Cairns City, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cairns is a tropical city on the far north Queensland coast, the main hub for the region and the gateway most visitors use to reach the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest. It stands on the country of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji people, whose name for the area is Gimuy. The town was founded in 1876 as a port to ship out gold from inland fields, and was named after William Cairns, then governor of Queensland. After serving as an Allied base in the Second World War, it grew into one of Australia's busiest tourist destinations, especially once its international airport opened in 1984. Its economy now leans heavily on reef and rainforest tourism.
More advantaged than the national average
Cairns City is more socio-economically advantaged than about 75% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1032, 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 Cairns City 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Cairns City 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
75/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (75/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
15/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $413 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 15% 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.
Cairns City at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 3,616
- Median age
- 44
- Median weekly household income
- $1,627
- SEIFA score
- 1032
- Local government area
- Cairns
- Coordinates
- -16.9222, 145.7749
Map of Cairns City
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Cairns City
What it costs to live in Cairns City and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $413
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,733
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 48%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 49%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Cairns City demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Cairns City demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cairns City 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 36% and 42% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 188 | 5% |
| Youth (15–24) | 351 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,285 | 36% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,041 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 737 | 20% |
Share of the 3,602 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 262 | 31% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 147 | 17% |
| Rented | 420 | 49% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 21 | 2% |
| Townhouses & semis | 50 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 696 | 81% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 860 occupied private dwellings in Cairns City.
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,162
- Median weekly personal income
- $907
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 951 (42%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 598 (27%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 114 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,393 (41%)
- Labour-force participation
- 40.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 8%
- Employed full-time
- 783
- Employed part-time
- 421
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.
Weather and climate in Cairns City
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Cairns City is February (average daytime high around 30.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 24.3°C). The area receives roughly 1739 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30.4°C | 24.2°C | 382 mm |
| Feb | 30.6°C | 24.3°C | 296 mm |
| Mar | 29.6°C | 23.7°C | 285 mm |
| Apr | 28.3°C | 22.6°C | 171 mm |
| May | 26.3°C | 20.5°C | 68 mm |
| Jun | 24.8°C | 18.9°C | 49 mm |
| Jul | 24.3°C | 17.9°C | 48 mm |
| Aug | 25.1°C | 17.9°C | 27 mm |
| Sep | 26.8°C | 19.1°C | 28 mm |
| Oct | 28.8°C | 20.9°C | 45 mm |
| Nov | 30.2°C | 22.3°C | 48 mm |
| Dec | 30.6°C | 23.7°C | 292 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Cairns City
Is Cairns City 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, Cairns City rates 55/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Cairns City?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Cairns City was $413, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Cairns City?
Cairns City is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Cairns local government area.
What is the population of Cairns City?
At the 2021 Census, Cairns City had a population of about 3,616.
Is Cairns City an advantaged area?
Cairns City has an ABS SEIFA score of 1032, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 75 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 75% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Cairns City?
Cairns City has average daytime highs of about 28°C and overnight lows of about 21.3°C, with roughly 1,739 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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