Birdsville, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Birdsville is a tiny outback town in far western Queensland, close to the borders of South Australia and the Northern Territory, on the edge of the Simpson Desert near the Diamantina River. It lies more than 1,500 kilometres west of Brisbane in the Channel Country. The region was home to speakers of the Wangkangurru language. The name has several proposed origins, including the area's abundant bird life and a corruption of an early store, though sources differ. Surveyed in the 1880s, Birdsville sits at the northern end of the 500-kilometre Birdsville Track. Tourism now rivals cattle as the mainstay, drawn by the famous Birdsville Races, the historic Birdsville Hotel and the Big Red Bash music festival staged among the desert dunes.
Less advantaged than the national average
Birdsville is more socio-economically advantaged than about 25% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 942, 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.
Is Birdsville a good place to live?
There’s no single answer — it depends on what matters to you. So instead of one mystery number, we break it down: a transparent score on each part of life we can back with public data, and an honest “not yet” on the parts we can’t.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Birdsville from public data. It sits alongside — and reconciles with — the socio-economic Suburb Score above; it is a transparent read, not a complete verdict.
Socio-economic advantage
25/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (25/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
93/100More affordable than most suburbs
Median weekly rent was $113 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 93% of suburbs we can compare. Housing data only, no valuations. · ABS Census 2021
Not yet scored
We’d rather leave these open than publish a number we can’t stand behind. Here’s where each one stands.
- Amenities & accessNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap amenity mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- Green spaceNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap green-space mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- TransportNot scored yet — our OpenStreetMap public-transport mapping is still rolling out across suburbs.
- SchoolsNot scored yet — school performance (ACARA / ICSEA) needs a data-reuse licence cleared before we can publish it.
- SafetyNot scored yet — Australia has no single open crime dataset and safety data carries defamation and legal care, so it is gated pending a go/no-go and will be data-only when added.
- CommunityNot scored yet — we won't reduce community to a number from a proxy. We'd rather leave it open than publish an invented value judgement.
A transparent read on public data, not a verdict — and not a measure of any person or community. See our methodology for how each component is worked out and why some aren’t scored yet.
Birdsville at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 110
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $1,792
- SEIFA score
- 942
- Local government area
- Diamantina
- Coordinates
- -25.5485, 139.4683
Map of Birdsville
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Birdsville
What it costs to live in Birdsville and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $113
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $953
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 11%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 71%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Birdsville demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Birdsville demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Birdsville 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 35% and 13% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 16 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 12 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 36 | 35% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 25 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 15 | 14% |
Share of the 104 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 3 | 11% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 0 | 0% |
| Rented | 20 | 71% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 32 | 100% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 32 occupied private dwellings in Birdsville.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,562
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,078
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 12 (13%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 11 (12%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 27 (25%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 36 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 74.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.1%
- Employed full-time
- 64
- Employed part-time
- 7
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.
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Common questions about Birdsville
Is Birdsville a good place to live?
There's no single answer, so we score what the public data can back. On socio-economic advantage and housing affordability, Birdsville rates 48/100 overall (Below the national middle on the data we score). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Birdsville?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Birdsville was $113, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $953. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Birdsville?
Birdsville is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Diamantina local government area.
What is the population of Birdsville?
At the 2021 Census, Birdsville had a population of about 110.
Is Birdsville an advantaged area?
Birdsville has an ABS SEIFA score of 942, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 25 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 25% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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