Wondai, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Wondai is a town in the South Burnett region of Queensland, on the Bunya Highway between Murgon and Kingaroy, about 247 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. The name comes from the Wakawaka language and is usually said to mean 'dingo', though another suggestion links it to a word for the nape of the neck. The district runs on beef and dairy cattle, grain and peanuts, and is one of the areas where duboisia, a native shrub grown for medicine, is cultivated; a small wine industry has also taken root. The town keeps a regional heritage museum and timber memorabilia. The cricketers Carl Rackemann and Nathan Hauritz both grew up in the surrounding district.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Wondai is more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 872, 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 Wondai 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 Wondai 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
7/100Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs — the same ABS SEIFA-based Suburb Score (7/100) shown above. Income, education and occupation, as published by the ABS. · ABS SEIFA 2021
Housing affordability
69/100More affordable than the national median
Median weekly rent was $225 at the 2021 Census — more affordable than about 69% 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.
Wondai at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,975
- Median age
- 53
- Median weekly household income
- $957
- SEIFA score
- 872
- Local government area
- South Burnett
- Coordinates
- -26.2878, 151.8638
Map of Wondai
© OpenStreetMap contributors · View larger map
Housing & property in Wondai
What it costs to live in Wondai and how residents hold their homes, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 Census.
- Median rent
- $225
- per week
- Median mortgage
- $997
- per month
- Owner-occupied
- 68%
- of dwellings
- Rented
- 27%
- of dwellings
The full tenure and dwelling-type breakdown is in the Wondai demographics section below.
Source: ABS Census of Population and Housing, 2021. © Australian Bureau of Statistics, released under CC BY 4.0. See our methodology.
Wondai demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Wondai 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 33% and 9% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 274 | 14% |
| Youth (15–24) | 191 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 329 | 17% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 521 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 653 | 33% |
Share of the 1,968 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 334 | 41% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 222 | 27% |
| Rented | 224 | 27% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 746 | 91% |
| Townhouses & semis | 47 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 15 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 821 occupied private dwellings in Wondai.
- Average household size
- 2.1 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,292
- Median weekly personal income
- $527
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 165 (9%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 39 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 140 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 486 (30%)
- Labour-force participation
- 43.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.8%
- Employed full-time
- 392
- Employed part-time
- 244
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 Wondai
Is Wondai 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, Wondai rates 28/100 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 Wondai?
At the 2021 Census, the median weekly rent in Wondai was $225, and the median monthly mortgage repayment was $997. These are official ABS Census figures — StreetScout publishes housing data only, with no property valuations or agent referrals.
Where is Wondai?
Wondai is a suburb of Queensland, Australia, in the South Burnett local government area.
What is the population of Wondai?
At the 2021 Census, Wondai had a population of about 1,975.
Is Wondai an advantaged area?
Wondai has an ABS SEIFA score of 872, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 7 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 7% of Australian suburbs.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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