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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Cairns City is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 3,616, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 1389 km from the Brisbane CBD, Cairns City is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $84,604 per year.
Household incomes in Cairns City sit in a comfortable mid-range for the Queensland market. The coastal setting provides a lifestyle factor that underpins property values.
Official Australia Post postcode for Cairns City. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 1 school within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Cairns City on My School →Estimated 1 park and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Cairns City is a smaller community of 3,616 — about 66% of the Queensland suburb median (5,474) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Household income of $84,604/year is 6% below the Queensland median of $90,298, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Median weekly rent of $413 equates to $1,790/month — about 103% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,733/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. Cairns City is 1389 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 2% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
Coastal markets benefit from lifestyle appeal but require a buffer for higher insurance and occasional weather-driven vacancies. Local rents consume roughly 25% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Cairns City stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Cairns City sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Cairns City | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,616 | 5,474 | -34% |
| Median household income | $84,604/yr | $90,298/yr | -6% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $413 | $385 | +7% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,733 | $1,733 | 0% |
| Distance to CBD | 1389 km | 62 km | +2140% |
| Separate houses | 2% | 77% | -75pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Cairns City — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Cairns City's 3,616-person market and $84,604 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage: $413/week (~$1,790/month) covers 103% of the $1,733/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $0/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
Only 2% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% QLD median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Run the numbers on a Cairns City property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Capital-growth expectations for Cairns City are modest for 2026 — incomes 6% below the QLD median of $90,298 and a population of 3,616 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. Rental coverage runs at ~103% of the typical mortgage ($1,790/month rent vs $1,733/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 52/100 places Cairns City in the mid tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
Lived in Cairns City? Help other investors with an honest 100-word review. Sign-in required; all reviews are manually moderated before they appear.
Cairns City scores 52/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a moderate rating. That score is driven by a population of 3,616, median household income of $84,604/year and median weekly rent of $413. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Cairns City are a median household income of $84,604/year, a dwelling mix that is 2% separate houses, roughly 1 schools and 1 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Cairns City has a usual resident population of approximately 3,616, compared with a Queensland suburb median of 5,474 — placing it in the lower half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Cairns City sits 1389 km straight-line from the Brisbane CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $413 in Cairns City, equating to approximately $21,476/year in gross rental income (state median $385/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Cairns City is $1,733, or approximately $20,796/year (vs $1,733/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $413 works out to $1,790/month, covering 103% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,733/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $57/month, so on these numbers Cairns City leans cash-flow-positive before accounting for strata, council rates, insurance and maintenance. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (3,616 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,733 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (2% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.