Cairns property market: the official numbers
The official read on Cairns, QLD: who lives there, what they pay in rent and repayments, and where the jobs are. Every figure below is ABS Census 2021 data, linked at the bottom so you can check it yourself.
The straight answer
Cairns rented at a median $340/wk in 2021 — 9% below the national median. Rent all but covered the typical mortgage repayment ($1,473 against $1,595 a month) — that's a cashflow shape, not a scarcity story.
Cairns by the numbers
The typical repayment ran at about 23% of the median household income. Point-in-time medians, August 2021. Repayments have risen a long way since the 2022–24 rate rises, so use these to compare places, not to price anything today.
The rent-or-buy gap
At the census, the typical monthly rent worked out to $1,473 against a typical mortgage repayment of $1,595:
How to read the rent-repayment gap
The mortgage figure reflects loans and rates as at August 2021, before the 2022–24 rate rises — today's repayment on a new loan would be higher. The rent figure is what tenants were actually paying, not today's asking rents. The useful signal is the shape: where rent and repayments sit close together, buying has historically competed well with renting here; where repayments tower over rent, the market prices in growth. Run your own numbers with the mortgage vs invest tool or what can I afford?
Who owns, who rents
Renters are 36.1% of Cairns households. If you're buying to let, that's the depth of your market — a deep pool by national standards.
The age mix
What the age mix means for housing
A heavy 25–44 band usually means family housing demand (and pressure on 3–4 bedroom stock); a heavy 65+ band signals downsizer and retiree demand (units, single-level living, proximity to health care). Cairns's median age of 39 sits above the national median of 38.
Where the pay cheques come from
health care & social assistance employs 18.4% of Cairns's 73,295 workers (Census 2021). Local housing demand rises and falls with it.
Buying costs in QLD, exactly
We don't republish licensed price feeds, so for today's sale prices check a licensed source. The costs of buying, though, are public and exact:
- Stamp duty in Queensland — exact duty and first-home-buyer concessions.
- What can I afford? — borrowing power, price range and all-in upfront cash.
- The official QLD price trend — ABS state-level values since 2011, interactive.
Quick answers
What is the median rent in Cairns?
At the 2021 Census the median rent in Cairns was $340 a week — 9% below the national median ($375/wk). Rents have moved since 2021; check current listings for today's asking rents.
How many people live in Cairns?
153,425 people at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 39 (national median: 38). Cairns is one of Queensland's significant urban areas as defined by the ABS.
What do people in Cairns do for work?
The biggest employing industry is health care & social assistance, followed by accommodation & food services (ABS Census 2021). The industry mix shapes how resilient local housing demand is.
Where this leaves you
Your call
On the census shape, Cairns suits the cashflow buyer: the typical rent ($1,473/mo) sat right up against the typical repayment ($1,595/mo). It's a weaker fit for anyone banking on scarcity to do the work. The catch is concentration: health care & social assistance carries 18.4% of local jobs, and that cuts both ways — it drives housing demand in the good years and takes it away in the bad ones.
Everything above is August 2021 — before you act, pull current asking rents, vacancy and listing volumes for Cairns. Then run your own numbers: what can I afford? for borrowing power and upfront cash, and the Queensland stamp duty calculator for the tax bill.
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General information only — not financial or property advice. All figures are ABS Census 2021 ( official QuickStats for Cairns, CC-BY 4.0), which predates the 2022–24 rate rises; conditions have moved since. Last reviewed 10 July 2026.