Safest suburbs in Gold Coast
Willow Vale is Gold Coast's safest ranked suburb, with lower recorded crime than 98.6% of the city. Gilston and Tallebudgera follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 71 eligible Gold Coast suburbs.
This page ranks Gold Coast suburbs from safest, leading on recorded crime and factoring in bushfire and flood risk. Each risk is measured relative to other suburbs in the same state, and suburbs without crime data are excluded rather than shown as risk-free. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are ranked.
The score is crime-led: 60% recorded-crime safety, 20% bushfire and 20% flood, because the dominant question behind "safest suburbs" is crime — but a leafy suburb with serious bushfire exposure shouldn't top a safety list on low crime alone. Each leg is an inverted percentile within Gold Coast's pool, so a suburb reads as "safer than X% of Gold Coast" on that hazard. Crime is recorded-offence rate per resident from state police data, ranked within the state — it reflects reported offences, not your personal risk, and collection differs between states, so we never compare across state lines. Bushfire and flood come from mapped hazard overlays; a suburb with no mapped overlay scores as low-risk on that leg. This is descriptive risk data, not a guarantee about any individual street or property.
The safest suburbs in Gold Coast
Ranked on recorded crime (weighted heaviest), bushfire and flood risk — each measured relative to other suburbs in the same state. Suburbs without crime data are excluded rather than shown as risk-free.
Willow Vale
QLD 4209 · 2,279 residents82/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 99% of Gold Coast
Gilston
QLD 4211 · 2,669 residents80/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 96% of Gold Coast
Tallebudgera
QLD 4228 · 3,826 residents79/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 93% of Gold Coast
Bilambil Heights
NSW 2486 · 3,491 residents79/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 93% of Gold Coast
Tallai
QLD 4213 · 4,465 residents76/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 89% of Gold Coast
Banora Point
NSW 2486 · 16,460 residents75/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 87% of Gold Coast
Reedy Creek
QLD 4227 · 7,412 residents74/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 86% of Gold Coast
Coombabah
QLD 4216 · 10,298 residents73/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 84% of Gold Coast
Bonogin
QLD 4213 · 4,896 residents72/100 safety · among Gold Coast's lowest recorded crime · some bushfire exposure
Terranora
NSW 2486 · 3,365 residents72/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 81% of Gold Coast
Tallebudgera Valley
QLD 4228 · 1,762 residents71/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 97% of Gold Coast · some bushfire exposure
Merrimac
QLD 4226 · 7,212 residents71/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 80% of Gold Coast
Pottsville
NSW 2489 · 7,238 residents70/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 93% of Gold Coast · some bushfire exposure
Clear Island Waters
QLD 4226 · 4,395 residents69/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 76% of Gold Coast
Benowa
QLD 4217 · 9,889 residents67/100 safety · lower recorded crime than 74% of Gold Coast
Ranked from 71 qualifying suburbs.
60% recorded crime · 20% bushfire · 20% flood. Each risk is turned into an inverted percentile within Gold Coast's candidate pool — the lowest-risk suburb scores highest on that leg — then blended, crime-led. Crime is the recorded-offence rate per resident from state police data, ranked within the state; it reflects reported offences, not personal risk, and is never compared across state lines. Bushfire and flood come from mapped hazard overlays. Suburbs without crime data are excluded rather than shown as risk-free. See how we calculate for the full methodology.
Common questions about this ranking
What are the safest suburbs in Gold Coast?
Willow Vale is Gold Coast's safest ranked suburb, with lower recorded crime than 98.6% of the city. Gilston and Tallebudgera follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 71 eligible Gold Coast suburbs.
How is this ranking scored?
Each eligible Gold Coast suburb is scored on three risks, crime-led: 60% recorded crime, 20% recorded bushfire history, and 20% flood overlays. Each is turned into an inverted percentile within Gold Coast — a suburb with the lowest recorded crime scores highest on the crime leg — then blended. Crime leads because it's the risk most people mean by 'safest'. QLD publishes no suburb-level flood overlay, so flood does not separate suburbs here; the order comes from crime and bushfire history.
What does the crime figure actually measure?
It's the rate of recorded offences per resident from state police data, ranked against other suburbs in the same state. Two important limits: it counts reported offences, not your personal risk, and different states record and categorise crime differently — so we only ever compare suburbs within the same state, never across state lines.
Why are some suburbs missing from the list?
A suburb only appears if it has crime data and at least 1,000 residents. Suburbs without a crime record are excluded rather than shown as risk-free — otherwise a data gap would masquerade as a perfectly safe suburb. In states where suburb-level crime data isn't published, this ranking isn't produced at all.
How often is this list updated?
The top 15 is recomputed whenever the underlying risk data refreshes — crime data on each state police release, and bushfire and flood as their mapped hazard overlays update. See the footer for the last computed date.
Same list in other cities
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Rankings last computed 28 September 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.
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