Sunrise Beach vs Sunshine Beach
Sunrise Beach is the younger of the two, with a median age of 44 against 49 in Sunshine Beach. In both, most households own their home and most homes are detached houses. In Sunrise Beach, about half of households are couple families. Houses cost more in Sunshine Beach: a median of $2.88 million, against $2.22 million in Sunrise Beach. On these figures, Sunrise Beach tends to suit couples and buyers on a tighter budget, while Sunshine Beach suits people living alone and 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
Sunrise Beach
ahead on 4 of the 6 things we measure here
- has more parks and reserves (12 vs 4)
- carries lower crime risk (25/100 vs 44/100)
- is already more of a family suburb (62% vs 46%)
- But Sunshine Beach has more schools inside the suburb (5 vs 0)
Weighs schools, house stock, crime, parks, childcare, and who already lives there.
First-home buyers
Sunrise Beach
ahead on 2 of the 3 things we measure here
- has cheaper units ($1,015,000 vs $1,437,500)
- has cheaper houses ($2,220,000 vs $2,875,000)
Weighs house prices, unit prices, and mortgage stress.
Renters
Too close to call
Nothing among the 3 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs rent, rental stress, and how much is for rent.
Commuting to the city
Too close to call
Nothing among the 3 things we measure here separates them by enough to be worth acting on.
Weighs distance, drive time, and walkability.
Downsizers and retirees
Sunshine Beach
ahead on 2 of the 5 things we measure here
- has more residents already 65 and over (25% vs 16%)
- has more units and townhouses to downsize into (43% vs 32%)
- But Sunrise Beach carries lower crime risk (25/100 vs 44/100)
Weighs smaller dwellings, who already lives there, GPs, walkability, and crime.
Investors
Sunrise Beach
ahead on 3 of the 3 things we measure here
- is growing faster (8.0% vs 0.8%)
- returns a higher gross yield on houses (4.0% vs 1.9%)
- returns a higher gross yield on units (4.4% vs 3.6%)
Weighs house yield, unit yield, and population growth.
Where they sit
Sunrise Beach and Sunshine Beach 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
Sunrise Beach has more residents (3,687 vs 2,480); Sunshine Beach skews older (49 vs 44).
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 3,687 +33% vs other | 2,480 |
| Population trend (2016 → 2021) | +8.0% | +0.8% |
| Median age | 44 | 49 |
| Median household income | $96,564/yr +7% vs other | $90,220/yr |
| Median weekly rent | $508/wk +3% vs other | $495/wk |
Age profile
Share of residents in each band, 2021 Census.
Bars are drawn against the largest share shown (18.2%).
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 (20.0%).
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 (7.6%).
What people live in
Occupied private dwellings by structure, 2021 Census.
Property market
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Median house price | $2,220,000 | $2,875,000 |
| Median unit price | $1,015,000 | $1,437,500 |
| Median land price | — same for both | |
| Typical days to sell (houses) | 39 days from 41 sales | 56 days from 44 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.
19 vs 28 sales
45 vs 23 sales
8 vs 8 sales
Development activity
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| New dwellings approved | 239 across Noosa same for both | |
| Approvals change year on year | -9% same for both | |
Gross rental yield
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Houses | 4.0% $1,400/wk on $1.84M | 1.9% $1,225/wk on $3.3M |
| Units | 4.4% $1,000/wk on $1.18M | 3.6% $895/wk on $1.3M |
Ranking within QLD
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| House price | — same for both | |
| Income | Higher than 70% of QLD | — |
| Schools | — | Higher than 81% of QLD |
| Walkability | Higher than 89% of QLD | Higher than 88% of QLD |
| Affordability | — same for both | |
| EV adoption | Higher than 96% of QLD same for both | |
| NBN connectivity | Higher than 76% of QLD | Higher than 73% of QLD |
| Rental yield (houses) | Higher than 52% of QLD | Higher than 2% of QLD |
| Rental yield (units) | Higher than 50% of QLD | Higher than 15% of QLD |
Liveability
Sunshine Beach scores higher overall (56 vs 50).
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Grade | B same for both | |
| Score | 50/100 | 56/100 |
| Socio-economic band | very advantaged area decile 9/10 same for both | |
Risk profile
Sunshine Beach carries more crime risk (44 vs 25).
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Bushfire | High 86/100 | High 87/100 |
| Crime | Low 25/100 | Moderate 44/100 |
| Flood | Not mapped no mapped data here same for both | |
| Coastal erosion | Low 14/100 | None 0/100 |
| Aircraft noise | None 0/100 same for both | |
| Industrial facilities nearby | 1 within 5 km same for both | |
Schools
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Inside the suburb | 0 | 5 |
| Rated above peers | 0 | 2 |
| Rated at peers | 0 | 1 |
| Rated below peers | 0 | 1 |
Schools in Sunrise Beach
No schools recorded inside this suburb's boundary. Children here will be zoned to schools nearby.
Schools in Sunshine Beach
- Montessori Noosa Independent · Primary above peers
- Sunshine Beach State High School Government · Secondary above peers
- Sunshine Beach State School Government · Primary at peers
- St Thomas More Primary School Catholic · Primary below peers
- Noosa Flexible School Catholic · Secondary · Special school
Amenities in the suburb
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Cafes & restaurants | 1 | 4 |
| Parks & reserves | 12 | 4 |
| Childcare | 0 | 3 |
| GPs | 1 | 0 |
| Pharmacies | 1 | 0 |
| Waterways | 1 | 0 |
Mobility
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Walkability score | 58/100 | 55/100 |
| Distance to Brisbane | 133 km | 134.3 km |
| Drive time (normal traffic) | 110 min | 111 min |
| Public transport score | 74/100 Bus | 78/100 Bus |
| Peak arrivals per hour | 25.5 7-9am + 5-7pm | 30.8 7-9am + 5-7pm |
| Median peak wait | 1 min scheduled, not actual same for both | |
| Electric vehicle share | 2.4% postcode 4567 same for both | |
| Rooftop solar per 100 dwellings | 46 postcode 4567 same for both | |
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 (65.6%).
Setting
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Elevation | 35 m above sea level, at the suburb centre | 56 m above sea level, at the suburb centre |
| Distance to the ocean | 807 m 1.5 km to a named beach | 700 m 2.3 km to a named beach |
NBN connectivity
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity score | 66/100 | 61/100 |
| Most common technology | Fibre to the node same for both | |
| Full-fibre (FTTP) share | 39% 1,783 premises | 30% 1,954 premises |
Council rates
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Average residential rate | $1,614/yr same for both | |
| Council | Noosa same for both | |
Federal electorate
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Division | Wide Bay same for both | |
| Member | Llew O'Brien same for both | |
| Party | Liberal National Party of Queensland same for both | |
First Home Owner Grant
| Sunrise Beach | Sunshine Beach | |
|---|---|---|
| Grant amount | $30,000 same for both | |
| Property price cap | $750,000 same for both | |
| Eligibility | New same for both | |
Tags
More comparisons
Other comparisons with Sunrise Beach
Other comparisons with Sunshine Beach
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.