Roma, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Roma is a rural town in the Maranoa region of south-west Queensland, on Bungil Creek about 480 kilometres west-north-west of Brisbane at the meeting of the Warrego and Carnarvon highways. It was established on pastoral land in 1862 and named after Lady Diamantina Bowen, born Diamantina di Roma, the wife of Queensland's first governor. Roma grew into a major pastoral centre and is home to one of the country's largest cattle saleyards. The district also has a notable place in Australia's energy history: natural gas was found near the town in 1904 and was being used for street lighting by 1906, a story told at the Big Rig museum. Roma is famous too for its bottle trees and for Romavilla, a winery established in 1866.
Less advantaged than the national average
Roma is more socio-economically advantaged than about 31% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 953, 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 Roma 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.
Below the national middle on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Roma 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
31/100Less advantaged than the national average
Less advantaged than the national average — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (31/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
63/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $250 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 63% 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.
Roma at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 6,838
- Median age
- 35
- Median weekly household income
- $1,706
- SEIFA score
- 953
- Local government area
- Maranoa
- Coordinates
- -26.5618, 148.8024
Map of Roma
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Roma
What it costs to live in Roma and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $250
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 51%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 45%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Roma demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Roma demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Roma 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 27% and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,474 | 22% |
| Youth (15–24) | 968 | 14% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 1,866 | 27% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 1,596 | 23% |
| Seniors (65+) | 924 | 14% |
Share of the 6,828 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 622 | 25% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 657 | 26% |
| Rented | 1,144 | 45% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2,262 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 222 | 9% |
| Flats & apartments | 13 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,520 occupied private dwellings in Roma.
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,171
- Median weekly personal income
- $957
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 655 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 415 (7%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 839 (12%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 2,407 (47%)
- Labour-force participation
- 67%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.1%
- Employed full-time
- 2,390
- Employed part-time
- 879
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.
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Common questions about Roma
Is Roma 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, Roma rates 42/100 overall (Below the national middle 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 Roma?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Roma was $250, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $1,300. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Roma?
Roma is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Maranoa local government area.
What is the population of Roma?
At the 2021 Census, Roma had a population of about 6,838.
Is Roma an advantaged area?
Roma has an ABS SEIFA score of 953, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 31 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 31% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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