Richmond, NSW 2753

Historic town on the southern bank of the Hawkesbury River, roughly 62 km north-west of the Sydney CBD. Richmond was among the earliest European settlement areas in Australia — settlers farmed here from 1794 and Governor Lachlan Macquarie laid out the town as one of the five 'Macquarie Towns' in 1810–11, leaving a heritage-listed Macquarie street grid from 1810 still in daily use. At the 2021 census the suburb had 5,418 residents (ABS 2021 SAL13375 via inthesuburbs.com.au). Today it combines its civic/heritage character — 1880s railway station, colonial-era buildings, the old Hawkesbury Agricultural College (1891) site now used by Western Sydney University — with a strong defence identity as the town adjoining RAAF Base Richmond, NSW's oldest and biggest air base.

At a Glance

Transport

Richmond railway station (on East Market Street, a heritage-listed 1881 building) is the terminus of the Richmond railway branch line, 60.68 km from Sydney's Central station; services run from the North Shore/South-West via Blacktown — the T1 North Shore & Western Line has served Richmond throughout the day since 26 November 2017, with late-night T5 Cumberland Line services also continuing to Richmond. Busways operates bus routes from the station under contract to Transport for NSW, including route 675C to Windsor station via RAAF Base Richmond and routes into the North Richmond/Kurrajong/Grose Vale district.

Schools

Richmond Public School — NSW government K–6 primary school at 115 Windsor Street, Richmond 2753 (schoolinfrastructure.nsw.gov.au; richmond-p.schools.nsw.gov.au). Richmond High School — NSW government Years 7–12 comprehensive high school serving the Richmond catchment. The new Richmond Agricultural Centre, a specialist government senior-secondary agriculture school being built on the WSU Hawkesbury campus site, will also serve Richmond students when it opens.

Universities

Western Sydney University's Hawkesbury campus sits in-suburb at Bourke Street, Richmond NSW 2753 (the WSU page notes it is located between Richmond and East Richmond stations with a free shuttle bus); the site began as the Hawkesbury Agricultural College in 1891, the first agricultural college in NSW, which was later amalgamated into Western Sydney University. Note: contrary to past rumours of closure, the campus remains an operating WSU facility for agriculture/environment-related programs as of 2026, and the NSW Government is simultaneously building the Richmond Agricultural Centre school on part of the campus site (westernsydney.edu.au; nsw.gov.au Jan 2026).

Shopping & Amenities

Richmond's town centre clusters around the historic main street of March Street and adjoining Windsor Street, anchored by the Richmond Marketplace shopping centre at 78 March Street (Donut King/other retailers listed at 8/78 March St) with cafes and specialty shops in the surrounding Macquarie-era street grid, including the Park Mall precinct and the old post office building. The town also hosts the heritage-listed Richmond Park and civic facilities around Windsor/East Market/March Streets. Immediately east of the town sits RAAF Base Richmond — established 1925 on land between Richmond and Windsor — which has its own Australia Post locality ('Richmond RAAF', postcode 2755) directly adjoining the suburb; the base gate precinct (e.g. Delarue Street, Richmond NSW 2755) functions as part of the Richmond township.

Parks & Outdoors

The Hawkesbury River runs along Richmond's northern boundary — the town sits on the river's south bank with Cornwallis/Richmond Lowlands and North Richmond across the water, so riverbank access is minutes from the centre. Richmond Park — the heritage-listed town common bounded by East Market, Windsor and March Streets — anchors the centre of town, alongside Richmond Oval and Pughs Lagoon. The suburb is surrounded by the 329 km² Richmond Woodlands Important Bird Area, identified by BirdLife International for its threatened woodland birds, and Bells Line of Road — the route over and across the Blue Mountains to Lithgow — starts in Richmond.

Property Market

The median house price in Richmond was around ~$990,000 (median house sale price, CoreLogic via YIP suburb report, 63 house sales over 12 months); consistent with OnTheHouse's $990,000 median house sale price (58 sales, 12 months) and auspropertyfinder's ~$985k 12-month median (mid-2026). See our full Sydney property price map for how the suburb compares across the city. Richmond is a genuine town suburb: a mix of Victorian/Edwardian cottages and modern homes in the town grid, townhouses, and larger blocks on the rural edges — median estimates cluster around $0.99M–$1.16M depending on tracker and sales window. Unit stock is limited and medians vary widely ($525k–$691k). Suburb-level current rental data was not accessible from the trackers used; the 2021-census median rent figure (~$375/wk) is well below the current market. Listings indicate acreage and estate homes on the fringes sell well above the standard-house median (e.g. the 'Benson House' colonial estate on Francis Street listed ~$1.36m).

New Developments

RAAF Base Richmond reinvestment — the base (est. 1925, NSW's biggest air base and home of the C-130 Hercules airlift fleet, which marked its centenary in 2025) remains the anchor of ongoing defence investment, with the RAAF having earlier weighed major upgrades and the NSW RFS operating its Large Air Tanker program from the base since 2014. Richmond Agricultural Centre — a new NSW Government Centre of Excellence in Agriculture Education for senior students, under construction on the WSU Hawkesbury campus at Richmond, relocating from temporary facilities on the site to a new permanent building. New Richmond Bridge Stage 2 — the $658 million bridge/bypass project includes a bypass of the Richmond town centre linking the Kurrajong Road/Old Kurrajong Road intersection with Castlereagh Road, which will reshape traffic on Richmond's northern edge.

Jobs & Local Economy

RAAF Base Richmond is the district's defining employer — NSW's biggest air base and headquarters of the RAAF's airlift capability (C-130 Hercules squadrons and support units), with a large defence and contractor workforce. Other local employment: retail and hospitality around the March Street town centre and Richmond Marketplace, Western Sydney University's Hawkesbury campus, and the NSW RFS air-tanker operation based at Richmond since 2014. Many residents commute to Blacktown, Penrith and Parramatta employment hubs on the frequent T1 line or by road (Richmond ~25 km from Blacktown).

Nearby Suburbs

North Richmond, Cornwallis, Richmond Lowlands, Clarendon, Windsor, Agnes Banks, Hobartville, Londonderry, South Windsor

Sources & method

Researched 5 September 2026 from named public sources — census and government records, transport authorities, council and planning documents — plus published sales data. Where sources disagree on a figure, the guide says so rather than picking one.

Sources cited in this guide:

• ABS Census
• NSW Government

Corrections are welcome — if something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will fix it.

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