Balmain East, New South Wales

Balmain East is a small suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain East is located three kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt.

Situated on the eastern end of the Balmain peninsula in Sydney Harbour, Balmain East shares a boundary with the suburb of Balmain to the west. The postcode 2041 covers the suburbs of Balmain, Balmain East and Birchgrove.

History
The area now known as Balmain East was part of a 550 acre (2.2 km2) grant to colonial surgeon Dr. William Balmain (1762–1803) made in 1800 by Governor John Hunter. Balmain was first settled in 1836 and by 1861 had been divided into the well populated eastern areas of Balmain and the sparsely populated western area, extending to the gates of Callan Park.

The small peninsula that jutted out from the main Balmain Peninsula, along which the main artery road Darling Street ran, was known to locals for decades as "East Balmain" and generally encompassed the area east of Hart St and Balmain Bowling Club. This dividing boundary was originally a natural swamp that was reclaimed early the early 19th century. Whilst the area was almost always referred to as East Balmain by locals, it was still generally regarded as just a name for the eastern peninsula of the suburb, in a similar way in that Birchgrove was the name given to the area of Balmain that encompassed Snails Bay (refer to the history of Birchgrove for more details on its name).

Transport
Balmain East ferry wharf provides access to the Inner Harbour ferry services, with ferry services to Circular Quay and Darling Harbour. A bus service from Balmain East runs to Balmain and Rozelle.

Schools
Nicholson Street Public School

Demographics
In the 2006 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing, the population of Balmain East stood at 1,688 people, who are 52.5% females and 47.5% males, and have a Median age of 41 years. 27.6% of the population was born overseas with England (9.3%), New Zealand (2.9%) and the United States of America (1.5%) the most common. The five strongest religious affiliations in the area were in descending order: no religion (32.5%), Catholic (23.3%), Anglican (19.9%), Presbyterian and Reformed (2.7%), and Uniting Church (2.3%).

Balmain East's population is typically wealthier than the average, with a median weekly household income of $1,980, compared with $1,027 in Australia. The most common types of occupation for employed persons were Professionals (43.9%), Managers (20.4%), and Clerical and Administrative Workers (14.1%). 51.8% of the suburbs occupied private dwellings were family households, 33.8% were lone person households and 5.6% were group households.