East Innisfail QLD 4860
East Innisfail sits 1,610 km from Brisbane CBD in Queensland, around 18 hours 20 minutes by car. Census data records 1,757 residents with a median age of 39 and a median household income of $56,784 per year. By household income, education, and employment patterns, it ranks in the bottom 20% nationally. The town fell 5.3% between 2016 and 2021. At the 2021 Census, households here paid a median rent of $255 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $1,083. East Innisfail is characterised by high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. Of 2 schools within the town boundary, 1 ranks above the state average, and walkability is high.
Is East Innisfail a good town?
East Innisfail scores a C (35/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit, weaker on safety and community.
Mixed results
2 schools · 1 above peer schools
Very walkable
Walkability 71/100 · 1609.6 km · 1100 min drive to Brisbane
Median available
Median $388K
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 75/100
Highly disadvantaged
SEIFA decile 1/10 · median age 39 · 1,757 residents
Liveability Rating
35 / 100 · Ranked #863 in QLDEach bar is East Innisfail's rank among QLD suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
Flood data for Queensland covers only the areas mapped there — a blank here is not an all-clear.
How do you rate the liveability in East Innisfail?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
35 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataEast Innisfail's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $388,000, roughly 16% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$387,500
10% above its 4 neighbours (median $352,500)
Based on 66 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 45 days — median across 21 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 2 bed 6 sales $358K
- 3 bed 44 sales $378K
- 4 bed 9 sales $480K
Units
$415,500
Based on 10 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in East Innisfail are currently listed at around $485,000 on average. Based on 15 houses listed in the past six months.
$485K
15 houses listed in the last 6 months.
15 of the suburb's 682 dwellings (2.2%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in East Innisfail rent for around $550 a week on average, based on 4 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
$550/wk
4 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
5 rentals advertised against an estimated 285 rented homes (1.8%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- All rentals
- $450/wk
- 12 bonds
- +53% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies. Change since 2021 compares the median of the first four quarters with the last four. Asking rents above come from advertised listings.
Rental affordability
June quarter 2025157 Affordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 19% of its income on the median rent in postcode 4860.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$550/week ($29,000 a year) on a $485,000 median
Based on a small sample (4 listings) — indicative only.
Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.
Is East Innisfail safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in East Innisfail sits in the high band, with 63 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 37% on the prior year.
63 offences
37.0% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2020–20246 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the town carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. Roads are listed with 3 or more serious crashes.
Schools
Two schools serve East Innisfail, and the cohort skews above peer-suburb performance. Innisfail East State School leads the pack.
- • 148 students in one school (avg 148)
- • Sectors: 1 Independent, 1 Government
- • Largest: Innisfail East State School (148 students)
Primary
Walkability
East Innisfail is very walkable on foot — at 71/100, most daily errands can be done on foot.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside East Innisfail.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 0.5 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 2.1 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 0.9 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 1 min
- Span of service
- 7.0 hours
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in East Innisfail.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 37%
- Premises covered
- 854
NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.
Amenities
Cassowary Coast: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this town alone — this town's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 5 small areas inside this town and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 2 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the town closely.
East Innisfail is home to about 1,800 residents, with a median age of 39, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $57,000 a year, with unemployment at 8.8%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
1,757
Median Age
39
Median Household Income
$56,784/yr
Census Median Rent
$255/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$1,083/mo
Avg Household Size
2.3
Median Personal Income
$32,656/yr
Unemployment Rate
8.8%
Unoccupied Dwellings
13.0%
Total Dwellings
682
Owner-Occupier Rate
58.2%
Houses
86.7%
Rental Stress
23.4%
Mortgage Stress
22.9%
Work From Home
4.1%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
26 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 0 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 277 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 78.1%
- English Spoken at Home
- 77.7%
- Employment Rate
- 50.3%
- Completed Year 12
- 32.4%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
72 residents (4.1%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
4.1% of residents (68) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Brisbane (39).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 1,652 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
1% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (6 of 702).
City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,829 a year through Cassowary Coast based on 2025 figures.
Building Approvals: Cassowary Coast
In the year to August 2026, 186 new dwellings were approved across Cassowary Coast. That mix is 128 houses and 58 units. Approvals are up 68.4% on the same period a year earlier.
New Homes Planned
New homes planned in this town: 2 to 10 homes
- No timeframe set 2 to 10 homes
Land the Queensland Government's residential land supply study identifies for future housing (2 parcels), by when it expects lots to be registered. Yields are published in ranges, so these are too.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Aboriginal party for this area is Mamu People.
Under Queensland's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 the Aboriginal party for an area follows native title. Native title over this area has been determined.
Climate & Setting
from Innisfail, 0.9 kmHigh rainfall — warm summers, mild winters.
- Elevation
- 14 m
- above sea level, at the town centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 3.8 km
- 4.8 km to a named beach
- Annual rainfall
- 3,531 mm
- 166 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- 31.2°C
- 3 days ≥ 35°C
- Winter min (Jul)
- 17.0°C
- 0 frost days ≤ 0°C
Elevation is the ground at the town centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.
EV adoption
In postcode 4860, 15 of 8,919 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.4% (215 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.6%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 4860, 1,873 rooftop-solar systems totalling 15.3 MW have been installed since 2001, against 4,778 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 126 went up in the last year.
Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$30,000 for new homes priced up to $750,000.
$30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, with no end date. IT DID NOT REVERT TO $15,000: the tier was due to end 30 June 2026 and the 2026-27 Queensland Budget (23 June 2026) continued it for contracts signed from 1 July 2026. This file carried a "due to revert" note until 2026-09-18 — it was never true, and a note predicting a change is not the same as a change. Cap is "less than $750,000" including land and contract variations — less than, not up to. New homes only: "There are no home owner grants for established homes."
Mortgage repayments
Transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with Queensland Revenue Office
The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $750,000 may qualify for $30,000 — see what qualifies with Queensland Revenue Office.
At $387,500 this is under the $750,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $30,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with Queensland Revenue Office.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Bob Katter Katter's Australian Party (KAP)
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Bob Katter | 40.7% | 59.3% | +0.8 |
| 2022 | Bob Katter | 39.8% | 60.2% | -4.3 |
| 2019 | Bob Katter | 35.5% | 64.5% | +7.8 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact town's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Shane Knuth Katter's Australian Party (KAP)
Next state election: 28 October 2028.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Shane Knuth KAP | 63.7% |
| 2020 | Shane Knuth KAP | 72.5% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2017, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this town's voters. Results: Electoral Commission of Queensland.
Looking at a specific address in East Innisfail?
Every figure above is a town average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 1,757 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Nearby suburbs
Compare East Innisfail to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other QLD suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about East Innisfail
Is East Innisfail a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in East Innisfail is high (75/100, ranked against other QLD suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect East Innisfail?
East Innisfail has no recorded bushfire history. These are town-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is East Innisfail a good place to live?
East Innisfail has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of C (35/100), ranked against other QLD suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.
What is the population of East Innisfail?
East Innisfail, QLD had a population of 1,757 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for East Innisfail, QLD?
The postcode for East Innisfail, QLD is 4860.
How far is East Innisfail from Brisbane?
East Innisfail is 1,610 km from Brisbane CBD by road, about 1100 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in East Innisfail?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in East Innisfail was $56,784 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.
What is the median weekly rent in East Innisfail?
The median advertised rent in East Innisfail is $550 a week for houses (4 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in East Innisfail?
The median age of residents in East Innisfail was 39 at the 2021 ABS Census.
How are the schools in East Innisfail?
There are 2 schools inside the East Innisfail boundary: 1 above similar schools on NAPLAN, compared with same-state, same-type schools of similar socio-educational advantage (ICSEA).
Is East Innisfail walkable?
East Innisfail scores 71/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
What is the weather like in East Innisfail?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to East Innisfail, Innisfail (0.9 km away), summer days average 31.2°C, winter nights 17°C, 3,531 mm of rain a year over 166 rainy days, and 3 days a year above 35°C over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in East Innisfail?
First-home buyers in QLD may be eligible for $30,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $750,000. The grant is administered by Queensland Revenue Office; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does East Innisfail belong to?
East Innisfail sits within the Cassowary Coast local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in East Innisfail?
The average residential rates bill through Cassowary Coast is $1,829 a year (2025). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near East Innisfail?
Across Cassowary Coast, 186 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's up 68.4% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is East Innisfail in?
East Innisfail sits within the federal Division of Kennedy, currently held by Bob Katter (Katter's Australian Party (KAP)).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2025–26
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2025
- Road crashes · 2020–2024
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- State electorate · 2024
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.