Suburb-level context for Forbes from official sources, and the address-level red, yellow and green flags we check before you make an offer or sign a lease.
Property offences only, per 100,000 residents, latest 12 months (Apr 2025–Mar 2026). Population 8,100 (2021 Census scaled to the ABS June 2025 estimate; the area has grown ~-1% since 2021). Percentile computed across the 945 NSW suburbs with 2,000+ residents. Suburb-wide figures, not any one street. Violent-crime categories are deliberately not shown. Data sourced from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), © State of New South Wales (Department of Communities and Justice), CC BY 4.0, and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (CC BY 4.0), snapshot 2026-07-24.
110 development applications lodged for Forbes addresses between 2025-08-26 and 2026-08-26, with a combined stated cost of $22.6 million and 45 new dwellings proposed.
Largest by stated cost:
Source: NSW Planning Portal Online DA data (public record), applications by lodgement date, snapshot 2026-08-26. Costs are applicant-stated estimates. The paid address report checks applications around a specific address, not just this suburb-wide list.
Forbes is projected to go from 10,090 residents (2021) to 11,847 by 2041, a change of +17.4%, passing 11,062 by 2031.
School building projects in Forbes:
Health & social-housing projects in Forbes:
Population figures are projections (DPHI 2024 NSW Population Projections (2022–2041 series)) for the ABS statistical area, not a guarantee. Project lists: School Infrastructure NSW and Health Infrastructure / Homes NSW public project pages (snapshot 2026-07-26); a "Planning" status is not a commitment: projects change, slip and get cancelled. The paid address report adds state-budget projects and growth area checks around the specific address.
Suburb averages can't tell you about one specific property. The full PropertyFlags report checks the address itself against official government layers (flood and bushfire mapping, zoning and height controls, development applications nearby, EPA contamination records, defect orders, aircraft and road noise, school catchments and more) and turns them into red, yellow and green flags with the questions to ask the real estate agent.
Run a free flag count on an address in Forbes → · See a sample report · All NSW suburbs
Guides: how flood risk really works in NSW · checking building defect orders · the full due diligence checklist · buying at auction · contaminated land checks · flight path and noise checks
Is Forbes safe?
There is no single answer to that for any suburb, but the official numbers say this: across 5 property crime categories, Forbes sits above the NSW average in 5 and below it in 0, on BOCSAR figures for Apr 2025 to Mar 2026. These are rates for the whole suburb, not any one street, and safety also depends on things no crime table shows. The table above lists each category against the NSW rate.
Is Forbes flood prone?
A suburb page cannot honestly answer that: flood planning areas are mapped lot by lot, and two houses on the same street can differ. The free PropertyFlags check looks up the actual address against the NSW flood planning layer, along with bushfire, contamination and other hazard maps.
Is Forbes growing?
Forbes is projected to go from 10,090 residents in 2021 to 11,847 by 2041, a change of +17.4%. Projections are planning inputs, not guarantees.
What does a property report for Forbes include?
For one address: flood and bushfire mapping, zoning and height controls, EPA contamination records, serious defect orders, development applications within 500 m, aircraft, rail and road noise, school catchments, winter sun and more, each finding named with the government register it came from, as red, yellow and green flags.
Suburbs sharing or adjoining postcode 2871; each page carries the same official crime and growth data as this one.