← Murrumbidgee Council
Area profile

Area profile

A quick snapshot of the Murrumbidgee Council area, drawn from official ABS estimates and the NSW Government's council data. This is one of the smallest councils in NSW by population and one of the largest by area: three townships — Darlington Point, Jerilderie and Coleambally — and the cropping and pastoral country between them, spread across roughly 6,880 square kilometres of the Riverina. The LGA is not the same thing as the Murrumbidgee River or the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, both of which extend well beyond it.

New to these terms? Read them in plain English
Local Government Area (LGA)
The official area a council governs.
Estimated Resident Population (ERP)
The official population count for an area.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
The national statistics agency behind population figures.
See the full explainer, with formulas →

The area at a glance

Population (ERP, 2023–24)
3,658ABS Estimated Resident Population, per OLG time-series data. The council's own Community Strategic Plan cites 3,607 for 2023 and 3,353 at the 2021 Census.
Area
6,880.8 km²One of the largest LGAs in NSW by area. The council's Community Strategic Plan quotes 6,885 km² from the ABS.
Population density
~1 person per km²The council's CSP records 0.5 persons per km² at the 2021 Census.
Region
Riverina, south-western NSWAbout 324 km to Melbourne, 400 km to Canberra and 615 km to Sydney, per the council's Community Strategic Plan.
Council classification
Rural (OLG group 9)
Main centres
Darlington Point (council's postal base), Jerilderie and ColeamballyCouncil offices operate in all three towns. Surrounding rural localities listed by the council include Argoon, Bundure, Coree, Gala Vale, Logie Brae, Mabins Well, Mairjimmy, Nyora, Waddi and Yamma, several of them shared with neighbouring LGAs.
What the economy runs on
Irrigated and dryland agriculture, and large-scale renewable energyAgriculture, forestry and fishing has been the top industry and the top business category in the LGA at each recent Census, per the council's Community Strategic Plan; rice, cotton and corn are grown around Coleambally and Darlington Point, and Jerilderie sits in mixed cropping and grazing country. The CSP also lists capitalising on large-scale renewable energy projects among the area's main opportunities, and records community concern about their scale and impacts.
How the council was formed
12 May 2016 — merger of Jerilderie Shire and Murrumbidgee ShireThe new LGA covered 6,680 km² and about 4,047 people at the time. Jerilderie Shire had been declared in 1918; Murrumbidgee Shire was established in 1906. The first election for the merged council was held in September 2017. Council's history page and the NSW Government's records are linked below.

Suburbs & postcodes

On the map

The shaded area is the official Local Government Area boundary.

The locality list above is a selection of the gazetted localities in the Murrumbidgee Council LGA for which we could confirm a postcode; the council's Community Strategic Plan lists further rural localities, some of which fall only partly inside the LGA. The shaded area on the map is the official Local Government Area boundary (OpenStreetMap administrative boundary for Murrumbidgee Council). Heritage-listed sites in the area include the Warangesda Aboriginal Mission near Darlington Point and the Jerilderie Railway Station group.

Sources — check it yourself

Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.