Jabiru, NT
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Jabiru is a small town in the Top End of the Northern Territory, about 250 kilometres east of Darwin and completely surrounded by Kakadu National Park, within the West Arnhem region. It is named after the black-necked stork, widely known in Australia as the jabiru. The town was purpose-built in the early 1980s to house workers at the nearby Ranger uranium mine and to serve the growing flow of visitors to Kakadu. The Mirarr people are the recognised traditional owners of the area, and the township was formally handed back to them in 2021. Today Jabiru is the main service centre for Kakadu tourism, and its best-known landmark is the crocodile-shaped Gagudju Crocodile Hotel.
Around the national middle
Jabiru is more socio-economically advantaged than about 45% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 979, 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.
Jabiru at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 755
- Median age
- 34
- Median weekly household income
- $2,090
- SEIFA score
- 979
- Coordinates
- -12.6700, 132.8372
Jabiru demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Jabiru 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%, 68% of homes are rented, and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 170 | 22% |
| Youth (15–24) | 77 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 251 | 33% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 232 | 30% |
| Seniors (65+) | 32 | 4% |
Share of the 762 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 9 | 3% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 6 | 2% |
| Rented | 179 | 68% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 148 | 56% |
| Townhouses & semis | 70 | 27% |
| Flats & apartments | 28 | 11% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 262 occupied private dwellings in Jabiru.
- Median weekly rent
- $65
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,400
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,329
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,268
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 122 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 133 (20%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 207 (27%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 275 (48%)
- Labour-force participation
- 70.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 2.7%
- Employed full-time
- 306
- Employed part-time
- 55
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.
Common questions about Jabiru
Where is Jabiru?
Jabiru is a suburb of Northern Territory, Australia.
What is the population of Jabiru?
At the 2021 Census, Jabiru had a population of about 755.
Is Jabiru an advantaged area?
Jabiru has an ABS SEIFA score of 979, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 45 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 45% of Australian suburbs.
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