Palm Cove, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Palm Cove is a beachfront resort village on the tropical coast about 25 km north of Cairns, in Far North Queensland. It sits in Djabugay traditional country. A single palm- and paperbark-lined esplanade runs the length of its sheltered beach, backed by low-rise luxury resorts and restaurants, and the village is a popular base for trips out to the Great Barrier Reef and up to the Daintree rainforest. The name simply describes the palms that line the shore; an earlier official name, Buchan, taken from a nearby mountain, has largely fallen out of use. The relaxed, low-key feel sets it apart from the busier Cairns beaches to the south.
More advantaged than the national average
Palm Cove is more socio-economically advantaged than about 65% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1014, 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 Palm Cove 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.
Around the national middle
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Palm Cove 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
65/100More advantaged than the national average
More advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (65/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
26/100Less affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $365 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 26% 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.
Palm Cove at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,450
- Median age
- 53
- Median weekly household income
- $1,527
- SEIFA score
- 1014
- Local government area
- Cairns
- Coordinates
- -16.7479, 145.6627
Map of Palm Cove
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Palm Cove
What it costs to live in Palm Cove and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $365
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,733
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 67%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 30%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Palm Cove demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Palm Cove demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Palm Cove 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 37% and 36% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 271 | 11% |
| Youth (15–24) | 163 | 7% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 444 | 18% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 905 | 37% |
| Seniors (65+) | 680 | 28% |
Share of the 2,463 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 398 | 40% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 268 | 27% |
| Rented | 300 | 30% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 657 | 66% |
| Townhouses & semis | 118 | 12% |
| Flats & apartments | 212 | 21% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 999 occupied private dwellings in Palm Cove.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,048
- Median weekly personal income
- $797
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 821 (36%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 249 (11%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 46 (2%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,209 (57%)
- Labour-force participation
- 56%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.3%
- Employed full-time
- 657
- Employed part-time
- 438
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 Palm Cove
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Palm Cove is February (average daytime high around 30.3°C) and the coolest is July (around 24.3°C). The area receives roughly 1725 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.9°C | 24.9°C | 358 mm |
| Feb | 30.3°C | 25°C | 296 mm |
| Mar | 29.3°C | 24.6°C | 300 mm |
| Apr | 28.1°C | 23.7°C | 176 mm |
| May | 26.2°C | 21.8°C | 68 mm |
| Jun | 24.8°C | 20.3°C | 50 mm |
| Jul | 24.3°C | 19.4°C | 42 mm |
| Aug | 24.9°C | 19.5°C | 27 mm |
| Sep | 26.3°C | 20.7°C | 24 mm |
| Oct | 28°C | 22.2°C | 42 mm |
| Nov | 29.3°C | 23.6°C | 42 mm |
| Dec | 29.8°C | 24.7°C | 300 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Share your local knowledge of Palm Cove
Lived here or spent time in Palm Cove? Add a review or a quick tip. Reviews and tips are moderated before they appear.
Common questions about Palm Cove
Is Palm Cove 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, Palm Cove rates 52/100 overall (Around the national middle). Public transport, schools and safety aren't scored yet — see our methodology for why.
What is the median rent in Palm Cove?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Palm Cove was $365, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,733. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Palm Cove?
Palm Cove is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Cairns local government area.
What is the population of Palm Cove?
At the 2021 Census, Palm Cove had a population of about 2,450.
Is Palm Cove an advantaged area?
Palm Cove has an ABS SEIFA score of 1014, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 65 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 65% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Palm Cove?
Palm Cove has average daytime highs of about 27.6°C and overnight lows of about 22.5°C, with roughly 1,725 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
More suburb guides in Queensland
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.