Ku-Ring-Gai Infrastructure Projects, NSW

A knowledge-intensive economy with housing activity above its own recent average and a school, transport, retail and sport project program

Economic base

Ku-Ring-Gai has a service-led, highly qualified economic base. In the 2021 Census, professional, scientific and technical services accounted for 17.5% of employed residents, health care and social assistance 14.2%, financial and insurance services 11.5%, and education and training 10%. Construction represented 4.6%, retail trade 7.4%, and transport, postal and warehousing 2.2%. This profile points to an economy built around professional work, care, education, finance and household-serving activity rather than primary production or heavy industry. The business base reinforces that character: professional, scientific and technical services had 3,770 registered businesses in June 2025, health care and social assistance 1,975, and financial and insurance services 1,406.

The resident population was 128,542 in 2025, increasing by 113 people, or 0.1%. Natural increase was -155 and net internal migration was -1,236, while net overseas migration was 1,504. That combination is consistent with a mature area whose population change depends substantially on overseas arrivals. The labour force was 67,571 in 2026-Q1, with 2,016 unemployed people and a 3% unemployment rate. These conditions sit alongside a substantial registered-business base of 15,504 businesses, including 5,476 employing businesses in June 2025. Together, the indicators describe a large metropolitan council with specialised services, an established labour market and limited recent population expansion.

Project program

The council’s project work is concentrated in community-serving and place-based activity. School, transport and retail work is under way, while school and sport work is proposed. Completed work includes transport, school, retail and industrial work. The mix therefore combines current education, access and commercial activity with further education and recreation work. Transport work is shared with other councils, giving that part of the program a cross-boundary dimension. The largest priced active or proposed work is mid-sized; retail, sport and school are the largest kinds within that priced work.

Building approvals add a separate measure of current construction activity. In the 12 months to July 2026, 912 dwellings were approved, including 235 new houses and 677 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The approval rate was 1.50× the council’s own three-year average, and the value of residential building work approved was $833.7m. Non-residential building approvals were $20.6m in the 12 months to 2026-06-30, or 0.77× the council’s own three-year average. This combination indicates stronger recent residential approval activity alongside a lower level of non-residential approvals against the council’s own recent benchmark.

Economic connections

The strongest connection between the project program and the economy is through service capacity and access. Active and proposed school work aligns with an economy in which education and training employs 10% of employed residents and registered education and training businesses number 351. It may add capacity for a growing and changing service catchment, although population growth in 2025 was modest. Sport work could support recreation and community use, while retail work aligns with the 7.4% share of employed residents in retail trade and the 822 registered retail businesses recorded in June 2025. These links describe plausible functions of the work, not measured economic outcomes.

Transport work shared with other councils aligns with the needs of a service economy whose residents and businesses depend on movement between employment, education, retail and care locations. It could improve access and support freight or visitor movement, but the figures do not measure a transport outcome. Residential approvals provide construction activity and may add housing capacity, with the recent mix weighted towards other dwellings: 677 compared with 235 houses. The approved residential work sits beside 1,420 homes in development applications lodged in the latest 12 months to 2026-09-19. Non-residential approvals of $20.6m indicate a smaller current approval flow for commercial and community building work than the council’s own three-year average.

Outlook

The near-term outlook is shaped by a mismatch between housing approval activity and population growth. Dwellings approved in the 12 months to July 2026 were 1.50× the council’s own three-year average, while the population grew by 0.1% in 2025. The housing target is 7,600 completed homes from July 2024 to June 2029, requiring 1,520 homes a year; approvals since July 2024 were at 47% of the yearly pace needed over the period July 2024 to July 2026. The target measure concerns completed homes, whereas approvals record permission to proceed, so the two indicators describe different points in the housing process.

The project direction provides a service and place-making emphasis: current school, transport and retail work, proposed school and sport work, and completed transport, school, retail and industrial work. This is consistent with the council’s employment concentration in professional services, health care, finance and education, while shared transport work may strengthen connections beyond the council boundary. The main indicators to monitor are the composition and pace of dwelling approvals, movement against the housing target, population sources, and the balance between residential and non-residential approvals. Labour-market conditions and the scale of construction businesses also matter because they shape the capacity to carry out approved work.

For council and planning staff

The housing target is 7,600 completed homes from July 2024 to June 2029, or 1,520 a year. Approvals were at 47% of the yearly pace needed over July 2024 to July 2026. This should be read alongside population change of 113 people, or 0.1%, in 2025: natural increase was -155, net internal migration -1,236 and net overseas migration 1,504. Service capacity includes 3 open public and private hospitals, 100 approved centre-based childcare services and 7,371 approved childcare places, plus 17 residential aged care homes and 1,588 residential aged care places. These figures frame housing delivery against changing demand and existing services.

For buyers’ agents and investors

The 2021 housing and demographic profile combines an average household size of 2.9 persons with a median age of 42. Tenure was 40.2% owned outright, 37.3% owned with a mortgage and 19.8% rented. A share of 44.6% had lived at a different address five years earlier. Median weekly household income was $3,038 and median weekly personal income was $1,117. The labour force participation rate was 61.2% in 2021; in 2026-Q1, the labour force was 67,571, with 2,016 unemployed people and a 3% unemployment rate. These figures describe household, mobility and employment conditions without indicating future prices or returns.

For builders and developers

In the 12 months to July 2026, 912 dwellings were approved: 235 new houses and 677 townhouses, apartments and other dwellings. The approval measure was 1.50× the council’s own three-year average, and the value of residential building work approved was $833.7m. Homes in development applications lodged in the latest 12 months to 2026-09-19 totalled 1,420. Construction had 1,260 registered businesses and 496 employing businesses in June 2025, while construction accounted for 4.6% of employed residents in the 2021 Census. Registered businesses are business counts, not workplace employment. Non-residential building work approved in the 12 months to 2026-06-30 was $20.6m, equal to 0.77× the council’s own three-year average.

Key takeaways

• Ku-Ring-Gai’s economic base is concentrated in professional, health, financial and education services, with 15,504 registered businesses and 5,476 employing businesses in June 2025.
• Project work combines active school, transport and retail work with proposed school and sport work; transport work is shared with other councils, and the largest priced active or proposed work is mid-sized.
• Residential approvals were 1.50× the council’s own three-year average in the 12 months to July 2026, while non-residential approvals were $20.6m and 0.77× the council’s own three-year average.

Sources

• Professional, scientific and technical services — ABS Census 2021
• Health care and social assistance — ABS Census 2021
• Financial and insurance services — ABS Census 2021
• Education and training — ABS Census 2021
• Registered businesses, Professional, Scientific and Technical Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Health Care and Social Assistance — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Financial and Insurance Services — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Estimated resident population — ABS Regional Population
• Unemployment rate — Small Area Labour Markets
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Population change — ABS Regional Population
• Natural increase — ABS Regional Population
• Net internal migration — ABS Regional Population
• Net overseas migration — ABS Regional Population
• Labour force — Small Area Labour Markets
• Unemployed persons — Small Area Labour Markets
• Registered businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Employing businesses — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Non-residential building approvals, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Dwellings approved versus this council's own three-year average — ABS Building Approvals
• New houses approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Townhouses, apartments and other dwellings approved, latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Value of residential building work approved (new homes, alterations and additions), latest 12 months — ABS Building Approvals
• Non-residential building approvals versus this council's own three-year average, weighted by the value of those approvals — ABS Building Approvals
• Retail trade — ABS Census 2021
• Homes in development applications lodged, latest 12 months — NSW Planning Portal
• Registered businesses, Education and Training — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Registered businesses, Retail Trade — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Dwellings approved since July 2024 against the yearly pace the housing target needs (100% is on pace) — NSW housing target
• Registered businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Target: 7,600 completed homes, July 2024 to June 2029 (1,520 a year) — NSW housing target
• Dwellings approved since July 2024 — ABS Building Approvals
• Open public and private hospitals — AIHW MyHospitals
• Approved childcare places — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care places — AIHW GEN aged care
• Approved centre-based childcare services — ACECQA national register
• Residential aged care homes — AIHW GEN aged care
• Rented — ABS Census 2021
• Average household size — ABS Census 2021
• Median age — ABS Census 2021
• Lived at a different address 5 years ago — ABS Census 2021
• Owned outright — ABS Census 2021
• Owned with a mortgage — ABS Census 2021
• Median household income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Median personal income (weekly) — ABS Census 2021
• Labour force participation rate — ABS Census 2021
• Employing businesses, Construction — ABS Counts of Australian Businesses
• Construction — ABS Census 2021