Atherton is a rural town and locality in the Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2016 census, Atherton had a population of 7,331 people.

The Atherton Tableland is a fertile plateau, which is part of the Great Dividing Range in Queensland, Australia. It has very deep, rich basaltic soils and the main industry is agriculture. The principal river flowing across the plateau is the Barron River, which was dammed to form the irrigation reservoir named Lake Tinaroo. Unlike many other rural areas, the Tablelands is experiencing a significant growth in population.