Wide Bay, QLD
rum · sugarcane · turtles · reef-access
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Move Regional compares towns across QLD, NSW and WA on price, work, schools and lifestyle, so you can find the one that fits.
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Drive to the coast
18 min
By road
Nearest major hospital
3 min
By road
Airport access
8 min
By road
Schools access
Excellent
Average daytime temp
27.2°C
Rainfall
Moderate rainfall
Bundaberg is a working regional city set among sugarcane and farming country, with the coast close enough to use regularly but not close enough to define every suburb. Around 52,000 people live here, the median age is 42 and population growth has been steady at about 6% since 2016.
Healthcare, retail, transport, education and trades provide a broad employment base, while agriculture and food production remain visible in the wider economy. The city is well serviced, with strong schools, hospital access, shopping and an airport only about ten minutes away.
Housing is one of the bigger draws, with a median around $680,000 and three-bedroom rents near $585 a week. Mon Repos, the Burnett River, local aviation history and Bundaberg’s rum-making identity give weekends recognisable local options without turning the whole city into a visitor precinct.
The beach is about 20 minutes away, so residents tend to drive for coastal time rather than live around it every day. Summers are hot and the city is spread out, making a car useful for most households. Brisbane is roughly 4 hours 15 minutes away. Bundaberg suits people who want affordable regional-city services with coast and countryside nearby, and who are comfortable with a more functional, workaday feel than polished resort towns provide.
21 photos
Families, healthcare workers, tradespeople, agricultural workers, professionals and budget-conscious movers are likely to find Bundaberg practical. It also works for people who want coastal weekends and regional services but do not need to walk to the beach from home every day.
Summers are hot and the city is car-oriented rather than highly walkable. The beach requires a drive, and Brisbane is about 4 hours 15 minutes away. Housing is affordable, but the lifestyle is more functional than the polished coastal experience some tree-changers expect.
Tour Bundaberg Rum Distillery
See Mon Repos turtles
Visit Hinkler Hall of Aviation
Cruise the Burnett River
Median house price
$680,000
27% below the QLD median
Median attached price (townhouse/apartment)
$498,000
Median weekly rent (3-bed house)
$585
≈ $2,535/month
Sourced from Queensland Government Statistician's Office · 12 months ending 31 March 2026
Healthcare access
Excellent
Shopping & everyday services
Excellent
10+ shopping centres within 20km — a real retail hub
Internet connection
Fixed line
Plus 29 more within 20km — showing the 8 closest.
Job market by industry
Healthcare — 17.4%
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 Maryborough, Hervey Bay, Bargara, Gympie and Kingaroy.
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.
Bundaberg (UCL 311001) · 2021 Census
Older than the country as a whole: 24.2% are 65 or over against 17.2% nationally, and 17.7% are children against 18.2%. Among households, couples without children outnumber couples with them (43.3% of families against 33.1%).
Population
52,370
Population growth
+5.8%
Bundaberg (SA2 319011495)
Median age
42 years
Labour force participation
51.8%
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
$605
Per week · ≈ $31,460/year
Median family income
$1,440
Per week
Median household income
$1,134
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
61.5%
Rented
34.6%
Born in Australia
81.8%
Born overseas
12%
Doesn't sum to 100% — people who didn't state a birthplace are excluded rather than redistributed.