Atherton Tablelands, QLD
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Drive to the coast
32 min
By road
Nearest major hospital
32 min
By road
Airport access
43 min
By road
Schools access
Excellent
Average daytime temp
29.0°C
Rainfall
Very wet
Kuranda is a rainforest village on the edge of the Atherton Tablelands, about half an hour from the Cairns northern beaches and best known for its Original Rainforest Markets, the Scenic Railway and the Skyrail. About 3,300 people live here, the median age is 46 and the wider area has grown by roughly 9% since 2016.
The village has long attracted artists, musicians and people who wanted an alternative to city life, and that character survives underneath the day-tripper crowds. The median house price is about $800,000, high for the Tablelands and a long way above Atherton or Herberton.
Schooling is good for a village, with a combined primary and secondary state college in town and a Steiner school nearby, and Cairns shopping centres are within reach, though the nearest public hospital is at Mareeba, about 30 minutes away. The climate is tropical, with hot humid summers, warm winters and around 2,470mm of rain a year. Cairns Airport is around 45 minutes away and Brisbane more than 21 hours by road. Kuranda suits people who want a creative rainforest setting close to Cairns and can live with the visitors. Anyone after a quiet, low-tourism town should look elsewhere.
22 photos
Creative people, remote workers, families who want village schooling in a rainforest setting, and anyone who wants Cairns within reach without living in it are the clearest fit. Tourism and hospitality are the obvious local employers; most other jobs mean a drive down the range to Cairns. Fixed-line NBN reaches the village centre.
Tourism is very high and the markets, railway and Skyrail draw visitors most days. Rainfall is around 2,470mm a year and summers are hot and humid. The nearest public hospital is Mareeba, about 30 minutes away, and the range road to Cairns can close after heavy rain. Brisbane is more than 21 hours by road, so flights go via Cairns. House prices are high for the region, and the attached-dwelling market is too small to publish a median.
Ride the Kuranda Scenic Railway or Skyrail
Browse the Original Rainforest Markets
Walk to Barron Falls
Median house price
$800,000
14% below the QLD median
Sourced from Queensland Government Statistician's Office · 12 months ending 31 March 2026
Healthcare access
Moderate
Shopping & everyday services
Excellent
10+ shopping centres within 20km — a real retail hub
Internet connection
Fixed line
Plus 34 more within 20km — showing the 8 closest.
Job market by industry
Healthcare — 16%
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 Cairns, Cape Tribulation, Mission Beach, Palm Cove, Port Douglas, Herberton, Yungaburra and Atherton.
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.
Kuranda (SAL 31589) · 2021 Census
The age profile is close to the national one, with 20.2% aged 65 or over against 17.2% and 18.4% children against 18.2%. Among households, couples without children outnumber couples with them (45.7% of families against 33.9%).
Population
3,273
Population growth
+9.4%
Kuranda (SA2 306051168)
Median age
46 years
Labour force participation
50.4%
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
$600
Per week · ≈ $31,200/year
Median family income
$1,617
Per week
Median household income
$1,284
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
71.3%
Rented
25.4%
Born in Australia
66%
Born overseas
20.1%
Doesn't sum to 100% — people who didn't state a birthplace are excluded rather than redistributed.