Mooloolaba vs Minyama
Mooloolaba is the younger of the two, with a median age of 44 against 53 in Minyama. In both, most households own their home. In Mooloolaba, about half of homes are flats or apartments and about half of households are people living alone. In Minyama, most homes are detached houses. Houses cost more in Minyama: a median of $2.42 million, against $1.67 million in Mooloolaba, and rent is higher there too. On these figures, Mooloolaba tends to suit buyers on a tighter budget, while Minyama suits older residents.
Which one suits you?
There is no overall winner — the suburb that suits a family with school-age kids is routinely the wrong one for someone commuting into the city. So each of these answers its own question, against a checklist you can see, using the same figures in the tables below.
Families with school-age kids
They split
one each way, out of the 6 things we measure here
- Mooloolaba has more childcare (4 vs 1)
- Minyama has more separate houses rather than flats (70% vs 38%)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Mooloolaba
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- has cheaper houses ($1,667,500 vs $2,422,500)
Weighs house prices, unit prices, and mortgage stress.
Renters
Mooloolaba
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has a bigger rental market to choose from (42% vs 20%)
- has cheaper rent ($400/wk vs $473/wk)
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Mooloolaba
ahead on the one thing that separates them
- is more walkable (83/100 vs 71/100)
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
They split
one each way, out of the 5 things we measure here
- Mooloolaba has more units and townhouses to downsize into (62% vs 30%)
- Minyama carries lower crime risk (54/100 vs 81/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Too close to call
Nothing among the 2 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs house yield and population growth.
Where they sit
Mooloolaba and Minyama drawn to the same scale. Both outlines are shown together, so the map answers whether they share a border and how their areas compare.
Bars start at zero. Scores, risks and rankings are drawn against their full 0–100 range; other rows are drawn in proportion to the larger of the two.
Side by side, out of 100
Risks are inverted — shown as safety and low exposure — so a longer bar always means better.
Demographics
Mooloolaba has more residents (8,202 vs 2,726); Minyama skews older (53 vs 44).
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 8,202 +67% vs other | 2,726 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +6.1% | +7.2% |
| Median age | 44 | 53 |
| Median household income | $78,312/yr | $89,232/yr +14% vs other |
| Median weekly rent | $400/wk | $473/wk +18% vs other |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (17.2%).
Who lives together
Household composition, 2021 Census.
Who owns and who rents
Occupied private dwellings by tenure, 2021 Census.
Qualifications
Highest non-school qualification, residents 15+, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (16.8%).
Where residents were born
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents, 2021 Census. A dash means that country is not among the suburb's own eight largest.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (6.3%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $1,667,500 | $2,422,500 |
| Median unit price | $810,000 | $877,500 |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 37 days from 86 sales | 44 days from 21 sales |
Unit price by bedroom count
Only bed counts both suburbs published enough sales for. Sale counts are shown because the buckets differ in depth.
140 vs 12 sales
59 vs 9 sales
House price by bedroom count
Only bed counts both suburbs published enough sales for. Sale counts are shown because the buckets differ in depth.
49 vs 13 sales
40 vs 27 sales
23 vs 8 sales
Development activity
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 2,962 across Sunshine Coast same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | -41% same for both | |
Gross rental yield
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 2.4% $850/wk on $1.85M | 2.4% $1,200/wk on $2.65M |
| Units | 4.1% $710/wk on $895K | — |
Ranking within QLD
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | — same for both | |
| Income | Higher than 49% of QLD | Higher than 63% of QLD |
| Schools | — same for both | |
| Walkability | Higher than 97% of QLD | Higher than 92% of QLD |
| Affordability | — same for both | |
| EV adoption | Higher than 87% of QLD | Higher than 89% of QLD |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 71% of QLD | Higher than 78% of QLD |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 3% of QLD same for both | |
| Rental yield (units) | Higher than 35% of QLD | — |
Liveability
Minyama scores higher overall (70 vs 58); Mooloolaba is more walkable (83 vs 71).
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | B | A |
| Score | 58/100 | 70/100 |
| Socio-economic band | advantaged area decile 7/10 | advantaged area decile 8/10 |
Risk profile
Mooloolaba carries more crime risk (81 vs 54).
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Crime | High 81/100 | Moderate 54/100 |
| Flood | Not mapped no mapped data here same for both | |
| Coastal erosion | Moderate 65/100 | None 0/100 |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 1 within 5 km | 2 within 5 km |
Schools
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 1 | 0 |
| Rated above peers | 1 | 0 |
| Rated at peers | 0 same for both | |
| Rated below peers | 0 same for both | |
| Universities within 10 km | 1 UniSC Sunshine Coast, 5.4 km | 1 UniSC Sunshine Coast, 5.1 km |
| Full-time students aged 15–24 | 1.7% | 1.5% |
Schools in Mooloolaba
- Mooloolaba State School Government · Primary above peers
Schools in Minyama
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Amenities in the suburb
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 1 | 0 |
| Cafes & restaurants | 14 | 1 |
| Parks & reserves | 23 | 8 |
| Childcare | 4 | 1 |
| GPs | 4 | 3 |
| Pharmacies | 3 same for both | |
| Banks & Bank@Post | 1 same for both | |
| Fuel stations | 1 | 0 |
| Waterways | 18 | 12 |
Mobility
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 83/100 | 71/100 |
| Distance to Brisbane | 97.3 km | 97.4 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 80 min | 79 min |
| Public transport score | 78/100 Bus same for both | |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 110.5 7-9am + 5-7pm | 44.5 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 0 min scheduled, not actual | 1 min scheduled, not actual |
| Electric vehicle share | 1.3% postcode 4557 | 1.4% postcode 4575 |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 50 postcode 4557 | 64 postcode 4575 |
How people get to work
Method of travel on census day 2021 — which fell during COVID restrictions, so working from home is inflated and every travel mode understated.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (73.2%).
Setting
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 2 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 4 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 810 m 1.2 km to a named beach | 1.3 km 1.5 km to a named beach |
NBN connectivity
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 56/100 | 68/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the node same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 20% 6,174 premises | 41% 1,386 premises |
Air quality (annual mean)
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| PM2.5 | 5.0 µg/m³ same for both | |
| PM10 | 14.0 µg/m³ same for both | |
| NO₂ | 0.31 pphm same for both | |
Council rates
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,690/yr same for both | |
| Council | Sunshine Coast same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Fisher same for both | |
| Member | Andrew Wallace same for both | |
| Party | Liberal National Party of Queensland same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Mooloolaba | Minyama | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $30,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $750,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
Mooloolaba
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Mooloolaba
Other comparisons with Minyama
Information shown is provided as-is from Australian government and commercial data sources.
Always verify with the relevant authority before making property decisions.
See Data Sources and How We Calculate for details.