Each year the Australian Taxation Office releases data showing median and average levels of taxable income for every postcode in Australia. The latest release is for the tax year 2023-24. Too much idle time over the weekend allowed me to ask two basic questions. The first, what suburbs in the Hunter have the highest and lowest levels of income?
The answers are simple and unsurprising. Postcode 2291, Merewether and The Junction, has the region's highest income, both median and average. Interestingly, the median taxable income for postcode 2291 in 2024-24 is $71,892, only a little above second-placed postcode 2293 (Wickham and Maryville) with $69,032. But for average taxable income, postcode 2291 soars to $113,364, meaning Merewether and The Junction are homes to an elite of very high-income earners who drive the average skyward. But you know this about Merewether and The Junction, right?
