Innisfail, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Innisfail lies on the Cassowary Coast of Far North Queensland, where the Johnstone and South Johnstone Rivers meet about 88 kilometres south of Cairns. The district was long home to the Mamu people. Founded in 1879 by Thomas Fitzgerald, who started its sugar industry, the town was first called Geraldton but was renamed Innisfail in 1910 to avoid confusion with the Western Australian port; the Irish-derived name means island of destiny. After a cyclone in 1918, Innisfail was rebuilt in the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles for which it is admired. One of the wettest towns in Australia, it sits amid sugar-cane and banana country near tropical rainforest and Queensland's highest peak, Mount Bartle Frere. Sugar and bananas remain its mainstays.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Innisfail is more socio-economically advantaged than about 2% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 811, 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 Innisfail 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 Innisfail 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
2/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (2/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
68/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $230 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 68% 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.
Innisfail at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,091
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $894
- SEIFA score
- 811
- Local government area
- Cassowary Coast
- Coordinates
- -17.5210, 146.0258
Map of Innisfail
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Innisfail
What it costs to live in Innisfail and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $230
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,083
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 30%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 61%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Innisfail demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Innisfail demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Innisfail 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 25% and 30% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 171 | 16% |
| Youth (15–24) | 132 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 280 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 259 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 257 | 23% |
Share of the 1,099 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 86 | 20% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 41 | 10% |
| Rented | 255 | 61% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 217 | 53% |
| Townhouses & semis | 73 | 18% |
| Flats & apartments | 99 | 24% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 411 occupied private dwellings in Innisfail.
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,263
- Median weekly personal income
- $572
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 292 (30%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 290 (29%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 256 (23%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 363 (41%)
- Labour-force participation
- 50.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 11.6%
- Employed full-time
- 219
- Employed part-time
- 159
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 Innisfail
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Innisfail is February (average daytime high around 30.4°C) and the coolest is July (around 23.4°C). The area receives roughly 2300 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 30.1°C | 23.4°C | 377 mm |
| Feb | 30.4°C | 23.3°C | 342 mm |
| Mar | 29.4°C | 22.8°C | 368 mm |
| Apr | 27.7°C | 21.5°C | 283 mm |
| May | 25.5°C | 19.4°C | 163 mm |
| Jun | 23.9°C | 17.8°C | 129 mm |
| Jul | 23.4°C | 16.6°C | 102 mm |
| Aug | 24.4°C | 16.3°C | 70 mm |
| Sep | 26.2°C | 17.8°C | 65 mm |
| Oct | 28.3°C | 19.5°C | 71 mm |
| Nov | 29.8°C | 21.3°C | 72 mm |
| Dec | 30.3°C | 22.7°C | 258 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Innisfail
Is Innisfail 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, Innisfail 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 Innisfail?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Innisfail was $230, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,083. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Innisfail?
Innisfail is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Cassowary Coast local government area.
What is the population of Innisfail?
At the 2021 Census, Innisfail had a population of about 1,091.
Is Innisfail an advantaged area?
Innisfail has an ABS SEIFA score of 811, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 2 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 2% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Innisfail?
Innisfail has average daytime highs of about 27.5°C and overnight lows of about 20.2°C, with roughly 2,300 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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