North QLD, QLD
tropical · laid-back · outdoorsy · regional-city
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Drive to the coast
2 min
By road
Nearest major hospital
14 min
By road
Airport access
9 min
By road
Schools access
Excellent
Average daytime temp
29.4°C
Rainfall
Moderate rainfall
Townsville is a tropical city with enough scale to support a full working life rather than relying on tourism to keep it moving. Around 174,000 people live here, and the workforce is broad across healthcare, trades, retail, education and services.
Recent population growth is limited, at about 1% since 2016, so the city feels established rather than caught in a rapid expansion cycle. Schools, hospital care, shopping and the airport are all easy to access, which gives Townsville a level of self-sufficiency that matters when Brisbane is roughly 16 hours away by road.
The Strand, Castle Hill and the ferry to Magnetic Island put outdoor options close to ordinary suburban life, while the climate is unmistakably northern: summers are hot and humidity is part of the year. The housing market is relatively accessible for a large coastal city, with a median house price around $658,000 and three-bedroom rents near $565 a week.
The trade-off is that this is not a quiet beach settlement. Traffic, suburban spread and city-scale activity are part of living here, and rural space is limited within the urban area. Townsville works for people who need jobs, schools and services locally but still want the sea and tropical outdoors to be part of the week.
19 photos
Tropical weather and coastal access come with the jobs, schools, healthcare and shopping of a large regional city in Townsville. Families, healthcare workers, defence-linked households, tradespeople and professionals can keep a broad working economy around them without tourism dominating local life. That makes it very different from a smaller northern resort town.
Summers are hot and the city is not quiet, so this is not a tropical retreat. Brisbane is roughly 16 hours away by road, making air travel the practical connection south. Rural space is limited within the city, and people seeking a small coastal community will find Townsville too urban.
Walk The Strand
Climb or drive Castle Hill
Ferry to Magnetic Island or explore the Museum of Underwater Art
Median house price
$657,500
29% below the QLD median
Median attached price (townhouse/apartment)
$440,000
Median weekly rent (3-bed house)
$565
≈ $2,448/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 61 more within 20km — showing the 8 closest.
Job market by industry
Healthcare — 17.5%
Largest share of local jobs
Employment figures cover this town's wider statistical region, not the town alone.
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.
Townsville (UCL 303003) · 2021 Census
Younger than the national profile, with 13.7% aged 65 or over against 17.2%.
Population
173,724
Population growth
+1.4%
Townsville City - North Ward (SA2 318021490)
Median age
35 years
Labour force participation
63.9%
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
$869
Per week · ≈ $45,188/year
Median family income
$2,086
Per week
Median household income
$1,701
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
58%
Rented
39.1%
Born in Australia
78.6%
Born overseas
14.3%
Doesn't sum to 100% — people who didn't state a birthplace are excluded rather than redistributed.