Cunnamulla, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Cunnamulla is an outback town in south-west Queensland, on the Warrego River about 790 kilometres west of Brisbane and roughly 200 kilometres south of Charleville. The Kunja people are recognised as the original inhabitants of this country, which lies within the Gunya language region. The town grew from the Cunnamulla cattle station, taken up by Samuel Smith in 1863, and the name itself is said to come from an Aboriginal word for a deep waterhole in the Warrego. Surveyed in 1868 and reached by railway from Charleville in 1898, it became a busy wool and sheep centre on the road south to New South Wales. Its best-known landmark is the Cunnamulla Fella statue, unveiled in 2005 to honour the Slim Dusty song.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Cunnamulla is more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 858, 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.
Cunnamulla at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,233
- Median age
- 40
- Median weekly household income
- $994
- SEIFA score
- 858
- Coordinates
- -28.0109, 145.7780
Cunnamulla demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Cunnamulla 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 mid-life (45–64) at 27%, 42% of homes are rented, and 5% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 293 | 24% |
| Youth (15–24) | 113 | 9% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 261 | 21% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 327 | 27% |
| Seniors (65+) | 234 | 19% |
Share of the 1,228 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 191 | 37% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 64 | 12% |
| Rented | 218 | 42% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 457 | 90% |
| Townhouses & semis | 28 | 6% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 509 occupied private dwellings in Cunnamulla.
- Median weekly rent
- $125
- Median monthly mortgage
- $729
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,322
- Median weekly personal income
- $591
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 55 (5%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 38 (3%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 548 (44%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 330 (36%)
- Labour-force participation
- 51.8%
- Unemployment rate
- 6.2%
- Employed full-time
- 301
- Employed part-time
- 130
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.
Common questions about Cunnamulla
Where is Cunnamulla?
Cunnamulla is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Cunnamulla?
At the 2021 Census, Cunnamulla had a population of about 1,233.
Is Cunnamulla an advantaged area?
Cunnamulla has an ABS SEIFA score of 858, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 5 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 5% of Australian suburbs.
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