Caboolture, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Caboolture is a town and suburb on the northern bank of the Caboolture River, about 44 kilometres north of Brisbane in the City of Moreton Bay. It marks the northern edge of the greater Brisbane commuter network, where the suburban trains give way to the North Coast line. The Gubbi Gubbi people are recognised as the traditional custodians of the district, and the name is said to come from a Yugarabul word for the place of the carpet snake. European settlement followed in 1842, when land around the former Moreton Bay penal colony was opened to free settlers; by the mid-1860s local pastoralists were trying their hand at sugar cane and cotton. A small township grew from 1867 as a supply point for settlers and for miners trekking north to the Gympie goldfields, and from 1868 it was a stop on the Cobb and Co coach run between Brisbane, Gympie and Maryborough. The shire was constituted in 1879 and the railway from Brisbane reached the town in 1888. Today Caboolture is a regional hub with a country-market tradition, the Abbey Museum, a historical village and a warplane museum at its airfield. The country singer Keith Urban grew up here after his family moved north when he was a small child.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Caboolture is more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 878, 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.
Caboolture at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 29,534
- Median age
- 36
- Median weekly household income
- $1,310
- SEIFA score
- 878
- Coordinates
- -27.0660, 152.9749
Caboolture demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Caboolture 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 27%, 42% of homes are rented, and 19% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 6,146 | 21% |
| Youth (15–24) | 3,654 | 12% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 7,914 | 27% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 6,599 | 22% |
| Seniors (65+) | 5,225 | 18% |
Share of the 29,538 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 2,140 | 21% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 3,474 | 34% |
| Rented | 4,343 | 42% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 7,959 | 77% |
| Townhouses & semis | 2,026 | 20% |
| Flats & apartments | 225 | 2% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 10,297 occupied private dwellings in Caboolture.
- Median weekly rent
- $310
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,561
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,553
- Median weekly personal income
- $640
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 5,177 (19%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 2,469 (9%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 2,025 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 9,808 (44%)
- Labour-force participation
- 54.1%
- Unemployment rate
- 7.7%
- Employed full-time
- 6,403
- Employed part-time
- 4,052
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 Caboolture
Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Caboolture is January (average daytime high around 29.1°C) and the coolest is July (around 20.8°C). The area receives roughly 1132 mm of rain across the year.
| Month | Avg high | Avg low | Rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 29.1°C | 20.6°C | 123 mm |
| Feb | 28.6°C | 20.6°C | 188 mm |
| Mar | 27.9°C | 20°C | 160 mm |
| Apr | 25.3°C | 16.8°C | 72 mm |
| May | 22.9°C | 13.9°C | 91 mm |
| Jun | 20.8°C | 11.5°C | 53 mm |
| Jul | 20.8°C | 10.3°C | 43 mm |
| Aug | 22.3°C | 10.7°C | 38 mm |
| Sep | 24.5°C | 13°C | 44 mm |
| Oct | 26.3°C | 15.6°C | 108 mm |
| Nov | 27.9°C | 17.7°C | 88 mm |
| Dec | 29°C | 19.6°C | 124 mm |
Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).
Common questions about Caboolture
Where is Caboolture?
Caboolture is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Caboolture?
At the 2021 Census, Caboolture had a population of about 29,534.
Is Caboolture an advantaged area?
Caboolture has an ABS SEIFA score of 878, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 8 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 8% of Australian suburbs.
What is the weather like in Caboolture?
Caboolture has average daytime highs of about 25.5°C and overnight lows of about 15.9°C, with roughly 1,132 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).
How big is Caboolture?
Caboolture is one of the most populous suburbs in Queensland — the 3rd-largest by usual resident population at the 2021 Census (about 29,534 usual residents).
Where Caboolture ranks
Caboolture appears in these data-driven guides — each a transparent sort on a single ABS figure shown on this page.
- Largest suburbs in Queensland#3 of 25
Nearby suburbs in Queensland
More suburb guides in Queensland
Other hand-written, cited guides — browse all guides.