Toogoolawah, QLD
By Lauren McCaleb · Reviewed by Dylan Duncan ·
Toogoolawah is a town in the Brisbane Valley of south-east Queensland, in the Somerset Region about 106 kilometres north-west of Brisbane. First known as Cressbrook, it took its present name from the local railway station around 1903; the name is thought to come from Aboriginal words for a tree with a crescent-shaped or twisted trunk. The town grew when the Cressbrook estate was subdivided into dairy farms, and a condensed-milk factory operated here until 1929. Today Toogoolawah is well known as a skydiving and gliding centre, with tandem jumps over the valley, and it sits on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, a long cycling and walking route along the old railway line. Cressbrook Creek runs through the town.
Among Australia's less advantaged suburbs
Toogoolawah is more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of the 14,462 Australian suburbs we score, based on the ABS SEIFA index (raw score 886, 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.
Toogoolawah at a glance
- Population (2021)
- 1,200
- Median age
- 56
- Median weekly household income
- $967
- SEIFA score
- 886
- Coordinates
- -27.0933, 152.3699
Toogoolawah demographics (2021 Census)
The figures below profile Toogoolawah 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 37%, 23% of homes are rented, and 11% of residents were born overseas.
Age profile
| Age group | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Children (0–14) | 161 | 13% |
| Youth (15–24) | 98 | 8% |
| Young adults (25–44) | 189 | 16% |
| Mid-life (45–64) | 318 | 26% |
| Seniors (65+) | 446 | 37% |
Share of the 1,212 people counted by age.
Housing and households
| Tenure | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Owned outright | 241 | 47% |
| Owned with a mortgage | 129 | 25% |
| Rented | 116 | 23% |
| Dwelling type | Dwellings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 479 | 93% |
| Townhouses & semis | 25 | 5% |
| Flats & apartments | 3 | 1% |
Tenure and dwelling shares are of the roughly 515 occupied private dwellings in Toogoolawah.
- Median weekly rent
- $260
- Median monthly mortgage
- $1,127
- Average household size
- 2.2 people
- Median weekly family income
- $1,230
- Median weekly personal income
- $501
Community and culture
- Born overseas
- 123 (11%)
- Speaks a language other than English at home
- 19 (2%)
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- 58 (5%)
Work and education
- Completed Year 12
- 358 (35%)
- Labour-force participation
- 41.5%
- Unemployment rate
- 5.1%
- Employed full-time
- 218
- Employed part-time
- 141
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 Toogoolawah
Where is Toogoolawah?
Toogoolawah is a suburb of Queensland, Australia.
What is the population of Toogoolawah?
At the 2021 Census, Toogoolawah had a population of about 1,200.
Is Toogoolawah an advantaged area?
Toogoolawah has an ABS SEIFA score of 886, where about 1000 is the national average — higher scores indicate greater relative socio-economic advantage. That gives it a Suburb Score of 9 out of 100 — more socio-economically advantaged than about 9% of Australian suburbs.
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