Watson
Australian Capital Territory · North Canberra, Australian Capital Territory
Live · ABS ERP June 2025
The median age is 34, lower than the middle Australian Capital Territory area (37, Census 2021).
Watson has 2 schools (1 government, 1 non-government; ACARA School Profile 2025) and 5 NQS-rated childcare services (ACECQA register). Population is 7,377 (ABS ERP June 2025).
Watson 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 ACT map →
How the Family-Fit score is built68/100
Family-Fit score
Method published in fullStrong for families - strongest on socio-economic profile, weakest on childcare & early years.
- Schools in the area · 20% of the score
- 70/100
- Childcare & early years · 15% of the score
- 50/100
- Everyday amenities · 15% of the score
- 65/100
- Housing affordability · 15% of the score
- 71/100
- Families already here · 10% of the score
- 74/100
- Socio-economic profile · 10% of the score
- 89/100
ACT median 55/100
2 schools in this SA2 · average government-school ICSEA 1135
ACT median 40/100
5 NQS-rated services nearby
ACT median 67/100
26 parks · 1 GP · 1 supermarket · 10 playgrounds
ACT median 70/100
Paying over 30% of income on housing: 9.7% of mortgage-holding households, 22.2% of renting households
ACT median 75/100
20.0% of residents are children aged 0–14 · 44.5% of families are couples with children
ACT median 89/100
SEIFA IRSAD decile 9 of 10 nationally
The grey marker on each bar is the median across the 76 Australian Capital Territory areas we publish a score for (state median overall: 63/100). 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): Getting around. The remaining inputs were rescaled to 100.
How this score is calculated
Each published figure for the Watson 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
- Ranks in the top 20% for socio-economic advantage in ACT (ABS SEIFA - not a safety or school-quality measure).
- At least one nearby government school has an above-average ICSEA intake profile (1135 vs. 1000 national average).
- 26 parks mapped inside this SA2 (OpenStreetMap).
- We don't have official school-zoning data for ACT yet (only VIC, NSW and QLD) - confirm zoning directly with the school or department.
- We don't yet have official crime data for ACT (only NSW and VIC) - that's a data gap on our side, not a claim this area is safe.
- We don't yet have property or rent figures for this area - check a real-estate portal directly for current prices.
Living in Watson: family snapshot
Living in Watson
A smaller suburb particularly popular with young families. Many childcare options nearby - 5 NQS-rated services.
Watson compared with Australian Capital Territory10 measures
| Measure | Watson | ACT average | Against ACT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children aged 0 to 4 | 6.5% | 5.9% | About the same |
| Children aged 5 to 14 | 13.4% | 12.4% | Higher |
| Couple families with children | 44.5% | 44.8% | About the same |
| One-parent families | 15.5% | 13.8% | Higher |
| Homes owned outright | 22.8% | 26.9% | Lower |
| Homes owned with a mortgage | 42.8% | 41.3% | Higher |
| Homes rented | 33.6% | 30.2% | Higher |
| Separate houses | 58.1% | 65.8% | Lower |
| Flats and apartments | 12.3% | 17.1% | Lower |
| Born overseas | 26.2% | 28.8% | Lower |
Source: ABS Census 2021. The ACT figure is the population-weighted average of the 125 ACT areas with a published value. "Higher" and "Lower" describe the number only.
About this area and its boundary
Watson is a locality in the North Canberra area of Australian Capital Territory. This profile draws on ABS population and Census figures, the ACARA school register and ACECQA childcare ratings for the Watson SA2.
7,377 residents - 20.0% are children under 15, median age 34.
This profile uses the ABS Watson 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 Watson, drawn separately on the map above.
Property market
No free house sale price or 3-bedroom house rent is published for this area. 33.6% of homes are rented, against 30.2% across Australian Capital Territory.
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 Watson, 22.2% of renting households spend more than 30% of their income on rent, and 9.7% 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
- 9.7%
- Rent over 30% of income
- 22.2%
ACT avg 9.4%
Share of households WITH a mortgage whose repayments take more than 30% of income. That's 109 of 1,063 households with a stated repayment.
ACT avg 23%
Share of RENTING households whose rent takes more than 30% of income. That's 197 of 816 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: ACT average (103 for mortgage and 100 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
90 new homes were approved in Watson in the year to June 2025. Councils approved 552 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 ACT area: 8
Separate houses
Private sector, over these 6 years
Townhouses & apartments
Private sector, over these 6 years
Counts are for the whole Watson statistical area. What these counts include → Dashed line: the median of 58Australian Capital Territory areas.
Schools and childcare
2 schools are located in the area. 5 childcare services are on the national register, 4 rated Meeting the National Quality Standard or above.
Government schools in Watson
Free government schools your child may attend. Exact school zones aren’t mapped for ACT yet, so we can’t confirm which one is yours.
A picture of students’ family backgrounds (ICSEA) - not a ranking or a quality score.
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.
To look beyond Watson, every Australian Capital Territory school is on the Australian schools and catchment zones map.
Schools in Watson
ICSEA reflects student intake context, not teaching quality (1000 = national average). Source: ACARA School Profile 2025. All ACT schools →
Childcare: 5 services
National Quality Standard ratings from the ACECQA register, refreshed Oct 2026. Services are matched by suburb name.
Childcare services, ratings and fees5 services
- Exceeding NQSMajura Primary School - Watson Preschool UnitCentre-Based Care · 45 places · WatsonRated Aug 2025
- Meeting NQSYWCA Majura School Age CareCentre-Based Care · 154 places · WatsonRated Dec 2022 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSNipperville Early Learning CentreCentre-Based Care · 120 places · WatsonRated Nov 2022 · over 3 years old, check for a more recent assessment
- Meeting NQSRosary Out of School Hours CareCentre-Based Care · 77 places · WatsonRated Apr 2024
- Not yet ratedWatson Early Childhood Education and CareCentre-Based Care · 60 places · Watson
- Centre-based day care
- $16.54/hr
- Outside school hours care
- $13.07/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 North Canberra 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
Fewer people aged 65 or over than Australian Capital Territory overall: 9.6% of residents, against 13.7% 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.
Census trends against the middle ACT areafull charts
Which way this area is moving
The 2011, 2016 and 2021 Censuses for Watson, counted on today's boundaries.
Since 2011, Watson has seen a larger share of children.
- People counted
- +1,607 people since 2011
- Median age
- +1 year since 2011
- Children aged 0–14
- +2.4 pts since 2011
- Born overseas
- +0.4 pts since 2011
- Speak another language at home
- +1.2 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 Australian Capital Territory areas we profile. How the three Censuses line up →
Where this year's population change came from+1.90% in a year
Where did the gain come from?
+139Reading the streams: Australian movers from other suburbs drove most of the change.
Ages against the state average, band by band
Ages of people here
13.4% of people here are school-age children (5–14) - about the Australian Capital Territory average of 12.4%, and 6.5% are under 5. The median age is 34.
- 0–4 years · before school
- 6.5%
- 5–14 years · school age
- 13.4%
- 15–19 years · teens
- 4.7%
- 20–34 years
- 25.6%
- 35–54 years
- 31.2%
- 55–64 years
- 9.1%
- 65 years and over
- 9.6%
ACT avg 5.9%
ACT avg 12.4%
ACT avg 5.8%
ACT avg 24.7%
ACT avg 27.6%
ACT avg 10%
ACT avg 13.7%
Share of all residents of Watson (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Australian Capital Territory average. How the bands and averages work →
Households and families
Households and families
60% of families here have children living at home - about the Australian Capital Territory average of 59%. The largest overseas-born communities are United Kingdom (3.4%), India (2%) and China (1.7%). 34% 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
- 44.5%
- One-parent family
- 15.5%
- Couple, no children
- 37.8%
ACT avg 44.8%
ACT avg 13.8%
ACT avg 39.8%
What people live in
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated structures are not shown.
- Separate house
- 58.1%
- Semi-detached / townhouse
- 29.6%
- Flat or apartment
- 12.3%
ACT avg 65.8%
ACT avg 16.9%
ACT avg 17.1%
Owned or rented
Share of occupied private dwellings. Other and unstated tenures are not shown.
- Owned outright
- 22.8%
- Owned with a mortgage
- 42.8%
- Rented
- 33.6%
ACT avg 26.9%
ACT avg 41.3%
ACT avg 30.2%
Figures describe Watson (ABS Statistical Area 2) at the 2021 Census; the grey marker is the Australian Capital Territory average. How these are counted →
Birthplaces, languages and communities
Who lives in Watson
Top 5 overseas birthplaces shown · 90.5% born in Australia or a country not in the top five.
- United Kingdom · established by 2016
- 3.4%
- India · established by 2016
- 2%
- China · established by 2016
- 1.7%
- New Zealand · established by 2016
- 1.4%
- Vietnam · established by 2016
- 1%
ACT avg 3.5%
ACT avg 3.8%
ACT avg 2.6%
ACT avg 0.7%
ACT avg 0.5%
- Co-located communities
- Watson is home to established United Kingdom and India communities - each is 2% or more of residents born overseas here, not a ranking of one against another.
- Settlement pattern
- Of overseas-born residents who stated when they arrived, 23.8% arrived in the last 5 years (2016–2021) (ACT avg 19.2%) and 38.2% arrived before 2001 (ACT avg 43.4%).
- English at home
- Of residents who speak a language other than English at home and stated their English proficiency, 8.5% report speaking English “not well” or “not at all” (ACT avg 9.9%) - a self-reported ABS figure across all languages combined, not a judgement of any one community.
Figures describe Watson (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 →
Socio-economic index (SEIFA)decile 9 of 10
- Decile (1 lowest, 10 highest)
- Decile 9 of 10
- Where this sits in ACT
- top 20% of Australian Capital Territory 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, 1 GP and 26 parks are mapped in the area, and the nearest emergency department is North Canberra Hospital, 6.6 km away in a straight line.
Mapped inside the Watson 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 publishedAustralian Capital Territory 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
MappedNorth Canberra Hospital · 6.6 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
About this data
Counts of features tagged in OpenStreetMap inside the Watson boundary. “Middle ACT area”: the median of 125 Australian Capital Territory areas. How these counts and times are made →
Source: © OpenStreetMap contributors
Crime & safety in Watson
Official recorded-incident data is only published on this site for NSW and VIC so far - that's a coverage gap on our side, not a claim that Watson is safe. SuburbRadar does not rate suburbs as safe or unsafe. More on crime & safety →
Risks
1 of the 1 planning and hazard records we hold show something in this area: traffic noise. 6 more are not published for ACT - treat them as not checked.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentFederal Highway · A23 · Stirling Avenue
Each line is the extent of an official record across the whole Watson 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 publishedNo free statewide flood overlay is published for ACT yet, so we show none. Check the local council's planning maps.
Bushfire
Not publishedWe hold official bushfire mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the state fire service's mapping.
Heritage controls
Not publishedWe hold official heritage overlay mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the local council's planning scheme and the state heritage register.
Traffic noise
Freeway or highway presentFederal Highway · A23 · Stirling Avenue
3 named roads through this area carry OpenStreetMap's highest classification - a freeway, motorway or major highway, whatever the road is called locally, alongside 2 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 publishedWe hold official aircraft-noise mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the airport's noise contours and the local planning scheme.
Land contamination checks
Not mappedWe hold official contaminated-land overlay mapping for Victoria only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Check the state environment authority's contaminated land register and the local planning scheme.
Acid sulfate soils
Not publishedWe hold acid sulfate soil mapping for Victoria and New South Wales only - nothing is published here for ACT yet. Coastal and estuarine land is where these soils occur; check the state's soil mapping and the local planning scheme.
Recorded crime
Not publishedACT does not release the suburb-level incident counts we republish for New South Wales and Victoria, so we show none here.
Social housing
Census figure5.2% rented from a state or territory housing authority · 0.4% from a community housing provider
Share of occupied private dwellings here with a stated tenure (Census 2021). The middle ACT area is 4.8% public and 0.4% community, across 108 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 Watson 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: ABS Census 2021 (G37 tenure and landlord type) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) - road classification
Nearby suburbs
The six closest profiled areas in Australian Capital Territory, by distance between area centres.
Other areas in North Canberrasorted by growth in one year
- 01Parkes (ACT) - North+15.3%332 ppl
- 02Acton+5.7%3,616 ppl
- 03Dickson+3.1%4,179 ppl
- 04Turner+1.7%4,888 ppl
- 05Reid+1.6%2,013 ppl
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