Tin Can Bay, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Tin Can Bay is a coastal town in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of Queensland, about 220 kilometres north of Brisbane and 50 kilometres north-east of Gympie. It is best known for the wild humpback dolphins that visit the boat ramp at Norman Point, where, under close supervision, people can hand-feed them most mornings. The town is also a fishing port, particularly for prawns, and a quiet holiday base for boating and birdwatching. Its unusual name is uncertain in origin but is thought to come from an Aboriginal language — possibly 'tinchin', meaning mangrove, or a word for a broad-leafed vine. European settlement began in the 1870s around the timber trade, and the town was known as Wallu until it was renamed Tin Can Bay in 1937.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Tin Can Bay is more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 864, 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 Tin Can Bay 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 Tin Can Bay 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
6/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (6/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
57/100Around the national median for cost
Median weekly rent was $260 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 57% 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.
Tin Can Bay at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 2,293
- Median age
- 65
- Median weekly household income
- $734
- SEIFA score
- 864
- Local government area
- Gympie
- Coordinates
- -25.8834, 152.9319
Map of Tin Can Bay
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Tin Can Bay
What it costs to live in Tin Can Bay and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $260
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $1,300
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 67%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 27%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Tin Can Bay demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Tin Can Bay demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Tin Can Bay 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 seniors (65+) at 51% and 15% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 143 | 6% |
| Youth (15–24) | 108 | 5% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 187 | 8% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 676 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,180 | 51% |
Share of the 2,294 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 626 | 56% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 118 | 11% |
| Rented | 300 | 27% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 856 | 76% |
| Townhouses & semis | 74 | 7% |
| Flats & apartments | 79 | 7% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,128 occupied private dwellings in Tin Can Bay.
- Average household size
- 1.8 people
- Median weekly family income
- $935
- Median weekly personal income
- $456
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 310 (15%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 29 (1%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 72 (3%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 613 (29%)
- Labour-force participation
- 25.7%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.1%
- Employed full-time
- 225
- Employed part-time
- 238
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 Tin Can Bay
Is Tin Can Bay 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, Tin Can Bay rates 23/100 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 Tin Can Bay?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Tin Can Bay was $260, 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 Tin Can Bay?
Tin Can Bay is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Gympie local government area.
What is the population of Tin Can Bay?
At the 2021 Census, Tin Can Bay had a population of about 2,293.
Is Tin Can Bay an advantaged area?
Tin Can Bay has an ABS SEIFA score of 864, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 6 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 6% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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