This page covers the Cairns North suburb only. For all of Cairns, see the Cairns flood map by suburb →
Cairns North flood map & planning overlays
96.8% inside aircraft noise contours, the highest in Cairns Regional. The flight path runs overhead.
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 North
(Cairns Regional, QLD) - 6.1 km², mapped from live council and
state overlay data. This suburb is highly constrained.
Profile updated 7 November 2026.
Constraint readout
6.1 km² - this suburb is highly constrained by planning overlays.
Elevation hillshade with street names, clipped to Cairns North'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 North properties?
Counts of properties, not share of land, across 3,823 analysed Cairns North properties; no individual property result is identified.
Lot-level readout
Flood-risk rating across all 3,823 properties
From LayeredGeo's lot-risk engine: council flood overlays, historical flooding and terrain, resolved to each individual lot in Cairns North.
Aircraft noise and flight paths over Cairns North
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
97% 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 at ANEF 30 and above is generally unacceptable for new houses and most noise-sensitive uses. 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
typical observed square 0 a day
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 North at a glance
Schools in and near Cairns North
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 2 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 North address in? Check an address with our free school zone checker.
How Cairns North is zoned
Selling in Cairns North? 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 6.1 km², Cairns North is highly constrained by planning overlays. About 52% of the suburb sits within a mapped flood overlay. There are 10 heritage-listed sites on record, and the dominant land-use zone is Tourist Accommodation. The terrain is largely flat, and the median lot measures about 607 m² across 3,583 parcels.
Who lives in Cairns North
Census 2021 figures published by the ABS for the Cairns North 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 965, and decile 5 within Queensland. The national average is 1000.
Age profile
Share of Cairns North's 5,334 residents in each ABS age band.
Population trend, 2001 to 2025
Estimated resident population of Cairns City, the wider ABS statistical area containing Cairns North. There is no annual population series published at suburb level, so this describes the surrounding area rather than Cairns North 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 North 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 North 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 16% of Cairns North. 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 North. 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 North lot.
Cairns North planning - frequently asked
Is Cairns North flood-prone?
About 52% of Cairns North falls within a mapped flood overlay, against the council-wide suburb average of 55%. Across the suburb, 100% of the 3,823 properties we analysed carry some level of mapped flood risk, including 3823 rated high risk or historically affected. Published flood models are held over parts of Cairns North; the free check on the Flood Model Report page says whether one reaches a given address.
Is Cairns North bushfire-prone?
Bushfire mapping covers Cairns North and little to none of it is mapped as bushfire-prone (the Cairns Regional average is 23%).
Is Cairns North affected by aircraft noise?
About 97% of Cairns North sits inside a published aircraft noise contour, and the highest contour present is ANEF 35 - 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 North under a flight path?
Aircraft were observed below 3,000 ft over about 16% of Cairns North, in the period sampled (4 Sep 2026 to 7 Nov 2026). The lowest measured aircraft was at 1,500 ft, with an average of 1,500 ft. At the busiest point in the suburb about 1 aircraft a day were recorded passing over one 500 m square. 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 North?
The dominant planning zone in Cairns North is Tourist Accommodation, though the suburb also includes Cairns Airport Land and Conservation.
Does Cairns North have heritage-listed places?
Cairns North has 10 heritage-listed places on record.
Is Cairns North hilly or flat?
Cairns North 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 North?
Across 3,583 surveyed parcels in Cairns North, the median lot size is about 607 m². There are also 117 registered easements mapped in the suburb.
Does Cairns North have a train station?
There is no train station inside Cairns North itself. The suburb is served by 16 bus stops.
What is the population of Cairns North?
At the 2021 Census Cairns North had 5,334 usual residents, with a median age of 37 and an average household size of 1.9 people. The wider Cairns City statistical area, which contains Cairns North, went from 6,889 people in 2001 to 13,599 in 2025, up 97%.
Is Cairns North an advantaged suburb?
On the ABS SEIFA 2021 index of relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD), Cairns North scores 965 and sits in decile 4 of 10 nationally and decile 5 within Queensland (decile 1 is the most disadvantaged tenth, decile 10 the least).
What is the median household income in Cairns North?
Median household income in Cairns North was $1,402 a week at the 2021 Census, against $1,618 for the typical suburb in Cairns Regional. Median rent was $340 a week and the median mortgage repayment $1,300 a month.
Compare nearby suburbs
| Nearby suburb | Distance | Flood mapped | Bushfire-prone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cairns City | 1.7 km | 65% | 0% |
| Parramatta Park | 2.1 km | 100% | 10% |
| Manunda | 2.6 km | 99% | 40% |
| Edge Hill | 2.7 km | 65% | 23% |
| Aeroglen | 3.2 km | 74% | 10% |
| Westcourt | 3.3 km | 100% | <1% |
| Manoora | 3.8 km | 94% | 20% |
| Bungalow | 3.8 km | 100% | 2% |
| Whitfield | 4.3 km | 23% | 31% |
| East Trinity | 4.4 km | 41% | 45% |