Charters Towers City, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Charters Towers is a historic gold town in northern Queensland, about 136 kilometres south-west of Townsville. Gold was found at Towers Hill on Christmas Eve 1871, a discovery credited to a young Aboriginal boy, Jupiter Mosman, who was travelling with prospectors. The field proved extraordinarily rich, yielding more than 200 tonnes of gold and ranking among Australia's most productive. During the boom from 1872 to 1899 the population reached around 27,000, making it one of the largest settlements in the colony outside Brisbane, with its own stock exchange. The town was reputedly nicknamed The World, because almost anything could be obtained there. It was named after the gold commissioner William Charters. Mining became uneconomical after 1917, and Charters Towers is now a noted boarding-school centre.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Charters Towers City is more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 858, 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.
Charters Towers City at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,219
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,078
- SEIFA score
- 858
- Coordinates
- -20.0764, 146.2591
Charters Towers City demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Charters Towers 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 mid-life (45–64) at 25%, 41% of homes are rented, and 9% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 424 | 19% |
| Youth (15–24) | 292 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 473 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 564 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 466 | 21% |
Share of the 2,219 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 281 | 33% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 186 | 22% |
| Rented | 353 | 41% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 737 | 86% |
| Townhouses & semis | 110 | 13% |
| Flats & apartments | 5 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 857 occupied private dwellings in Charters Towers City.
- Median weekly rent
- $220
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,009
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,507
- Median weekly personal income
- $601
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 172 (9%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 97 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 277 (12%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 610 (36%)
- Labour-force participation
- 50.4%
- Unemployment rate
- 8.2%
- Employed full-time
- 479
- Employed part-time
- 279
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 Charters Towers City
Where is Charters Towers City?
Charters Towers City is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Charters Towers City?
At the 2021 Census, Charters Towers City had a population of about 2,219.
Is Charters Towers City an advantaged area?
Charters Towers City has an ABS SEIFA score of 858, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 5 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of Australian suburbs.
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