Airlie Beach, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Airlie Beach is a small resort town on the central Queensland coast, in the Whitsunday Region about 26 km from Proserpine. It is the main jumping-off point for boats heading to the Great Barrier Reef and the Whitsunday Islands, and its compact strip of bars, cafés and tour operators gives it an easy holiday feel. With its own marinas and a large artificial swimming lagoon built on the foreshore, the town is geared almost entirely to visitors, and hosts events such as the annual Great Barrier Reef Festival. Its name comes from the parish of Airlie in Scotland; first subdivided in the 1930s, the locality officially became 'Airlie Beach' in 1987.
Around the national middle
Airlie Beach is more socio-economically advantaged than about 59% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1002, where about 1000 is the national average).
A socio-economic measure from ABS Census data — not a measure of how good a suburb is to live in or visit. How we calculate this.
Airlie Beach at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,312
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,562
- SEIFA score
- 1002
- Coordinates
- -20.2730, 148.7180
Airlie Beach demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Airlie Beach using the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census; every percentage is a share of a clearly stated Census count, so each one traces back to the source. At a glance, the largest age group is young adults (25–44) at 40%, 49% of homes are rented, and 37% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 76 | 6% |
| Youth (15–24) | 128 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 527 | 40% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 399 | 31% |
| Seniors (65+) | 175 | 13% |
Share of the 1,305 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 131 | 30% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 77 | 18% |
| Rented | 214 | 49% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 131 | 30% |
| Townhouses & semis | 55 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 183 | 42% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 433 occupied private dwellings in Airlie Beach.
- Median weekly rent
- $380
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,925
- Average household size
- 1.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,011
- Median weekly personal income
- $932
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 413 (37%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 152 (14%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 17 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 713 (58%)
- Labour-force participation
- 63.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.8%
- Employed full-time
- 408
- Employed part-time
- 257
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021 (General Community Profile, by Suburb and Locality). © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. How we group bands and derive each share is set out on our methodology page.
Common questions about Airlie Beach
Where is Airlie Beach?
Airlie Beach is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Airlie Beach?
At the 2021 Census, Airlie Beach had a population of about 1,312.
Is Airlie Beach an advantaged area?
Airlie Beach has an ABS SEIFA score of 1002, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 59 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 59% of Australian suburbs.
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