Kalbar, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Kalbar is a small farming town in the Fassifern Valley of the Scenic Rim, in south-east Queensland about 80km south-west of Brisbane. It was settled largely by German families from the 1870s and first known as Engelsburg, after a local storekeeper; during the First World War, amid anti-German feeling, the town was renamed Kalbar in 1916. The rich volcanic soils made it noted potato country, celebrated for decades in the Fassifern Potato Festival and today in the annual Kalbar Country Day. The heritage-listed St John's Lutheran Church reflects the town's German roots, and the engineer John Bradfield, later renowned for the Sydney Harbour Bridge, began his schooling here.
Less advantaged than the national average
Kalbar is more socio-economically advantaged than about 20% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 929, 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.
Kalbar at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,246
- Median age
- 41
- Median weekly household income
- $1,275
- SEIFA score
- 929
- Coordinates
- -27.9387, 152.6110
Kalbar demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Kalbar 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 24%, 18% of homes are rented, and 10% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 244 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 130 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 300 | 24% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 301 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 264 | 21% |
Share of the 1,239 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 196 | 45% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 156 | 36% |
| Rented | 79 | 18% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 436 | 99% |
| Townhouses & semis | 0 | 0% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 440 occupied private dwellings in Kalbar.
- Median weekly rent
- $300
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,363
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,562
- Median weekly personal income
- $631
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 111 (10%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 36 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 61 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 415 (44%)
- Labour-force participation
- 56.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.1%
- Employed full-time
- 312
- Employed part-time
- 183
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 Kalbar
Where is Kalbar?
Kalbar is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Kalbar?
At the 2021 Census, Kalbar had a population of about 1,246.
Is Kalbar an advantaged area?
Kalbar has an ABS SEIFA score of 929, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 20 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 20% of Australian suburbs.
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