Cook

Development Activity

Demographics

The median age of 42 sits 2.0 years above the national figure, placing Cook firmly in the mature-family and pre-retirement bracket. Overseas-born residents make up 24.9%, which is 3.3 percentage points above national. Ancestry is predominantly Anglo-Celtic, led by English (1,181), Irish (455) and Scottish (402). University qualifications at 63.7% run 33.6 points above national, consistent with a suburb that supplies much of the ACT public service and research workforce. Average household size is 2.3, slightly below the national figure, and 30.5% of families are couples without children, reflecting the older age profile. Volunteering reaches 29.2% of residents, well above national norms, signalling a socially active community.

Cook's housing tenure reveals an unusually high ownership base: 41% own outright, 34.9% carry a mortgage and just 24.1% rent, a distribution more typical of a wealthy, settled suburb than a transient one. The stock is dominated by separate houses at 60.7%, with semi-detached at 36.5% and apartments a minor 2.8%. Three-bedroom homes account for 44% and four-plus bedroom homes for 30.6%, meaning most dwellings suit families rather than singles or couples. Monthly mortgage repayments average $2,167 on a $609,000 median, and the mortgage-to-income ratio of 22.1% sits well below the national stress threshold. Rent-to-income at 19.4% is also comfortable, indicating Cook households face lower housing cost pressure than the national average.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

Public Administration dominates at 34.6% of the workforce (441 workers), well above national rates and typical of inner-ACT suburbs that supply the federal government. Education follows at 16.1% and Professional/Technical services at 14.2%, giving Cook a knowledge-sector concentration similar to neighbouring Belconnen suburbs. By occupation, Professionals (604) and Managers (322) together account for the majority of employed residents. The unemployment rate is 4.7% and full-time employment runs at 64.9%. SEIFA scores confirm the advantage: the suburb ranks decile 10 on IEO and decile 9 on both IRSAD and IRSD, placing it in the top tier nationally on three of four measures. Personal weekly income averages $1,288, above the national median.

Transport to Work

Cook shows an unusually high rate of active transport: 12.2% of residents walk or cycle, compared to national averages closer to 5%, reflecting the suburb's compact Belconnen footprint and proximity to shared paths. Public transport use stands at 9.5% and car use at 72%, lower than many outer-suburban benchmarks. No schools are recorded within the suburb boundary in this dataset, so families draw on the surrounding Belconnen district network. Housing stress is low: rent-to-income at 19.4% and mortgage-to-income at 22.1% both sit comfortably below stress thresholds. The suburb ranks decile 9 on IRSAD nationally, placing it in the top advantage tier, and just 4.7% of residents (133 people) require daily assistance.

Population Forecast

Population grew 205.2% over the decade, an exceptionally high figure driven by the broader SA2 expansion rather than density increases in the 1.58 square kilometres of Cook itself. Annual growth is tracking at 4.57% with 952 additional persons per year, and the medium forecast points to the SA2 reaching 28,031 by 2031. Overseas migration is the dominant driver at 515 net arrivals annually, offsetting net internal outflow of 400. Rent growth reached 13.9% over the period. The gentrification stage is classified as new development, meaning there is no established luxury premium yet, though SEIFA decile 9 on IRSAD indicates the suburb is already highly advantaged. Affordability has been stable, moving from 39.8% in 2011 to 38.3% in 2021.

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Cook compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

Frequently Asked Questions