Crows Nest (Qld), QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Crows Nest is a town on the Darling Downs in Queensland's Toowoomba Region, about 43km north of Toowoomba and 158km west of Brisbane, with Crows Nest National Park just to the east. Its name is usually traced to an Aboriginal man known as Jimmy Crow, who gave directions to early settlers and lived in a large hollow tree near the police station; another account links it to the Indigenous name 'Tookoogandanna', said to mean 'the home of crows'. The district lies in Jarowair country. A pastoral station was established in 1849, the town declared in 1876 and the railway reached it in 1886. A statue of Jimmy Crow, unveiled in 1969, is believed to be the only town memorial of its kind to an Aboriginal person in Australia.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Crows Nest (Qld) is more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 884, 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 Crows Nest (Qld) 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 Crows Nest (Qld) 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
9/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (9/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
55/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $270 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 55% 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.
Crows Nest (Qld) at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,212
- Median age
- 57
- Median weekly household income
- $913
- SEIFA score
- 884
- Local government area
- Toowoomba
- Coordinates
- -27.2605, 152.0740
Map of Crows Nest (Qld)
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Crows Nest (Qld)
What it costs to live in Crows Nest (Qld) and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $270
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,118
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 70%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 24%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Crows Nest (Qld) demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Crows Nest (Qld) demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Crows Nest (Qld) 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 39% and 12% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 288 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 170 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 339 | 15% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 560 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 852 | 39% |
Share of the 2,209 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 410 | 46% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 216 | 24% |
| Rented | 210 | 24% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 826 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 35 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 7 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 896 occupied private dwellings in Crows Nest (Qld).
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,144
- Median weekly personal income
- $492
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 224 (12%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 45 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 59 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 634 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 36.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.7%
- Employed full-time
- 354
- Employed part-time
- 252
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 Crows Nest (Qld)
Is Crows Nest (Qld) 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, Crows Nest (Qld) 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 Crows Nest (Qld)?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Crows Nest (Qld) was $270, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,118. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Crows Nest (Qld)?
Crows Nest (Qld) is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Toowoomba local government area.
What is the population of Crows Nest (Qld)?
At the 2021 Census, Crows Nest (Qld) had a population of about 2,212.
Is Crows Nest (Qld) an advantaged area?
Crows Nest (Qld) has an ABS SEIFA score of 884, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 9 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of Australian suburbs.
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