Chinchilla, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Chinchilla is a town on the Western Downs of southern Queensland, on the Warrego Highway near Charleys Creek and the Condamine River, about 300 kilometres west-north-west of Brisbane and roughly 81 kilometres north-west of Dalby. It lies on the country of the Baranggum people. Despite the name, the town is not called after the animal: it is generally said to come from an Aboriginal word, recorded as tintinchilla or jinchilla, referring to the cypress pines of the area. Chinchilla styles itself the Melon Capital of Australia, growing a large share of the national crop and celebrating it at a biennial Melon Festival in February. The settlement began in 1877 as a railway construction camp. Farming, horticulture, coal and gas drive the local economy.
Less advantaged than the national average
Chinchilla is more socio-economically advantaged than about 20% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 927, 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 Chinchilla 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 Chinchilla 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
20/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (20/100) 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.
Chinchilla at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 7,068
- Median age
- 33
- Median weekly household income
- $1,549
- SEIFA score
- 927
- Local government area
- Western Downs
- Coordinates
- -26.7471, 150.6273
Map of Chinchilla
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Chinchilla
What it costs to live in Chinchilla and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $250
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 54%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 42%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Chinchilla demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Chinchilla demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Chinchilla 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 29% and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,606 | 23% |
| Youth (15–24) | 839 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,062 | 29% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,512 | 21% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,049 | 15% |
Share of the 7,068 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 626 | 26% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 673 | 28% |
| Rented | 1,021 | 42% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,016 | 83% |
| Townhouses & semis | 342 | 14% |
| Flats & apartments | 46 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,421 occupied private dwellings in Chinchilla.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,918
- Median weekly personal income
- $810
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 694 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 376 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 537 (8%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,268 (43%)
- Labour-force participation
- 59.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.8%
- Employed full-time
- 2,041
- Employed part-time
- 880
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 Chinchilla
Is Chinchilla 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, Chinchilla rates 34/100 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 Chinchilla?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Chinchilla was $250, 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 Chinchilla?
Chinchilla is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Western Downs local government area.
What is the population of Chinchilla?
At the 2021 Census, Chinchilla had a population of about 7,068.
Is Chinchilla an advantaged area?
Chinchilla has an ABS SEIFA score of 927, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 20 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 20% of Australian suburbs.
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