Toowoomba property market: the official numbers
The official read on Toowoomba, 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
At the last census, Toowoomba's median rent was $310/wk — 17% below the national median. The typical repayment was $1,517 a month against $1,343 in rent — a middling gap, neither bargain nor squeeze.
The key 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.
Renting vs paying a mortgage
At the census, the typical monthly rent worked out to $1,343 against a typical mortgage repayment of $1,517:
What this gap does and doesn't tell you
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 33.8% of Toowoomba 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). Toowoomba's median age of 37 sits below the national median of 38.
What the local economy runs on
health care & social assistance employs 19.8% of Toowoomba's 66,126 workers (Census 2021). Local housing demand rises and falls with it.
What it costs to buy in QLD
Current sale prices live behind licensed feeds we won't republish. The costs of buying don't — they're 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.
Questions people ask
What is the median rent in Toowoomba?
At the 2021 Census the median rent in Toowoomba was $310 a week — 17% below the national median ($375/wk). Rents have moved since 2021; check current listings for today's asking rents.
How many people live in Toowoomba?
142,163 people at the 2021 Census, with a median age of 37 (national median: 38). Toowoomba is one of Queensland's significant urban areas as defined by the ABS.
What do people in Toowoomba do for work?
The biggest employing industry is health care & social assistance, followed by education & training (ABS Census 2021). The industry mix shapes how resilient local housing demand is.
So, who buys here?
Your call
Rent covered roughly 89% of the typical repayment here — a middling shape. Owner-occupiers do fine in markets like this; an investor needs a sharper reason to pick it. The catch is concentration: health care & social assistance carries 19.8% 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 Toowoomba. 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.
Other QLD markets
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General information only — not financial or property advice. All figures are ABS Census 2021 ( official QuickStats for Toowoomba, CC-BY 4.0), which predates the 2022–24 rate rises; conditions have moved since. Last reviewed 10 July 2026.