Quilpie, QLD

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 31 May 2026

Quilpie is an outback town in south-west Queensland, set in the Channel Country on the banks of the Bulloo River, about 210 kilometres west of Charleville and close to 1,100 kilometres west of Brisbane. It is believed to lie near where the country of the Bunthamurra and Margany peoples meets, and its name is thought to come from the Aboriginal word quilpeta, meaning stone curlew. The town was gazetted in 1917 when the western railway from Brisbane finally reached this far, and grazing has been its backbone ever since. Quilpie is also known for boulder opal, mined nearby, and the parish church of St Finbarr displays an altar and font set with the local stone. Race meetings and the Pride of the West festival enliven the calendar.

25/100

Suburb Score

Less advantaged than the national average

Quilpie is more socio-economically advantaged than about 25% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 942, 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.

Quilpie at a glance

Population (2021): 530
Median age: 39
Median weekly household income: $1,303
SEIFA score: 942
Coordinates: -26.8738, 144.3123

Quilpie demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Quilpie 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 30%, 33% of homes are rented, and 6% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	115	22%
Youth (15–24)	32	6%
Young adults (25–44)	134	26%
Mid-life (45–64)	158	30%
Seniors (65+)	83	16%

Share of the 522 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	76	34%
Owned with a mortgage	47	21%
Rented	73	33%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	196	88%
Townhouses & semis	0	0%
Flats & apartments	15	7%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 224 occupied private dwellings in Quilpie.

Median weekly rent: $140
Median monthly mortgage: $884
Average household size: 2.3 people
Median weekly family income: $1,921
Median weekly personal income: $876

Community and culture

Born overseas: 30 (6%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 9 (2%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 80 (15%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 189 (46%)
Labour-force participation: 71.3%
Unemployment rate: 1%
Employed full-time: 208
Employed part-time: 66

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 Quilpie

Where is Quilpie?

Quilpie is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.

What is the population of Quilpie?

At the 2021 Census, Quilpie had a population of about 530.

Is Quilpie an advantaged area?

Quilpie has an ABS SEIFA score of 942, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 25 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 25% of Australian suburbs.