Whitsundays, QLD
tropical · social · sailing · resort-town
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Drive to the coast
3 min
By road
Nearest major hospital
26 min
By road
Airport access
39 min
By road
Schools access
Moderate
Average daytime temp
26.4°C
Rainfall
Wet
Airlie Beach is a resort town before it is a conventional residential centre, and that shapes almost every part of life. Around 10,600 people live in the wider urban area, yet tourism, sailing and Whitsundays access keep the main street and waterfront far busier than the permanent population suggests.
The population is about 24% higher than in 2016, while housing sits around a $900,000 median and three-bedroom rents near $780 a week. The lagoon, marina and island trips mean the water is genuinely central to the lifestyle, and hospitality and visitor services dominate the local atmosphere.
Schools are limited beyond the primary years, the nearest major hospital is about 25 minutes away and shopping is useful without being extensive. The climate is warm, humid and wet, with little winter cold. Brisbane is more than 13 hours away by road, so flying from the airport about 40 minutes away is the sensible connection south.
Quiet is hard to find in the main visitor areas, especially in peak periods. Airlie Beach works for people whose work and social life fit a tourism-driven coastal town and who enjoy constant visitor energy. Anyone seeking a low-key local community with broad family services should look carefully at the trade-offs.
10 photos
A social, tourism-driven waterfront is the whole point of living in Airlie Beach. Hospitality workers, active singles and couples, remote workers and boating people can have sailing, island access, walkability and nightlife close together. It is a poor match if the aim is deep quiet, rural space or a town that feels insulated from visitors.
Tourism dominates the town and quiet is very limited. Secondary-school choice is thin, and the nearest hospital is around 26 minutes away. Brisbane is roughly 13 hours 15 minutes by road, so flying is the practical way to connect south. Anyone looking for a local, low-key beach town may find it too visitor-led.
Use Airlie as the gateway to the Whitsundays
Sail or cruise to islands and reef
Swim at the lagoon and enjoy the lively main street
More from Londoner in Sydney
Looking for the best things to do in Airlie Beach, Whitsunday Islands and Great Barrier Reef? There’s plenty to do in this awesome little town, we’ve stayed here multiple times in the last couple of years!
Read the guideMedian house price
$900,000
3% below the QLD median
Median attached price (townhouse/apartment)
$545,000
Median weekly rent (3-bed house)
$780
≈ $3,380/month
Sourced from Queensland Government Statistician's Office · 12 months ending 31 March 2026
Healthcare access
Good
Shopping & everyday services
Good
4–9 shopping centres within 20km
Internet connection
Fixed line
Job market by industry
Trades — 16.4%
Largest share of local jobs
Employment figures cover this town's wider statistical region, not the town alone — you'll see the same figures for Mackay and Bowen.
The score ranks this region against other regions for the same occupation, not against other jobs here — a low score means it isn't a regional stronghold for that field, not that there are no vacancies. Counts online job advertisements, so trades and farm work hired by word of mouth are undercounted, and outside capital cities this is published at a regional level larger than one town.
Airlie Beach - Cannonvale (UCL 313001) · 2021 Census
Younger than the national profile, with 12.4% aged 65 or over against 17.2%. Among households, couples without children outnumber couples with them (46.1% of families against 35.3%), and renting is well above the national rate, at 42.9% of dwellings against 30.6%.
Population
10,646
Population growth
+24.1%
Airlie - Whitsundays (SA2 312031359)
Median age
37 years
Labour force participation
67%
Growth is measured across the wider area named under the figure, which can be a different size to the town.
Share of total population in each band — rounding means these won't land on exactly 100%.
Couples are a share of total families; lone-person households are a share of total households — different bases, not one breakdown.
Median personal income
$876
Per week · ≈ $45,552/year
Median family income
$1,918
Per week
Median household income
$1,604
Per week
Personal is one person's income; family and household cover everyone living together — a single-income household will show a lower household figure than its highest earner's personal one. Personal income also covers every resident aged 15 and over, retirees included, so it reads low in a town with an older population even where household income is solid.
Owner-occupied
54.6%
Rented
42.9%
Born in Australia
67.5%
Born overseas
22.3%
Doesn't sum to 100% — people who didn't state a birthplace are excluded rather than redistributed.