This page covers the Cairns City suburb only. For all of Cairns, see the Cairns flood map by suburb →
Cairns City flood map & planning overlays
67 heritage-listed places, the most in Cairns Regional, on a 0.9% median slope. History on the flat.
Most lots here are flood-mapped. The free check shows how much of one lot the overlay covers.
Free map preview, then PDF reports from $9 - about the price of an iced latte on a public holiday.
A planning-constraint profile of Cairns City
(Cairns Regional, QLD) - 3.67 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
3.67 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Cairns City's boundary, with the flood, bushfire and environmental overlays drawn on top. Amber hatching is the published aircraft noise (ANEF) contour. Magenta is where aircraft were observed in the sampled period, brightest below 3,000 ft.
Nearby suburbs, nearest first
How common is mapped flood risk across Cairns City properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 3,574 analysed Cairns City properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 3,574 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Cairns City.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Cairns City
The ANEF contour is a published planning forecast and observed overflight is what a sampled tracking feed recorded - neither describes any individual property.
Inside an aircraft noise contour
22% of the suburb's land sits inside a published ANEF or airport-environs contour. Contours vary street by street, so whether a particular lot is inside one needs a property-level check.
Highest contour present
Under AS 2021, land between ANEF 25 and 30 is generally unacceptable for new houses; 20 to 25 is conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. The contour is a forecast, not a measurement at any one house.
Contours held
- Cairns Regional Council ANEF
Observed overflight - sampled 4 Sep to 7 Nov 2026
Night movements: observed, lowest 1,000 ft - night is sampled as often as day, but night traffic is light, so this is a floor and no rate can be put on it.
How this is measured
Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously, so every figure is a floor: aircraft not captured between samples are not represented. Rates are per 500 m square - the busiest square in the suburb, not a count of flights over the suburb - and a square is only rated where enough traffic was seen to measure it. Altitudes are above mean sea level. Flight paths change with runway use, weather, season and airspace design. This is a record of observed traffic; it is not a noise contour and not a planning control.
Cairns City at a glance
Schools in and near Cairns City
Public school-location data shows availability across the suburb; it does not rate schools or assign any individual address to a catchment.
Inside the suburb boundary
1 school providing primary years and 3 providing secondary years. A combined school may be counted in both teaching levels.
Nearest school availability
Primary: inside the suburb
Secondary: inside the suburb
Source: Queensland Government school geographic information. Catchment boundaries can divide a suburb and change over time.
Which school zone is a Cairns City address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Cairns City is zoned
Selling in Cairns City? The lot-level zone is the zoning Part 3 of Queensland's Form 2 seller disclosure statement asks for - see our Form 2 planning data guide.
Across its 3.67 km², Cairns City is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 65% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 67 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Principal Centre. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 971 m² across 3,098 parcels.
Who lives in Cairns City
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Cairns City suburb boundary itself, not a wider region.
Socio-economic standing
ABS SEIFA 2021 ranks every Australian suburb. Decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth of the country, decile 10 the least.
Score 1032, and decile 9 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Cairns City's 3,616 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Cairns City, the wider ABS statistical area containing Cairns City. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Cairns City itself.
6,889 in 2001 to 13,599 in 2025, up 97%.
Source: ABS Census 2021 and SEIFA 2021 (Suburbs and Localities), Regional Population (SA2), CC BY 4.0. Small counts are randomly adjusted by the ABS.
Cairns City data sources and coverage
“Not mapped” means we hold no source layer for this suburb - never an all-clear.
| Dataset | Coverage | Publisher |
|---|---|---|
| Flood mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Bushfire-prone mapping | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Zoning | Mapped | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Heritage and environment | Mapped where published | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data |
| Aircraft noise contours (ANEF) | Inside a held contour | the relevant council planning scheme and Queensland Government spatial data, Defence |
| Observed flight paths | Observed | adsb.lol, under the Open Database License |
| Demographics | Available | Australian Bureau of Statistics (2021 Census and SEIFA) |
| School availability | Available | Queensland Government |
Profile last materially updated 7 November 2026. See the methodology and full source list. Source data changes over time and critical decisions should be checked with the responsible authority.
Check a specific Cairns City address
See exactly which overlays touch a single property - the interactive map is free. Need it on paper? A full planning PDF is just $9.
See what's in the $9 report →Aircraft have been seen below 3,000 ft over about 3% of Cairns City. The report's Aircraft Overflight page narrows that to the address itself: how many aircraft a day, how low, and at what heights.
Published flood models are held over parts of Cairns City. The free check tells you whether one reaches an address; where it does, a Flood Model Report is +$9 with the planning report.
The Terrain Report shows the fall of the block - contours, cross sections and a 3D model of the lot to spin round in your browser (+$9 with the planning report).
Moving here? The Liveability section adds walking times from the address to schools, parks, shops and transport, and the school zones it sits in (+$9 with the planning report).
Building or pricing a slab? The $119 geotechnical desktop report covers geology, soils, bores and the indicative soil reactivity range to expect for a Cairns City lot.
Cairns City planning - frequently asked
Is Cairns City flood-prone?
About 65% of Cairns City falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 55%. Across the suburb, 100% of the 3,574 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 3573 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Cairns City; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Cairns City bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Cairns City and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Cairns Regional average is 23%).
Is Cairns City affected by aircraft noise?
About 22% of Cairns City sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 25 - under AS 2021, land above ANEF 25 is generally considered unacceptable for new houses, and 20-25 conditionally acceptable with noise attenuation. ANEF contours are forecasts published per airport and used to control noise-sensitive development; they are not a measurement at any one house, and a property can sit under a flight path and outside every contour.
Is Cairns City under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 3% of Cairns City, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 1,000 ft, with an average of 1,500 ft. Traffic is sampled rather than watched continuously and flight paths change with runway use, weather and season; the ANEF contour is the planning instrument.
What is the zoning in Cairns City?
The dominant planning zone in Cairns City is Principal Centre, though the suburb also includes Strategic Port Land and Mixed Use.
Does Cairns City have heritage-listed places?
Cairns City has 67 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Cairns City hilly or flat?
Cairns City is largely flat: the median ground slope is about 1%. Ground level runs from roughly 2 m to 4 m AHD across the suburb.
What is the typical lot size in Cairns City?
Across 3,098 surveyed parcels in Cairns City, the median lot size is about 971 m². There are also 295 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Cairns City have a train station?
There is no train station inside Cairns City itself. The suburb is served by 11 bus stops.
What is the population of Cairns City?
At the 2021 Census Cairns City had 3,616 usual residents, with a median age of 44 and an average household size of 1.9 people. The wider Cairns City statistical area, which contains Cairns City, went from 6,889 people in 2001 to 13,599 in 2025, up 97%.
Is Cairns City an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Cairns City scores 1032 and sits in decile 8 of 10 nationally and decile 9 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Cairns City?
Median household income in Cairns City was $1,627 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,618 for the typical suburb in Cairns Regional. Median rent was $413 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,733 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parramatta Park | 1.3 km | 100% | 10% |
| Cairns North | 1.7 km | 52% | <1% |
| Westcourt | 2.7 km | 100% | <1% |
| Bungalow | 2.8 km | 100% | 2% |
| Manunda | 2.8 km | 99% | 40% |
| East Trinity | 2.9 km | 41% | 45% |
| Edge Hill | 3.8 km | 65% | 23% |
| Manoora | 4.1 km | 94% | 20% |
| Portsmith | 4.7 km | 100% | 1% |
| Aeroglen | 4.8 km | 74% | 10% |