Cairns North, QLD

By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan · Updated 30 May 2026

37/100

Suburb Score

Less advantaged than the national average

Cairns North is more socio-economically advantaged than about 37% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 965, 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.

Cairns North at a glance

Population (2021): 5,334
Median age: 37
Median weekly household income: $1,402
SEIFA score: 965
Coordinates: -16.9034, 145.7624

Cairns North demographics (2021 Census)

The figures below profile Cairns North 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 38%, 64% of homes are rented, and 40% of residents were born overseas.

Age profile

Age group	People	Share
Children (0–14)	614	11%
Youth (15–24)	669	13%
Young adults (25–44)	2,032	38%
Mid-life (45–64)	1,352	25%
Seniors (65+)	673	13%

Share of the 5,340 people counted by age.

Housing and households

Tenure	Dwellings	Share
Owned outright	330	16%
Owned with a mortgage	366	18%
Rented	1,309	64%

Dwelling type	Dwellings	Share
Houses	292	14%
Townhouses & semis	90	4%
Flats & apartments	1,639	79%

Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 2,063 occupied private dwellings in Cairns North.

Median weekly rent: $340
Median monthly mortgage: $1,300
Average household size: 1.9 people
Median weekly family income: $1,838
Median weekly personal income: $873

Community and culture

Born overseas: 1,765 (40%)
Speaks a language other than English at home: 1,239 (28%)
Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander: 447 (8%)

Work and education

Completed Year 12: 2,676 (58%)
Labour-force participation: 59.6%
Unemployment rate: 7.4%
Employed full-time: 1,503
Employed part-time: 940

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 Cairns North

Based on 2014–2023 records, the warmest month in Cairns North is February (average daytime high around 30.6°C) and the coolest is July (around 24.3°C). The area receives roughly 1739 mm of rain across the year.

Month	Avg high	Avg low	Rain
Jan	30.4°C	24.2°C	382 mm
Feb	30.6°C	24.3°C	296 mm
Mar	29.6°C	23.7°C	285 mm
Apr	28.3°C	22.6°C	171 mm
May	26.3°C	20.5°C	68 mm
Jun	24.8°C	18.9°C	49 mm
Jul	24.3°C	17.9°C	48 mm
Aug	25.1°C	17.9°C	27 mm
Sep	26.8°C	19.1°C	28 mm
Oct	28.8°C	20.9°C	45 mm
Nov	30.2°C	22.3°C	48 mm
Dec	30.6°C	23.7°C	292 mm

Climate normals, 2014–2023 (Open-Meteo, ERA5 reanalysis).

Common questions about Cairns North

Where is Cairns North?

Cairns North is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.

What is the population of Cairns North?

At the 2021 Census, Cairns North had a population of about 5,334.

Is Cairns North an advantaged area?

Cairns North has an ABS SEIFA score of 965, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 37 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 37% of Australian suburbs.

What is the weather like in Cairns North?

Cairns North has average daytime highs of about 28°C and overnight lows of about 21.3°C, with roughly 1,739 mm of rain across the year (based on 2014–2023 climate normals).