Cooktown vs Atherton

Cooktown and Atherton are two distinct Queensland towns located about 197 km apart. Cooktown is far more walkable, with 65.3% of homes within a 15-minute walk of health services compared to 26.4% in Atherton. Cultural differences are also sharp; 35.8% of people in Cooktown speak a First Nations language, which is far higher than the 6.3% in Atherton. In contrast, Atherton has a far larger First Nations population in total, with 919 people compared to 416 in Cooktown.

Both places are mostly car-dependent, and neither has any homes within a 10-minute walk of public transport. While Atherton has better outcomes for First Nations residents, including a well higher Year 12 completion rate of 38.6% compared to 32.9% in Cooktown, the two areas remain similar in their reliance on private vehicles to get around.