The name is derived from the Aboriginal word burpengar, meaning the "place of the green wattle". When Europeans settled in Burpengary in the 1870s, the industry was mainly timber-cutting. Burpengary State School was established in 1876. The town of Burpengary was initially founded as a large truckstop due to its strategic location on the North Coast Road from Brisbane to the North Coast. Burpengary is still home to a functional truck weigh-bridge. St Eugene College opened in 1989. Burpengary Library opened in 1994 and had a major refurbishment in 2016. Burpengary Meadows State School opened in 2007. Burpengary State Secondary College opened in 2015, offering years 7 and 8 initially. Redwood College opened in 2018 for distance education only, but on completion of its campus, expects to enrol on-campus students from 2020.
Burpengary has been a predominantly blue-collar suburb with a significant proportion of the population directly employed in a labouring or trade-related jobs. However, with expanding planned communities, easy access to the M1 and council approving plans for mini city initiatives, more and more families are moving to the locality including those in the professions. This is fuelling economic growth with the expansion of the shopping precinct, local services and increasing pressure on the localtransport infrastructure since 2005. In the, the population of Burpengary was 14,022, with 51% females and 49% males. The median age of the Burpengary population was 37 years of age, 1 year below the Australian median. Children aged under 15 years made up 20.7% of the population and people aged 65 years and over made up 13.6% of the population. 78.6% of people living in Burpengary were born in Australia. The other top responses for country of birth were England 4.7%, New Zealand 4.2%, South Africa 0.7%, Philippines 0.7%, and Scotland 0.6%. 90.7% of people spoke only English at home; the next most popular languages were Samoan, Mandarin, Tagalog, Dutch, and Afrikaans.
Education
Burpengary State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at 35 Station Road. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 995 students with 69 teachers and 36 non-teaching staff. The school includes an intensive English language program and a special education program. St Eugene College is a Catholic primary and secondary school for boys and girls at 138 Station Road. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 1053 students with 78 teachers and 51 non-teaching staff. Burpengary Meadows State School is a government primary school for boys and girls at 153 Rowley Road. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 625 students with 47 teachers and 28 non-teaching staff. The school includes a special education program. Burpengary State Secondary College is a government secondary school for boys and girls at 196 Pitt Road. In 2017, the school had an enrolment of 685 students with 54 teachers and 25 non-teaching staff. The school includes a special education program. Redwood College is a private primary and secondary school at 6 Gleeson Road. It offers a distance education program and, after construction of its campus, expects to accept on-campus enrolments from 2020.
