Laidley, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Laidley is a town in the Lockyer Valley of south-east Queensland, about 84 kilometres west of Brisbane and 57 kilometres east of Toowoomba. The Ugarapul people are the traditional owners of the Lockyer Valley. The district was named Laidley Plains in 1829 by the botanical explorer Allan Cunningham, after James Laidley, a senior colonial official. Blessed with rich alluvial soils, the surrounding valley is one of Australia's most productive vegetable-growing areas, sometimes called Queensland's Country Garden, and supplies a large share of the nation's carrots, potatoes and beetroot. The town began as a stop on the wagon road between Ipswich and Toowoomba and keeps its history at the Laidley Pioneer Village and the Das Neumann Haus museum.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Laidley is more socio-economically advantaged than about 3% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 834, 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.
Laidley at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 3,809
- Median age
- 48
- Median weekly household income
- $939
- SEIFA score
- 834
- Coordinates
- -27.6396, 152.4133
Laidley demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Laidley 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 seniors (65+) at 29%, 35% of homes are rented, and 13% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 650 | 17% |
| Youth (15–24) | 385 | 10% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 737 | 19% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 925 | 24% |
| Seniors (65+) | 1,116 | 29% |
Share of the 3,813 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 514 | 34% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 348 | 23% |
| Rented | 532 | 35% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 1,324 | 87% |
| Townhouses & semis | 120 | 8% |
| Flats & apartments | 0 | 0% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 1,514 occupied private dwellings in Laidley.
- Median weekly rent
- $300
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,155
- Average household size
- 2.3 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,213
- Median weekly personal income
- $495
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 453 (13%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 139 (4%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 258 (7%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 1,039 (34%)
- Labour-force participation
- 40.9%
- Unemployment rate
- 10.3%
- Employed full-time
- 607
- Employed part-time
- 440
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 Laidley
Where is Laidley?
Laidley is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Laidley?
At the 2021 Census, Laidley had a population of about 3,809.
Is Laidley an advantaged area?
Laidley has an ABS SEIFA score of 834, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 3 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 3% of Australian suburbs.
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