Highgate Hill, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Highgate Hill is a riverside inner-southern suburb of Brisbane, sharing a peninsula with West End and South Brisbane that the Brisbane River wraps on three sides. Its undulating ridges climb to a summit of around sixty metres, where a small hilltop park is prized for its city views and cooling summer breezes. The area was recorded in the Turrbal or Jagara language as Beenung-urrung, said to mean frilled lizard; its English name, possibly drawn from Highgate Hill in London, first appears in an 1864 land-sale notice. The completion of a service reservoir in 1889 and the arrival of the electric tram along Gladstone Road in 1902 spurred its growth, and by the late 1920s it ranked among Brisbane's dress circles. Apartment towers now line Dornoch Terrace, a trend begun by the landmark Torbreck building in 1962.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Highgate Hill is more socio-economically advantaged than about 91% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1075, 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 Highgate Hill 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Highgate Hill 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
91/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (91/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
23/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $380 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 23% 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.
Highgate Hill at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,229
- Median age
- 37
- Median weekly household income
- $1,937
- SEIFA score
- 1075
- Local government area
- Brisbane
- Coordinates
- -27.4875, 153.0174
Map of Highgate Hill
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Highgate Hill
What it costs to live in Highgate Hill and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $380
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,376
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 47%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 50%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Highgate Hill demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Highgate Hill demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Highgate Hill 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 33% and 35% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 757 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 991 | 16% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,053 | 33% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,640 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 782 | 13% |
Share of the 6,223 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 605 | 24% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 564 | 23% |
| Rented | 1,255 | 50% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 941 | 38% |
| Townhouses & semis | 105 | 4% |
| Flats & apartments | 1,429 | 57% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,488 occupied private dwellings in Highgate Hill.
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,635
- Median weekly personal income
- $943
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,089 (35%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 1,561 (27%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 61 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 4,153 (80%)
- Labour-force participation
- 68.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.9%
- Employed full-time
- 2,001
- Employed part-time
- 1,221
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 Highgate Hill
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Highgate Hill is January (average daytime high around 29.4°C) and the coolest is July (around 20.7°C). The area receives roughly 945 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.4°C | 20.7°C | 111 mm |
| Feb | 29.2°C | 20.6°C | 154 mm |
| Mar | 28.2°C | 19.9°C | 133 mm |
| Apr | 25.7°C | 16.6°C | 45 mm |
| May | 23.1°C | 13.7°C | 71 mm |
| Jun | 20.8°C | 11.3°C | 40 mm |
| Jul | 20.7°C | 10.1°C | 35 mm |
| Aug | 22.2°C | 10.8°C | 37 mm |
| Sep | 24.5°C | 13°C | 44 mm |
| Oct | 26.3°C | 15.7°C | 97 mm |
| Nov | 28.2°C | 17.8°C | 75 mm |
| Dec | 29.2°C | 19.7°C | 103 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Highgate Hill
Is Highgate Hill 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, Highgate Hill rates 68/100 overall (Strong 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 Highgate Hill?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Highgate Hill was $380, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,376. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Highgate Hill?
Highgate Hill is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Brisbane local government area.
What is the population of Highgate Hill?
At the 2021 Census, Highgate Hill had a population of about 6,229.
Is Highgate Hill an advantaged area?
Highgate Hill has an ABS SEIFA score of 1075, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 91 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 91% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Highgate Hill?
Highgate Hill has average daytime highs of about 25.6°C and overnight lows of about 15.8°C, with roughly 945 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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