Ilford is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Mid-Western Regional Council. It is named after the small English town of Ilford (then in Essex, now in east London), where the founders of this town came from. It is situated around 220 km north west of Sydney. It is located on the Castlereagh Highway, which is locally referred to as Sydney Road. The Bathurst-Ilford Road (MR 54) (which comes from Bathurst and skirts past Sofala) joins the Castlereagh Highway on the northern outskirts of town and the Bylong Valley Way to the upper Hunter Region via Kandos, Rylstone and Bylong joins the Castlereagh Highway 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) north of town.
Unremarkable in appearance, Ilford appears no more than a T Junction on the "Sydney Road." The primary school, on the left heading North toward Mudgee, and the information bay, are most of what is visible to travellers, on their way to Mudgee. Take the turnoff, just past the children's school, on the left, to Sofala then onto Bathurst.
Ilford was a settlement of about 100 people in 1875. At the 2011 census, Ilford recorded a population of 306. However, this figure does not reflect just the town itself; it is the total for the census region of 528.5 square kilometres (204.1 sq mi) which includes Ilford and also a considerable area to the South and West, incorporating a number of other settlements including Mount Vincent, Razorback, and Running Stream.
Ilford is one of several rural New South Wales towns to initiate a farmhouse rental program, offering farmhouses for rent for $1 per week to attract new residents to the area.