Capella, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Capella is a rural town in the Central Highlands of Queensland, about 52 kilometres north-north-west of Emerald. Founded on traditional Wangan land in the 1860s, it takes its name from Capella Creek, which was itself named after the bright star Capella — probably by the surveyor Charles Frederick Gregory, who laid out townships in the district after copper was found nearby. The railway and a post office both arrived in 1882, and a state school followed in 1883. Today Capella serves the surrounding grain farms and cattle stations and the coal mines to its east, and is home to the Capella Pioneer Village, whose centrepiece is one of the largest restored drop-plank homesteads in Australia.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Capella is more socio-economically advantaged than about 18% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 922, 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 Capella 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 Capella 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
18/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (18/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
71/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $220 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 71% 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.
Capella at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 974
- Median age
- 32
- Median weekly household income
- $1,838
- SEIFA score
- 922
- Local government area
- Central Highlands (Qld)
- Coordinates
- -23.0844, 148.0219
Map of Capella
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Capella
What it costs to live in Capella and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $220
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 51%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 42%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Capella demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Capella demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Capella 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 28% and 7% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 255 | 26% |
| Youth (15–24) | 114 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 271 | 28% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 208 | 21% |
| Seniors (65+) | 126 | 13% |
Share of the 974 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 69 | 22% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 89 | 29% |
| Rented | 131 | 42% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 290 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 17 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 7 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 324 occupied private dwellings in Capella.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,225
- Median weekly personal income
- $981
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 53 (7%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 20 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 51 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 257 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 60.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 1.4%
- Employed full-time
- 286
- Employed part-time
- 110
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 Capella
Is Capella 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, Capella rates 36/100 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 Capella?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Capella was $220, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,300. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Capella?
Capella is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Central Highlands (Qld) local government area.
What is the population of Capella?
At the 2021 Census, Capella had a population of about 974.
Is Capella an advantaged area?
Capella has an ABS SEIFA score of 922, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 18 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 18% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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