Cooroy, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cooroy is a town in the Noosa hinterland of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, about 22km west of Noosa Heads and 130km north of Brisbane, on the North Coast railway line. Its name comes from nearby Mount Cooroy, recorded from an Aboriginal word, kurui, said to mean possum. Timber-getters worked the district from the 1860s, and the town grew after the railway and post office opened in 1891, shifting over time from timber milling to dairying and fruit growing; a butter factory opened in 1915. A 1994 Bruce Highway bypass eased traffic through the centre. The restored Cooroy Butter Factory now serves as an arts centre, and the Noosa Botanic Gardens on the shore of Lake Macdonald add to the town's appeal.
Less advantaged than the national average
Cooroy is more socio-economically advantaged than about 35% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 961, 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 Cooroy 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 Cooroy 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
35/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (35/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
13/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $430 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 13% 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.
Cooroy at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 4,801
- Median age
- 50
- Median weekly household income
- $1,289
- SEIFA score
- 961
- Local government area
- Noosa
- Coordinates
- -26.4195, 152.9023
Map of Cooroy
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Cooroy
What it costs to live in Cooroy and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $430
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,733
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 77%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 20%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Cooroy demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Cooroy demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cooroy 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 32% and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 736 | 15% |
| Youth (15–24) | 446 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 880 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,206 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,530 | 32% |
Share of the 4,798 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 870 | 46% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 588 | 31% |
| Rented | 376 | 20% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,653 | 88% |
| Townhouses & semis | 31 | 2% |
| Flats & apartments | 186 | 10% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,882 occupied private dwellings in Cooroy.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,494
- Median weekly personal income
- $630
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 854 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 188 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 122 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,882 (48%)
- Labour-force participation
- 49.6%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.6%
- Employed full-time
- 890
- Employed part-time
- 820
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 Cooroy
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Cooroy is January (average daytime high around 28.1°C) and the coolest is July (around 20.4°C). The area receives roughly 1191 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 28.1°C | 21.2°C | 120 mm |
| Feb | 27.7°C | 21.1°C | 207 mm |
| Mar | 27.2°C | 20.5°C | 162 mm |
| Apr | 24.9°C | 17.6°C | 76 mm |
| May | 22.5°C | 14.6°C | 97 mm |
| Jun | 20.6°C | 12.3°C | 56 mm |
| Jul | 20.4°C | 11.3°C | 52 mm |
| Aug | 21.8°C | 11.8°C | 38 mm |
| Sep | 23.6°C | 14°C | 43 mm |
| Oct | 25.4°C | 16.4°C | 119 mm |
| Nov | 27.1°C | 18.4°C | 98 mm |
| Dec | 27.9°C | 20.2°C | 123 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Cooroy
Is Cooroy 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, Cooroy rates 28/100 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 Cooroy?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Cooroy was $430, 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 Cooroy?
Cooroy is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Noosa local government area.
What is the population of Cooroy?
At the 2021 Census, Cooroy had a population of about 4,801.
Is Cooroy an advantaged area?
Cooroy has an ABS SEIFA score of 961, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 35 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 35% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Cooroy?
Cooroy has average daytime highs of about 24.8°C and overnight lows of about 16.6°C, with roughly 1,191 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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