Cardwell, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cardwell is a coastal town on the Cassowary Coast of north Queensland, set on Rockingham Bay about 165 kilometres north-west of Townsville. It lies within the country of the Girramay and Warrgamay peoples, between rainforested ranges and the sea. Established in 1864, the town was named after Edward Cardwell, then the British Secretary of State for the Colonies. Cardwell looks straight across to Hinchinbrook Island and is a gateway to its national park and to the surrounding World Heritage rainforest and Great Barrier Reef waters. The conservationist Margaret Thorsborne, after whom the island's famous coastal walk is named, lived here. In February 2011 the severe tropical Cyclone Yasi crossed the coast at Cardwell, badly damaging the town and its marina.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Cardwell is more socio-economically advantaged than about 4% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 850, 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 Cardwell 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.
Lower on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Cardwell 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
4/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (4/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
63/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $250 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 63% 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.
Cardwell at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,320
- Median age
- 60
- Median weekly household income
- $846
- SEIFA score
- 850
- Local government area
- Cassowary Coast
- Coordinates
- -18.2706, 146.0016
Map of Cardwell
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Cardwell
What it costs to live in Cardwell and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $250
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,278
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 58%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 39%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Cardwell demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Cardwell demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cardwell 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 seniors (65+) at 40% and 18% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 133 | 10% |
| Youth (15–24) | 78 | 6% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 177 | 13% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 405 | 31% |
| Seniors (65+) | 527 | 40% |
Share of the 1,320 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 252 | 44% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 81 | 14% |
| Rented | 226 | 39% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 410 | 71% |
| Townhouses & semis | 82 | 14% |
| Flats & apartments | 57 | 10% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 578 occupied private dwellings in Cardwell.
- Average household size
- 1.9 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,172
- Median weekly personal income
- $508
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 213 (18%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 67 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 127 (10%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 372 (32%)
- Labour-force participation
- 37.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.1%
- Employed full-time
- 207
- Employed part-time
- 161
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 Cardwell
Is Cardwell 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, Cardwell rates 24/100 overall (Lower 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 Cardwell?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Cardwell was $250, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,278. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Cardwell?
Cardwell is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Cassowary Coast local government area.
What is the population of Cardwell?
At the 2021 Census, Cardwell had a population of about 1,320.
Is Cardwell an advantaged area?
Cardwell has an ABS SEIFA score of 850, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 4 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 4% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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