Dalby, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Dalby is a rural town on the Darling Downs of southern Queensland, about 210 kilometres west-north-west of Brisbane and a little over 80 kilometres from Toowoomba. It grew up around a crossing of Myall Creek, a tributary of the Condamine River, on the Country of the Barunggam people. The town is thought to take its name from a village of Dalby on the Isle of Man, a name chosen by the surveyor Samuel Perry when he laid out the township in 1853. Settled from the early 1840s, Dalby was proclaimed a town in 1854 and reached by railway in 1868. Today it is the administrative centre of the Western Downs and the hub of one of Australia's richest grain and cotton districts, surrounded by wheat, sorghum and cattle country.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Dalby is more socio-economically advantaged than about 18% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 922, 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.
Dalby at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 12,758
- Median age
- 35
- Median weekly household income
- $1,462
- SEIFA score
- 922
- Coordinates
- -27.1411, 151.2497
Dalby demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Dalby 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 25%, 35% of homes are rented, and 9% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 2,884 | 23% |
| Youth (15–24) | 1,706 | 13% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 3,168 | 25% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 3,037 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,966 | 15% |
Share of the 12,761 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 1,299 | 29% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 1,551 | 34% |
| Rented | 1,590 | 35% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 4,145 | 91% |
| Townhouses & semis | 357 | 8% |
| Flats & apartments | 11 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 4,545 occupied private dwellings in Dalby.
- Median weekly rent
- $260
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,300
- Average household size
- 2.6 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,821
- Median weekly personal income
- $753
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 1,020 (9%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 606 (5%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 1,122 (9%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 4,182 (45%)
- Labour-force participation
- 62.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 4.8%
- Employed full-time
- 3,682
- Employed part-time
- 1,849
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 Dalby
Where is Dalby?
Dalby is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Dalby?
At the 2021 Census, Dalby had a population of about 12,758.
Is Dalby an advantaged area?
Dalby has an ABS SEIFA score of 922, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 18 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 18% of Australian suburbs.
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