Bishan area profile

Overview

Bishan sits in the middle of the island, between Toa Payoh to the south and Ang Mo Kio to the north, with the forest of the Central Water Catchment along its western edge. URA counts it as part of the Central Region, even though many people think of it as a northern town. At 7.61 square kilometres it is compact, and SingStat recorded 87,810 residents living there at the end of June 2026.

The town is known for three things: the Bishan interchange on the North-South and Circle lines, Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park along the Kallang River, and a cluster of schools that families plan around for years.

Who lives here

The age mix leans older than Singapore as a whole. Residents aged 65 and above made up 23.5% of Bishan's population in June 2026, against 19.5% nationally. Children under 15 were 12.3%, a little below the national 13.3%. In plain numbers that is about 20,670 older residents and 10,770 children.

Homes in Bishan

Bishan is mostly HDB, but less so than the heartland towns further out. About 65% of residents lived in HDB flats in June 2026, and the flats skew large: 4-room and 5-room or executive flats together housed more than 51,000 people. Condominiums and other apartments accounted for 23%, and landed homes for 11%.

Residents by type of dwelling, June 2026 (SingStat). Shares are our arithmetic; “–” means nil or negligible.

HDB's third-quarter 2026 release put Bishan's median 4-room resale price at S$750,000 and the 5-room median at S$969,000. There were too few 3-room and executive resales that quarter for HDB to publish a median. Our HDB medians by town page explains how these figures are built.

Getting around

Four stations have exits inside the planning area on LTA's records.

Stations announced with a date (LTA):

Bishan station joins the North-South Line with the Circle Line, which gives a direct ride to Orchard and the city as well as an orbital route to Buona Vista and Paya Lebar. Marymount is the next Circle Line stop. On the western side, Bright Hill and Upper Thomson put the Thomson-East Coast Line within reach of Sin Ming and the private estates off Upper Thomson Road. LTA's Cross Island Line plans add a Bright Hill interchange in the first phase, targeted for 2030.

Schools

MOE's school list, mapped to the 2025 boundary, places nine schools in Bishan. At primary level there are Ai Tong School, a Special Assistance Plan school, and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian Primary, plus Catholic High School, which runs from Primary 1 to Secondary 4. The secondary schools are Guangyang, Kuo Chuan Presbyterian, Peirce and Whitley, alongside Catholic High and Raffles Institution, which takes students from Secondary 1 to JC2 under the Integrated Programme. Eunoia Junior College completes the list. Before choosing a home for Primary 1 reasons, read our P1 registration and distance guide.

Food

NEA's register has one hawker centre in Bishan: Shunfu Mart, at Block 320 Shunfu Road, with 31 cooked-food stalls. That is a thin count for 87,810 people, and residents commonly eat at coffee shops in the HDB neighbourhoods or travel to centres in Toa Payoh and Ang Mo Kio.

Parks and green space

Green space is where Bishan stands out. NParks lists 18 parks and playgrounds in the area, led by Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park, whose Pond Gardens and River Plains sections follow the naturalised Kallang River. Windsor Nature Park sits beside the forest of the Central Water Catchment, and Thomson Park and Venus Green add smaller patches nearer the homes.

Healthcare

There is no polyclinic inside Bishan today; residents use Toa Payoh or Ang Mo Kio polyclinics, or one of the 20 CHAS clinics on MOH's June 2024 list. MOH's list of facilities planned from 2026 onwards includes a Bishan Polyclinic.

Community facilities

The People's Association list (June 2024) includes Bishan CC and Marymount CC, with a Thomson CC building marked as under construction. NLB runs Bishan Public Library, and SportSG lists Bishan Sport Centre and an ActiveSG clubhouse.

New launches in Bishan

Nearby planning areas

Next to Bishan on URA's map: Ang Mo Kio (full guide), Serangoon, Toa Payoh, Central Water Catchment.

Every planning area has a page on our neighbourhoods index.

Sources

1. URA, Master Plan 2025 Planning Area Boundary (No Sea), data.gov.sg (updated 27 February 2026)
2. LTA, MRT Station Exit (GEOJSON), data.gov.sg (updated 18 October 2026)
3. LTA, Train Station Chinese Names (station codes and lines), data.gov.sg; LTA rail system map
4. LTA, Cross Island Line project page (phases, stations, target years)
5. MOE, General information of schools (2026), data.gov.sg (updated 17 April 2026)
6. NEA, Hawker Centres (GEOJSON), data.gov.sg (updated 14 November 2026), checked against NEA's list of hawker centres (17 August 2026)
7. People's Association, Community Clubs, data.gov.sg (list dated June 2024)
8. NParks, Parks, data.gov.sg (updated 14 November 2026)
9. MOH, CHAS Clinics, data.gov.sg (list dated June 2024)
10. NLB, Libraries, data.gov.sg (list dated June 2024)
11. SportSG, Sport Facilities (GEOJSON), data.gov.sg (updated 13 November 2025)
12. SingStat, Resident Population by Planning Area/Subzone, Age Group and Type of Dwelling, June 2026 (released 25 September 2026), singstat.gov.sg
13. HDB, 3rd Quarter 2026 Public Housing Data, Annex C: Median Resale Prices by Town and Flat Type (23 October 2026), hdb.gov.sg
14. SLA, OneMap search (venue addresses and locations)
15. ECDA, Pre-Schools Location (list dated June 2024) and Kindergartens (updated April 2026), data.gov.sg
16. MOH, Facilities from 2026 onwards (upcoming polyclinics and hospitals), moh.gov.sg

Facts checked on 15 November 2026. See our editorial policy.

Last updated 15 November 2026