share of all residents. The clearest signal of families arriving or moving on.
Share of all residents born outside Australia.
Share of residents who stated a language, speaking one other than English at home.
The dashed line is the median across the New South Wales areas we profile. How the three Censuses line up →
How many people will live around hereofficial forecast
How many people will live around here
The rest of this page looks backwards. This is the one number that looks forward - and it is the state government's own, not ours. Travel Zone Projections 2024 (Transport for NSW) projects the Canterbury-Bankstown council area, which contains Punchbowl along with its neighbouring suburbs, to grow to 442,780 people by 2041: 70,180 more people than the 372,600 counted in 2021.
This is the council area, not Punchbowl. Canterbury-Bankstown is a whole local government area covering many suburbs, and neither state publishes a projection for a single suburb. Growth is never spread evenly across a council - a greenfield estate and an established street inside the same council will move very differently - so read this as the direction of the wider area a suburb sits in, not as a forecast for its own streets. Only the years the publisher itself lists are plotted: nothing is filled in between them, and nothing is carried past 2041. A projection is an assumption about the future, not a measurement of it, and it will be revised - this one was released 2024. These figures sit on the projection's own series, so they are not directly comparable with the ABS resident-population and Census counts elsewhere on this page, which use different geographies and different years.
Where this year's population change came from+0.30% in a year
Where did the gain come from?
+71Reading the streams: overseas arrivals were the dominant force - more came from abroad than the suburb grew on its own.
Ages against the state average, band by band
Ages of people here
14.3% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - more than the New South Wales average of 12.4%, and 6.8% are under 5. The median age is 33.
- 0–4 years · before school
- 6.8%
- 5–14 years · school age
- 14.3%
- 15–19 years · teens
- 6.9%
- 20–34 years
- 23.4%
- 35–54 years
- 24.7%
- 55–64 years
- 10.9%
- 65 years and over
- 12.9%
NSW avg 5.8%
NSW avg 12.4%
NSW avg 5.7%
NSW avg 20.3%
NSW avg 26.3%
NSW avg 11.9%
NSW avg 17.6%
Share of all residents of Punchbowl (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the New South Wales average. How the bands and averages work →
Households and families
Households and families
75% of families here have children living at home - more than the New South Wales average of 60%. The largest overseas-born communities are Lebanon (11.9%), Vietnam (5.2%) and Bangladesh (2.9%). 39% of homes are rented.
Family make-up
Share of all families in the area. A small "other family" group the ABS also counts is not shown.
- Couple with children
- 55%
- One-parent family
- 19.5%
- Couple, no children
- 23.4%
NSW avg 44.5%
NSW avg 15.9%
NSW avg 37.9%
What people live in
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated structures are not shown.
- Separate house
- 58.3%
- Semi-detached / townhouse
- 17.6%
- Flat or apartment
- 23%
NSW avg 67.4%
NSW avg 11.6%
NSW avg 20.3%
Owned or rented
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated tenures are not shown.
- Owned outright
- 28.3%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 30.7%
- Rented
- 39.4%
NSW avg 31.9%
NSW avg 33.7%
NSW avg 32.5%
Figures describe Punchbowl (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the New South Wales average. How these are counted →
Birthplaces, languages and communities
Who lives in Punchbowl
Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 74.5% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.
- Lebanon · established by 2016
- 11.9%
- Vietnam · established by 2016
- 5.2%
- Bangladesh · established by 2016
- 2.9%
- China · established by 2016
- 2.8%
- Pakistan · established by 2016
- 2.7%
NSW avg 0.5%
NSW avg 0.9%
NSW avg 0.2%
NSW avg 2.9%
NSW avg 0.1%
- Co-located communities
- Punchbowl is home to established Lebanon, Vietnam, Bangladesh, China and Pakistan communities - each is 2% or more of residents born overseas here, not a ranking of one against another.
- Nearby
- Wiley Park, Greenacre - South and Lakemba also have an established Lebanon community.
- Settlement pattern
- Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 15.6% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (NSW avg 16.2%) and 52.2% arrived before 2001 (NSW avg 52%).
- English at home
- Of residents who speak a language other than English at home and stated their English proficiency, 20.9% report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (NSW avg 13.5%) - a self-reported ABS figure across all languages combined, not a judgement of any one community.
Figures describe Punchbowl (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census. The ABS publishes only the five largest communities per area, so a missing name did not rank in the top five. How these are counted →
Community guides that include Punchbowl: Bangladeshi community in Sydney, Pakistani community in Sydney
Socio-economic index (SEIFA)decile 2 of 10
- Decile (1 lowest, 10 highest)
- Decile 2 of 10
- Where this sits in NSW
- bottom 20% of New South Wales areas
A relative comparison of the whole area against all of Australia - not a safety, liveability, or school-quality measure. What IRSAD measures → Source: ABS SEIFA 2021, IRSAD index (SA2).
Getting around and lifestyle
1 supermarket and 14 parks are mapped in the area, and the nearest emergency department is Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital, 2.9 km away in a straight line.
Mapped inside the Punchbowl boundary. A zero can mean "not mapped" rather than "not there". Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Train to the city and nearest emergency department
Train to the city
Not publishedNew South Wales publishes its timetable data behind a free developer account we have not yet set up, so we show no travel time here. This is a gap on our side, not a statement about the transport in this area.
Nearest emergency department
MappedBankstown-Lidcombe Hospital · 2.9 km
Straight-line distance from the middle of this area - not a drive time. In an emergency call 000; do not plan around this figure.
Community and recreation
Out with a baby
Public-toilet facilities recorded on the National Public Toilet Map - not every place in the area that will let you change a baby.
About this data
Counts of features tagged in OpenStreetMap inside the Punchbowl boundary. “Middle NSW area”: the median of 634 New South Wales areas. How these counts and times are made →
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors · baby-facility counts from the National Public Toilet Map (Continence Foundation of Australia, funded by the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, CC BY 3.0 AU)
Crime & safety in Punchbowl
We don't have an official incident count matched to this specific area yet - that's a data gap on our side, not a claim that Punchbowl is safe. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe. More on crime & safety →
Risks
3 of the 4 planning and hazard records we hold show something in this area: heritage controls, traffic noise and acid sulfate soils. 3 more are not published for NSW - treat them as not checked.
Heritage controls
In an official overlayPresent in this area
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentCanterbury Road · M5 Motorway · Stacey Street · +1 more
Acid sulfate soils
Classified in the local planPresent in this area
Each line is the extent of an official record across the whole Punchbowl area - not a risk rating, and a specific address may or may not be affected. Not financial or insurance advice.
All 9 checks and what each one means
Flooding
Not publishedNew South Wales publishes flood planning maps council by council, with no free statewide layer we can republish - check the local council's flood planning map for this area.
Bushfire
Not designatedNo part of this area is mapped as Bush Fire Prone Land by the NSW Rural Fire Service.
Heritage controls
In an official overlayPresent in this area
Part of this area sits inside the heritage layer in the local environmental plan, so changes to buildings there - extensions, demolition, sometimes even paint colours - need planning approval. It applies property by property: most homes in an area with an overlay are not in it, and being in one is a protection as much as a restriction. Almost every NSW area contains some heritage-listed land, so read this as "check the address", not as something that sets this area apart.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentCanterbury Road · M5 Motorway · Stacey Street · +1 more
4 named roads through this area carry OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 6 named main roads. Roads are counted by name, not by mapped segment. Where a home sits relative to them matters far more than the count - a street two blocks back can be quiet.
Aircraft noise
Not mappedNew South Wales maps aircraft-noise contours only where a council or precinct plan writes them in - four councils and the Western Sydney Airport precinct do. Sydney Airport's contours are published federally in its master plan and are not in the state layer, so read this as "nothing mapped here", not as a quiet area.
Land contamination checks
Not mappedNew South Wales records contaminated land in the EPA's searchable register of notified sites rather than in a planning-scheme map layer, so we have no overlay to show for this area. Search the NSW EPA contaminated land record for a specific address - nothing mapped here means we have not checked it, not that the land is clear.
Acid sulfate soils
Classified in the local planPresent in this area
Part of this area is classified for acid sulfate soils in the local environmental plan, which means work disturbing the soil below a set depth needs council consent. Acid sulfate soils are harmless while they stay wet and buried; digging into them - for a pool, footings, a basement or drainage - exposes them to air and produces acid that eats concrete and steel and can kill fish downstream, so excavation may need a management plan. The class describes how close the soils are likely to sit to the surface, not how bad they are. Much of the low-lying land around the coast and its rivers is classified, so read this as "check before you dig", not as something that sets this area apart.
Recorded crime
Not publishedNo suburb-level incident record matched this area in the published statistics.
Social housing
Census figure6.7% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 1.5% from a community housing provider
Share of occupied private dwellings here with a stated tenure (Census 2021). The middle NSW area is 1.6% public and 0.7% community, across 624 areas. Listed because families ask; it is a fact about who owns the homes, not a judgement about the people in them.
About this data
Every line is an official published record for the Punchbowl area - we don't rate, score or rank any of them. Where a line is missing, treat it as not checked rather than clear. What each line covers and does not →
Source: NSW Rural Fire Service Bush Fire Prone Land, © State Government of NSW and NSW Rural Fire Service · NSW Planning EPI Heritage, Airport Noise + Acid Sulfate Soils, © State of New South Wales, Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure - CC BY 4.0 · ABS Census 2021 (G37 tenure and landlord type) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) - road classification
Nearby suburbs
- Wiley Park 1.2 km
- Greenacre (South area) 1.6 km
- Lakemba 2.1 km
- Bankstown (South area) 2.2 km
- Roselands 2.7 km
- Riverwood 2.7 km
The six closest profiled areas in New South Wales, by distance between area centres.
Other areas in Canterburysorted by growth in one year
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