Cairns
179,334 residents (ABS estimated resident population, 30 June 2025) across 1,689 km², 64 suburbs. Council website: cairns.qld.gov.au.
Council series run to July 2026.
Population
179,334
ABS estimated resident population, 30 June 2025 · +1.0% in a year
Density
106/km²
1,689 km² · ERP 2025 over the ABS 2024 boundary
Council-wide house median
$615k
Established-house transfers across the whole council, FY 2023-24 (ABS)
Federal grants per resident
$29
Financial Assistance Grant 2025-26 over ERP 2025
Dwelling approvals
4.3 per 1,000
Residents, 12 months to July 2026 (ABS Building Approvals)
Advantage decile
7 of 10
SEIFA 2021 IRSAD, national (10 = most advantaged)
Suburbs
64
Where it holds most residents (ABS mesh-block allocation)
Trends
Council-level series. Each chart names its source and period.
People and housing
Council-wide figures from the ABS Census of 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (national deciles, 10 = most advantaged).
- Median age
- 39
- Median household income
- $1,578/week
- Median rent
- $340/week
- Median mortgage repayment
- $1,588/month
- Households renting
- 35.0%
- Average household
- 2.5 people
- Advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD)
- decile 7 of 10
- Disadvantage (IRSD)
- decile 6 of 10
Suburbs
64 suburbs where Cairns holds most residents, plus 1 it shares with a neighbouring council (share of residents shown). Population is Census 2021 for the whole suburb. A median here is the suburb’s own Valuer-General median — suburbs without one are blank, never filled with the council figure.
| Suburb | Population | In this council | Median house (VG) | Flood / bushfire | IRSAD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmonton | 11,409 | All | – / 20% | 3 | |
| Redlynch | 10,571 | All | – / 35% | 9 | |
| Mount Sheridan (Qld) | 8,678 | All | – / 34% | 5 | |
| Bentley Park | 8,360 | All | – / 33% | 3 | |
| Mooroobool | 7,136 | All | – / 15% | 3 | |
| Gordonvale | 6,944 | All | – / 22% | 3 | |
| Smithfield (Qld) | 6,664 | All | – / 42% | 7 | |
| Trinity Beach | 6,594 | All | – / 57% | 7 | |
| Manoora (Qld) | 6,175 | All | – / 21% | 1 | |
| Kewarra Beach | 6,133 | All | – / 32% | 7 | |
| Brinsmead | 5,537 | All | – / 19% | 8 | |
| Cairns North | 5,334 | All | – / 1% | 4 | |
| Manunda | 5,191 | All | – / 40% | 1 | |
| Woree | 5,127 | All | – / 27% | 1 | |
| White Rock (Cairns - Qld) | 4,918 | All | – / 10% | 2 | |
| Whitfield (Qld) | 4,262 | All | – / 32% | 7 | |
| Earlville | 4,200 | All | – / 28% | 3 | |
| Bayview Heights | 4,175 | All | – / 36% | 7 | |
| Edge Hill | 4,088 | All | – / 23% | 7 | |
| Westcourt | 3,841 | All | – / 0% | 1 | |
| Parramatta Park | 3,621 | All | – / 9% | 2 | |
| Cairns City | 3,616 | All | – / 0% | 8 | |
| Trinity Park | 3,536 | All | – / 24% | 7 | |
| Clifton Beach (Qld) | 3,192 | All | – / 62% | 7 | |
| Kanimbla (Qld) | 2,827 | All | – / 57% | 9 | |
| Yorkeys Knob | 2,794 | All | – / 17% | 3 | |
| Palm Cove | 2,450 | All | – / 58% | 7 | |
| Holloways Beach | 2,398 | All | – / 20% | 3 | |
| Bungalow | 2,358 | All | – / 1% | 1 | |
| Caravonica | 2,183 | All | – / 20% | 6 | |
| Freshwater (Qld) | 2,142 | All | – / 31% | 8 | |
| Babinda (Qld) | 1,287 | All | – / <1% | 1 | |
| Stratford (Qld) | 1,198 | All | – / 66% | 9 | |
| Goldsborough (Qld) | 1,099 | All | – / 56% | 8 | |
| Kamerunga | 962 | All | – / 40% | 8 | |
| Machans Beach | 943 | All | – / 36% | 5 | |
| Mount Peter | 689 | All | – / 49% | 7 | |
| Aloomba | 576 | All | – / 15% | 4 | |
| Mirriwinni | 492 | All | – / 7% | 3 | |
| Aeroglen | 405 | All | – / 15% | 7 | |
| Portsmith | 314 | All | – / 1% | 2 | |
| Little Mulgrave | 269 | All | – / 58% | 5 | |
| Eubenangee | 247 | 51% | – / 28% | 5 | |
| East Trinity | 238 | All | – / 53% | 7 | |
| Bellenden Ker | 229 | All | – / 5% | 4 | |
| Fishery Falls | 205 | All | – / <1% | 3 | |
| Green Hill | 177 | All | – / 25% | 8 | |
| Bramston Beach | 173 | All | – / 58% | 2 | |
| Bartle Frere | 169 | All | – / <1% | 6 | |
| Wrights Creek (Qld) | 160 | All | – / 9% | 7 | |
| Deeral | 151 | All | – / 37% | 3 | |
| Packers Camp | 136 | All | – / 10% | 8 | |
| Woopen Creek | 135 | All | – / 2% | 6 | |
| Fitzroy Island | 85 | All | – / 78% | 8 | |
| East Russell | 83 | All | – / 17% | 4 | |
| Barron | 68 | All | – / 5% | 7 | |
| Waugh Pocket | 46 | All | – / 1% | 6 | |
| Green Island | 20 | All | – / 0% | 8 | |
| Glen Boughton | 19 | All | – / 80% | 8 | |
| Lamb Range | 7 | All | – / 28% | ||
| Ellis Beach | 5 | All | – / 76% | ||
| Barron Gorge | All | – / 36% | |||
| Macalister Range | All | – / 55% | |||
| Ngatjan | 39% | – / <1% | |||
| Wooroonooran (Cairns - Qld) | 60% | – / 13% |
Hazards
Share of each member suburb's land inside the mapped layer, averaged across the council weighted by the residents each suburb contributes. Only suburbs a source covers count; the rest are left out, not counted as zero.
Representation
Federal electorates and state districts covering the council, by share of the residents its suburbs contribute (each suburb counts once, for the seat containing a representative interior point).
Federal electorates
- Leichhardt · Matt SMITH (ALP)80%
- Kennedy · Bob KATTER (KAP)20%
State districts
- Cairns · Michael Healy (ALP)35%
- Mulgrave · Terry James (LNP)32%
- Barron River · Bree James (LNP)31%
- Hill · Shane Knuth (KAP)2%
Neighbouring councils
Councils in the same state whose suburbs share a boundary with this one's, and councils it splits a suburb with.
Compare it with every Queensland council on the council map or the Queensland council list.
Boundaries: ABS ASGS Edition 3, LGA 2024 boundaries; suburbs allocated by 2021 mesh block, weighted by Census 2021 residents. Population: ABS estimated resident population 2025. Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021: ABS. Council-wide medians: ABS Data by Region. Approvals: ABS Building Approvals. Grants: Financial Assistance Grants, Dept of Infrastructure. Flood and bushfire: state planning layers. Observed water: Geoscience Australia DEA Water Observations. Website and identity: Wikidata (CC0). ABS, Dept of Infrastructure and state government data CC BY 4.0. Council facts loaded 2026-09-24.