Oakey, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Oakey is a rural town on the Darling Downs in southern Queensland, about 28km north-west of Toowoomba and 155km west of Brisbane. The town and its creek take their name from the river oaks that line the watercourse. Pastoralists moved into the district in the 1840s, and the arrival of the Western railway line in 1867 spurred the township's growth. Today Oakey is known for two things in particular: the Army Aviation Centre at its airfield, a major helicopter pilot and maintenance training base for the Australian Defence Force, and the champion racehorse Bernborough, foaled locally in 1939, who won fifteen races in a row in 1945 and 1946. The surrounding country supports grain, cattle feedlots, abattoirs and stockfeed production.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Oakey is more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 860, 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 Oakey 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 Oakey 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
5/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (5/100) 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 $265 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.
Oakey at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 4,756
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $1,213
- SEIFA score
- 860
- Local government area
- Toowoomba
- Coordinates
- -27.4507, 151.7105
Map of Oakey
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Oakey
What it costs to live in Oakey and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $265
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,238
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 61%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 35%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Oakey demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Oakey demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Oakey 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 mid-life (45–64) at 25% and 10% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 958 | 20% |
| Youth (15–24) | 629 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,050 | 22% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,192 | 25% |
| Seniors (65+) | 921 | 19% |
Share of the 4,750 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 572 | 33% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 487 | 28% |
| Rented | 606 | 35% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,578 | 92% |
| Townhouses & semis | 120 | 7% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,707 occupied private dwellings in Oakey.
- Average household size
- 2.5 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,463
- Median weekly personal income
- $651
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 440 (10%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 281 (6%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 592 (12%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,340 (37%)
- Labour-force participation
- 55.3%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.7%
- Employed full-time
- 1,260
- Employed part-time
- 573
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 Oakey
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Oakey is January (average daytime high around 29.7°C) and the coolest is July (around 17.7°C). The area receives roughly 605 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.7°C | 18.7°C | 54 mm |
| Feb | 29.1°C | 18.4°C | 74 mm |
| Mar | 27.5°C | 17.9°C | 93 mm |
| Apr | 24.2°C | 14.3°C | 21 mm |
| May | 20.7°C | 10.9°C | 43 mm |
| Jun | 18°C | 8.4°C | 25 mm |
| Jul | 17.7°C | 7.4°C | 28 mm |
| Aug | 19.5°C | 8.1°C | 30 mm |
| Sep | 22.8°C | 10.8°C | 23 mm |
| Oct | 25.8°C | 13.7°C | 70 mm |
| Nov | 28.2°C | 15.8°C | 67 mm |
| Dec | 29.4°C | 17.7°C | 77 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Oakey
Is Oakey 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, Oakey rates 22/100 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 Oakey?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Oakey was $265, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,238. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Oakey?
Oakey is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Toowoomba local government area.
What is the population of Oakey?
At the 2021 Census, Oakey had a population of about 4,756.
Is Oakey an advantaged area?
Oakey has an ABS SEIFA score of 860, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 5 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Oakey?
Oakey has average daytime highs of about 24.4°C and overnight lows of about 13.5°C, with roughly 605 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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