Kiama is a good place to live if you want the coast at a slower pace

Start with the facts about living in Kiama

Kiama is a coastal town of about 7,900 people on the NSW South Coast, between Shellharbour to the north and Gerringong to the south. Here are the numbers that matter most when you are thinking about moving to Kiama, with the source and date for each.

Census figures are a snapshot from August 2021, the most recent Census with published results. For today's rents and sale prices, use the current official reports linked further down.

Expect an older, settled town

Kiama skews older than most of NSW. In the 2021 Census, 32.4% of people in the Kiama suburb were 65 or over, and 14.5% were under 15. Most homes were owned: 45.4% outright and 25.6% with a mortgage. The median weekly household income was $1,572.

Families are here too: a third of Kiama families (33.6%) were couples with children, and the town has its own primary and high schools.

If you want a young crowd, late nights and a big choice of bars, Wollongong, about 40 minutes' drive north according to Destination Kiama, is the closer match. Kiama suits people who want the opposite.

Plan the commute before you move

By train: Kiama station is on the South Coast Line. Destination Kiama says trains arrive and depart hourly, and Visit NSW puts the trip to Sydney Central at about 2 hours 15 minutes. Kiama station has staff, a lift, accessible toilets and a taxi rank, according to Transport NSW.

Change is coming. Transport for NSW is introducing a new timetable on Sunday 15 November 2026, with peak trains every 15 minutes and off-peak trains every 30 minutes on average between Wollongong and the Sydney CBD. It also says departure times, stopping patterns and connections will change, and some direct trips may need a change of train. Check your exact trip on the Transport NSW Trip Planner from early November.

By car: south Kiama is about 1 hour 45 minutes (134 km) from the Sydney CBD via the M1, and longer in Friday traffic. Our Sydney to Kiama guide compares every option.

A daily commute to Sydney is a long day either way. If you can work from home some days, or work in Wollongong or Shellharbour, the trip gets much shorter.

Know where to go for health care

Kiama has no hospital emergency department, and it does not appear on the list of hospitals run by the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District (ISLHD). In an emergency, call 000.

The nearest emergency department is at Shellharbour Hospital, 15 to 17 Madigan Boulevard, Mount Warrigal. ISLHD says it is open 24 hours, seven days a week, with no referral needed. It is about a 20-minute drive (21 km) from south Kiama. Wollongong Hospital is about 32 minutes (42.3 km) away. A new Shellharbour Hospital with an expanded emergency department is being built on Dunmore Road, Dunmore, and the NSW Government expects it to be complete in 2027.

In town, the Kiama Integrated Primary and Community Health Centre at 14B Bonaira Street offers nursing, physiotherapy, counselling, child and family health, dental, audiology and chronic care support. ISLHD lists it as open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm, with appointments through the Access and Referral Centre on 1300 792 755. Hours can change, so check before you go. For GPs and pharmacies, see our Kiama pharmacies and doctors guide.

Check schools and enrolment areas early

Kiama has a public primary school, Kiama Public School (Kindergarten to Year 6), and a public high school, Kiama High School, about a 20-minute walk (1.4 km) from Kiama Ridge Waters. Minnamurra Public School is in Minnamurra, just north of town.

NSW public schools have local enrolment areas, so the street you live on decides your local school. Before you sign a lease or buy, look up the address on the NSW Department of Education School Finder, then call the school.

Shop in town and drive for the big centres

Everyday shopping is easy. Terralong Street and Manning Street hold most of Kiama's shops, cafes, the butcher, bakeries and pharmacies. Woolworths in Kiama Village, 143 Terralong Street, is the one full-size supermarket in town.

There is no Coles or ALDI in Kiama. The nearest are in Shellharbour, about 19 minutes' drive north, along with the bigger shopping centre. The Kiama Farmers' Market every Wednesday afternoon by Surf Beach covers fresh produce, meat, eggs and bread.

Our Kiama shops guide has the details, and Kiama cafes lists where locals get coffee.

Live by the beaches, the coast walk and mild weather

This is the main reason people move here. Kiama has surf beaches, sheltered beaches and two ocean pools within the town, and the 20 km Kiama Coast Walk runs from the Minnamurra River to Werri Beach at Gerringong. From Kiama Ridge Waters, Easts Beach is a 15-minute walk and the Little Blowhole is 20 minutes on foot.

The climate is gentle. The Bureau of Meteorology station on Bombo Headland has recorded an average high of 21.4°C and low of 14.7°C across the year since 2001. It averages about 8 days a year at 30°C or more, and has never recorded 2°C or below. Rain averages about 1,220 mm a year, spread over about 95 days.

Start with our Kiama beaches guide, the Kiama Coast Walk, Kiama's rock pools and Kiama weather by month.

Join in with the town's calendar

Community life runs on markets, sport, music and a handful of big events. Destination Kiama lists the Wednesday farmers market and the Kiama Seaside Markets at Black Beach on the third Sunday of the month. The Kiama Show, run by a show society formed in 1848, fills the showground each January. The Winter Street Festival closes Terralong Street in July, and Culture Fest takes over Hindmarsh Park in October.

Not everything continues. The Illawarra Folk Club says Folk by the Sea, Kiama's September folk festival, held its final event in 2025. Check the current program on our Kiama events guide and the Destination Kiama calendar.

Weigh the trade-offs honestly

Kiama is not for everyone. These are the downsides locals and newcomers mention most, with the official numbers where they exist.

• Housing costs: in the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Kiama was $478, against $420 across NSW, and the median mortgage repayment was $2,167 a month. Both are years old. For current figures, use the NSW Rent and Sales Report and NSW Valuer General data.
• Few rentals: only 22.4% of Kiama homes were rented in 2021, about a third fewer than the NSW share, and about 16% of private dwellings were empty on Census night, against 9.4% across NSW. Expect competition for long-term leases.
• Summer crowds: the Blowhole alone draws somewhere between 900,000 and 1.3 million visitors a year, depending on whether you read Destination Kiama or the NSW Government. Parking near the harbour and beaches fills fast in school holidays.
• Fewer local jobs: the biggest employers of Kiama residents in 2021 were hospitals, schools, cafes and restaurants, and local government. Office and specialist jobs mostly mean Wollongong, Shellharbour or Sydney.
• Services out of town: the emergency department, Coles, ALDI and the larger shopping centres are all in Shellharbour.

None of this is financial advice. Check renting rights and rules with the NSW Government renting guide and planning rules with Kiama Council before you commit.

Try Kiama before you move

The simplest test is to live here for a while. Stay a few weeks outside the school holidays, do the school run or the commute for real, and walk the town on a wet Tuesday as well as a sunny Saturday.

For a trial run that feels like everyday life, stay at Kiama Ridge Waters, our three-bedroom apartments in a residential street in south Kiama, at 2 Surfleet Place. Each one sleeps six, with two bathrooms, a full kitchen, a laundry and garage parking for two cars. We take long-term rental enquiries in Kiama, and our stays for work and relocation suit a trial run. To compare layouts, see the apartments or check availability.

If you are thinking of buying, own in Kiama explains how to register interest with St Trinity Property Group, and the 3D floor plans show each apartment. Before you rent or buy anywhere, get independent legal and financial advice.