Toowong, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Toowong is a riverside suburb of Brisbane, set on rolling hills between Mount Coot-tha and a bend of the Brisbane River about 4 km west of the city centre. Its name is said to come from an Aboriginal word describing a bird. European settlement took shape when Richard Drew laid out the 'Village of Toowong' in 1862, and the suburb grew after the Ipswich railway arrived in 1875, beginning as an enclave of detached villas on large yards. Today Toowong centres on a commercial precinct around Toowong Village, with leafy residential streets of medium-density homes and timber Queenslanders climbing towards Mount Coot-tha. Along the river run Coronation Drive, the Regatta ferry wharf and a bikeway that follows the water into the city.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Toowong is more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1109, 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 Toowong 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.
Strong on the data we score
A weighted blend of the 2 components we can score for Toowong 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
96/100Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (96/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
15/100Among the more expensive suburbs
Median weekly rent was $420 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 15% 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.
Toowong at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 12,556
- Median age
- 30
- Median weekly household income
- $1,927
- SEIFA score
- 1109
- Local government area
- Brisbane
- Coordinates
- -27.4792, 152.9841
Map of Toowong
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Toowong
What it costs to live in Toowong and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $420
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $2,000
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 43%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 55%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Toowong demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Toowong demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Toowong 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 37% and 36% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,504 | 12% |
| Youth (15–24) | 2,848 | 23% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 4,672 | 37% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,230 | 18% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,303 | 10% |
Share of the 12,557 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,126 | 21% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,196 | 22% |
| Rented | 2,939 | 55% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,529 | 29% |
| Townhouses & semis | 135 | 3% |
| Flats & apartments | 3,642 | 68% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 5,358 occupied private dwellings in Toowong.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $2,610
- Median weekly personal income
- $966
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 4,326 (36%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 3,076 (25%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 147 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 9,215 (86%)
- Labour-force participation
- 71.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.5%
- Employed full-time
- 4,263
- Employed part-time
- 2,376
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 Toowong
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Toowong is January (average daytime high around 29.4°C) and the coolest is July (around 20.7°C). The area receives roughly 945 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.4°C | 20.7°C | 111 mm |
| Feb | 29.2°C | 20.6°C | 154 mm |
| Mar | 28.2°C | 19.9°C | 133 mm |
| Apr | 25.7°C | 16.6°C | 45 mm |
| May | 23.1°C | 13.7°C | 71 mm |
| Jun | 20.8°C | 11.3°C | 40 mm |
| Jul | 20.7°C | 10.1°C | 35 mm |
| Aug | 22.2°C | 10.8°C | 37 mm |
| Sep | 24.5°C | 13°C | 44 mm |
| Oct | 26.3°C | 15.7°C | 97 mm |
| Nov | 28.2°C | 17.8°C | 75 mm |
| Dec | 29.2°C | 19.7°C | 103 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
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Common questions about Toowong
Is Toowong 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, Toowong rates 69/100 overall (Strong 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 Toowong?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Toowong was $420, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $2,000. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Toowong?
Toowong is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the Brisbane local government area.
What is the population of Toowong?
At the 2021 Census, Toowong had a population of about 12,556.
Is Toowong an advantaged area?
Toowong has an ABS SEIFA score of 1109, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 96 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 96% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Toowong?
Toowong has average daytime highs of about 25.6°C and overnight lows of about 15.8°C, with roughly 945 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
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