Queensland suburbs people moved to from the city

Adare tops the ranking: 22.4% of its residents lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Brisbane. Baringa and Murray follow. These 15 suburbs came from a field of 424 eligible Queensland suburbs.

This page ranks Queensland suburbs by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify.

These are the places people from the capitals moved to between 2016 and 2021, and each row names the capital most of them came from. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it, so a suburb near the top is not necessarily growing. Not every move is a sea change or a tree change: mining towns and Defence bases rank high because jobs bring people there. The Central Coast is part of Greater Sydney in the ABS geography; we count it as a place of its own, so moves from the Central Coast are not moves from Sydney. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder.

Queensland suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Ranked by the share of residents aged five and over who lived in a capital city five years before the 2021 Census, among suburbs outside the capitals with at least 1,000 residents. It counts arrivals only: people who moved the other way are not in it.

Adare

QLD 4343 · 1,027 residents

22.4% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 217 residents

D 100.0

Baringa

QLD 4551 · 4,604 residents

21.4% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 882 residents

B 99.8

Murray

QLD 4814 · 1,739 residents

19.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 330 residents

B 99.5

Whitsundays

QLD 4802 · 2,281 residents

18.9% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 426 residents

B 99.3

Birtinya

QLD 4575 · 4,378 residents

18.6% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 778 residents

B 99.0

Nirimba

QLD 4551 · 2,229 residents

18.5% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 364 residents

A 98.8

Kings Beach

QLD 4551 · 3,042 residents

18.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 545 residents

B 98.6

Peregian Springs

QLD 4573 · 9,532 residents

17.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 1,583 residents

C 98.3

Jacobs Well

QLD 4208 · 2,882 residents

17.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 471 residents

B 98.1

Pelican Waters

QLD 4551 · 7,393 residents

17.0% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 1,216 residents

A 97.9

Pimpama

QLD 4209 · 24,601 residents

16.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 3,661 residents

B 97.6

Noosa Heads

QLD 4567 · 5,120 residents

16.3% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Melbourne · 813 residents

B 97.4

Mons

QLD 4556 · 1,179 residents

16.1% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Sydney · 181 residents

A 97.2

Sunshine Beach

QLD 4567 · 2,480 residents

15.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 375 residents

B 96.9

River Heads

QLD 4655 · 2,044 residents

15.7% lived in a capital five years earlier · most from Brisbane · 309 residents

C 96.7

Ranked from 424 qualifying suburbs.

How we ranked these

100% share of residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census, percentile-ranked within Queensland's candidate pool. Suburbs that touch a capital's statistical area are not ranked, because the count for their own area includes people who never moved. The Central Coast counts as a place of its own, not as Sydney. Only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents qualify, and the larger number of arrivals breaks ties. It counts arrivals, not net migration. Source: ABS 2021 Census, via TableBuilder; the ABS adjusts small counts slightly to protect privacy. See how we calculate for the full methodology.

Common questions about this ranking

What are the queensland suburbs people moved to from the city?

How is this ranking put together?

Each Queensland suburb is ranked by the share of its residents aged five and over who lived in one of the eight capital cities five years before the 2021 Census. Suburbs inside the capitals are not ranked, and only suburbs with at least 1,000 residents are included.

Does this show where people are leaving?

No. It counts people who arrived from a capital, not people who left the suburb. A place near the top can have lost as many residents as it gained, so it is not a measure of growth.

Why are some suburbs near a capital missing?

A suburb that touches a capital's statistical area is left out: the Census count for its own area includes people who never moved, so a share would overstate the arrivals.

How current is it?

It covers moves between August 2016 and August 2021, from the 2021 Census, the most recent available until results from the August 2026 Census are released in 2027.

Same list in other states

Rankings last computed 12 October 2026. Recomputed after each ACARA schools data refresh.

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Queensland suburbs people moved to from the city

Queensland suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city

Common questions about this ranking

Same list in other states

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