Best and worst suburbs for retirees revealed

Baby boomers wield an insane amount of wealth but there is one thing they must not spend big on.

If you’re setting up for retirement in 2025, or looking to help a family member downsize, these are the suburbs to avoid.

An analysis of data from Microburbs and the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted by SpaceTalk has taken into account suburbs where seniors face the highest risk due to inadequate access to healthcare.

SpaceTalk have calculated the percentage of each suburb’s population that is aged 65 or over and the number of healthcare facilities within 5km to determine the “senior risk score”.

SpaceTalk chief executive officer and managing director Simon Crowther said access to healthcare is going to become one of the most important factors for about one-third of home purchasers each year.

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“People choose suburbs for various reasons, whether to be close to their children’s schools, close to their work, or close to the beach. That’s going to change as more and more Australians get older,” he said.

“Seniors are high users of health services, accounting for 41 per cent of hospitalisation and making up most of the country’s ‘heavy users’ of healthcare … someone who visits their GP more than 20 times a year,” Mr Crowther added.

TOP 20 WORST SUBURBS FOR SENIORS
State	Suburb	% Population Over 65
1	Western Australia	Augusta	44.3%
2	New South Wales	Tuross Head	44.2%
3	South Australia	Port Broughton	43.2%
4	South Australia	Ardrossan	43.1%
5	New South Wales	Bingara	42.0%
6	New South Wales	Tocumwal	41.2%
7	Tasmania	Shearwater	40.6%
8	New South Wales	Bundanoon (NSW)	40.1%
9	Queensland	Maleny	39.2%
10	Queensland	Crows Nest (Qld)	38.5%
11	South Australia	Kingston Se	38.1%
12	New South Wales	Barraba	37.9%
13	Victoria	Casterton	37.8%
14	Victoria	Metung	37.6%
15	Queensland	Toogoolawah	37.4%
16	Victoria	Cohuna	37.3%
17	South Australia	Tumby Bay	37.1%
18	New South Wales	Narooma	37.1%
19	Western Australia	York	37.0%
20	New South Wales	Barham	36.9%

Source: SpaceTalk analysis of Microburbs and ABS Data

NSW’s has one third of suburb’s with the lowest risk scores.

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More than 2.5 million over-65s own their home, a number that is rapidly growing, while Baby Boomer’s could account for 250,000 property transactions in the next two years.

The worst spot for seniors to live according to the SpaceTalk analysis was Augusta in WA, followed by the NSW South Coast suburb Tuross Head and South Australia’s Port Broughton, where more than 43 per cent of residents were seniors.

“All fifty of the suburbs where seniors are most at risk have a total absence of healthcare within 5km and senior populations that make up more than one-third of the total local population,” Mr Crowther said.

NSW had nearly one-third of the nation’s 50 suburbs with the highest ‘senior risk scores’ and two thirds of those with the lowest risk scores.

TOP 20 BEST SUBURBS
1	State	Suburb	% Population Over 65
2	New South Wales	Zetland	3.6%
3	New South Wales	Chippendale	3.5%
4	New South Wales	Haymarket	3.7%
5	New South Wales	Darlington (Sydney – NSW)	5.6%
6	New South Wales	Alexandria	6.3%
7	New South Wales	Erskineville	5.6%
8	New South Wales	Ultimo	6.3%
9	New South Wales	Camperdown (NSW)	6.8%
10	New South Wales	Sydney	6.2%
11	Queensland	Bowen Hills	3.8%
12	Victoria	West Melbourne	4.4%
13	New South Wales	Forest Lodge	8.0%
14	New South Wales	Sydney Olympic Park	3.3%
15	New South Wales	Potts Point	9.3%
16	New South Wales	Newtown (NSW)	8.3%
17	Western Australia	Northbridge (WA)	3.8%
18	New South Wales	Waterloo (NSW)	10.5%
19	New South Wales	Beaconsfield (NSW)	5.8%
20	New South Wales	Surry Hills	10.6%
21	Queensland	Fortitude Valley	4.7%

Source: SpaceTalk analysis of Microburbs and ABS Data

Victoria had 26 per cent of the suburbs with the worst risk scores and 12 per cent of the best.

The best suburbs for seniors included Zetland, Chippendale and Haymarket, all in inner-Sydney. Each had just over 3 per cent of their residents over 65 years old, according to SpaceTalk.

This was followed by Bowen Hills in Brisbane and West Melbourne in Victoria.

“The data reveals that 438 Australian suburbs have not a single healthcare facility nearby. As Australians get older, they increasingly look to move to locations that provide them with the services they will need in the next stage of their lives.”

Originally published as Best and worst suburbs for retirees revealed