Empire Vale (postcode 2478) is a sparsely populated locality in New South Wales within the Ballina local government area. The area has roughly 185 residents and an older-leaning population, with a median age of 48. Households earn a median income of $74K per year, with an average household size of 2.7 people. Recent annual estimates show population movement staying broadly stable across the broader catchment, with population growth running at +1.0% year-on-year at the LGA level. NSW employment has moved +1.2% year-on-year in the official ABS Labour Force trend series, which provides the broader jobs backdrop for this suburb. NSW also had 35 Commonwealth-backed major projects under construction, 17 underway, and 67 in planning as at 2025-09-01, which is useful as a broader delivery backdrop rather than a suburb-specific project count. The most common occupations are labourers, technicians & trades, professionals. Employment in the area leans toward healthcare and agriculture. The top ancestries reported are Australian, English, Irish.
Median house prices in Empire Vale stand at $850,000, having moved higher by 4.9% over the last twelve months. The current median weekly rent is $800. This gives a gross rental yield of approximately 4.9%. The median monthly mortgage repayment is $1,613.
Empire Vale is served by 1 school, including 1 primary. The average ICSEA score is 941, which is below the national average of 1,000. Public transport access includes 13 bus stops. The crime rate in the Ballina LGA is moderate at 4,049 incidents per 100,000 population.
From an investment perspective, Gross rental yield sits at around 4.9% (moderate yield). Property prices sit below the state median ($850K/$1.5M), which can point to relative value. The price-to-income ratio of 11.4x is considered stretched. House prices have moved +4.9% year-on-year. Population growth of +1.0% year-on-year points to stable demand fundamentals. Building approvals have changed +0% year-on-year, indicating steady development activity.