Bulimba, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Bulimba is a riverside suburb on a bend of the Brisbane River, about four kilometres north-east of the city centre though somewhat further by road. Its name is reportedly a Yugarapul word said to mean 'place of the magpie lark', a name it shares with nearby Bulimba Creek; the area is part of the country of the Yuggara people, connected to it for many thousands of years. In the 1820s it was known as Toogoolawah and farmed as a rural district, before the 1880s land boom brought rounds of residential subdivision. Today Oxford Street is its spine — a heritage-rich strip of shops and cafes running down to the ferry — and the suburb keeps a strong boating tradition, the Norman R. Wright & Sons shipyard having built many of Brisbane's river ferries since the 1930s.
Among Australia's more advantaged suburbs
Bulimba is more socio-economically advantaged than about 99% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 1143, 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.
Bulimba at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 7,623
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $2,805
- SEIFA score
- 1143
- Coordinates
- -27.4495, 153.0608
Bulimba demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Bulimba 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 young adults (25–44) at 30%, 37% of homes are rented, and 28% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 1,350 | 18% |
| Youth (15–24) | 807 | 11% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 2,259 | 30% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 2,195 | 29% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,023 | 13% |
Share of the 7,634 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 812 | 27% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,019 | 34% |
| Rented | 1,098 | 37% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,362 | 46% |
| Townhouses & semis | 438 | 15% |
| Flats & apartments | 1,177 | 39% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,984 occupied private dwellings in Bulimba.
- Median weekly rent
- $500
- Median monthly mortgage
- $2,800
- Average household size
- 2.4 people
- Median weekly family income
- $3,626
- Median weekly personal income
- $1,393
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 2,045 (28%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 900 (12%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 79 (1%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 4,640 (77%)
- Labour-force participation
- 71.2%
- Unemployment rate
- 3.8%
- Employed full-time
- 2,857
- Employed part-time
- 1,122
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.
Weather and climate in Bulimba
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Bulimba is January (average daytime high around 29.4°C) and the coolest is July (around 20.7°C). The area receives roughly 945 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.4°C | 20.7°C | 111 mm |
| Feb | 29.2°C | 20.6°C | 154 mm |
| Mar | 28.2°C | 19.9°C | 133 mm |
| Apr | 25.7°C | 16.6°C | 45 mm |
| May | 23.1°C | 13.7°C | 71 mm |
| Jun | 20.8°C | 11.3°C | 40 mm |
| Jul | 20.7°C | 10.1°C | 35 mm |
| Aug | 22.2°C | 10.8°C | 37 mm |
| Sep | 24.5°C | 13°C | 44 mm |
| Oct | 26.3°C | 15.7°C | 97 mm |
| Nov | 28.2°C | 17.8°C | 75 mm |
| Dec | 29.2°C | 19.7°C | 103 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Bulimba
Where is Bulimba?
Bulimba is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Bulimba?
At the 2021 Census, Bulimba had a population of about 7,623.
Is Bulimba an advantaged area?
Bulimba has an ABS SEIFA score of 1143, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 99 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 99% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Bulimba?
Bulimba has average daytime highs of about 25.6°C and overnight lows of about 15.8°C, with roughly 945 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
Where Bulimba ranks
Bulimba appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
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Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.