Average income levels have jumped almost 25 per cent in six years in inner Newcastle while remaining almost static in the Hunter's coalmining heartland.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data compiled from tax returns shows average incomes grew 16.6 per cent in the Newcastle local government area between 2011-12 and 2017-18 but only 2.3 per cent in Singleton.
Hunter Research Foundation Centre economist Dr Anthea Bill said the figures showed a demographic shift as people on higher incomes displaced the less well off in suburbs such as Wickham and Maryville, where average incomes rose 21.7 per cent.
The inner-city apartment boom had also driven changes in geographical income distribution.
"Housing is a big driver as areas become more or less desirable," Dr Bill said. "It's about gentrification as people move in and out of an area, not wages changing for the same group of people."
She said parts of Maitland also appeared to be attracting well paid workers from up the Valley.
Singleton retained the highest average incomes among Hunter council areas at $70,114, despite its low growth, and was the only local government area in the region above the NSW average of $67,200.
Singleton was the highest-paid council area outside Sydney in 2011-12 but had lost that crown to Queanbeyan by 2017-18.
On a narrower town and suburban level, Newcastle/Cooks Hill (24.9 per cent), Merewether/The Junction (23.2 per cent), Redhead (20.1 per cent) and Adamstown/Kotara (18.7 per cent) showed large income rises.
Newcastle/Cooks Hill jumped from third in 2011-12 to first on the list of the region's highest-paid suburbs or towns with an average income of $89,310, double the average income in Shortland/Jesmond.
The Hunter top 10 rankings, with a $15,000 drop from second to third, illustrate how income is concentrated in the Newcastle to Merewether stretch.
Redhead and Lambton/New Lambton jumped into the top 10 in fifth and sixth respectively, displacing two mining areas.
Singleton dropped from second to fourth after average incomes increased just 1.1 per cent and Muswellbrook fell from fifth to ninth as incomes grew 3.8 per cent.
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Income growth was also low in Cessnock (4.1 per cent), Gloucester (5.4 per cent), Beresfield/Hexham (4.7 per cent) and around Branxton (4.5 per cent).
Average incomes in the retirement haven of Hawks Nest/Tea Gardens ($45,859) were among the lowest in the Hunter but grew by a healthy 17.3 per cent.
Newcastle/Cooks Hill and Merewether/The Junction ($88,998) had by far the highest average incomes of any NSW locality outside Sydney.
Sydney's Rose Bay area had NSW's top average income at $192,463, and the coastal Perth suburb of Cottesloe led the nation on $213,108.
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