Located in Queensland, Noosa Heads sits 138 km from Brisbane CBD, around 1 hour 50 minutes by car. The suburb has 5,120 residents, a median age of 54, and a median household income of $95,836 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 20% nationally. Population grew 14.2% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $550 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,167. The area shows high coastal erosion risk and high crime risk. Walkability is high.
Is Noosa Heads a good suburb?
Noosa Heads scores a B (52/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on transit and community, weaker on safety.
Very walkable
Walkability 78/100 · 138.5 km · 109 min drive to Brisbane
Median available
Median $2.19M
High bushfire risk
Fire 73/100 · Crime 76/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 9/10 · median age 54 · 5,120 residents
Liveability Rating
52 / 100 · Ranked #477 in QLDEach bar is Noosa Heads's rank among QLD suburbs, from 0 to 100 (higher is better). Scored on 4 of 5 factors: no school data, so the other factors carry its weight.
Flood data for Queensland covers only the areas mapped there — a blank here is not an all-clear.
How do you rate the liveability in Noosa Heads?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
52 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median Unit Price
Public listings dataNoosa Heads's unit market is moving lower: the median sale price reached $2.15 million, about 6% below where it sat a year earlier.
Units
$2,150,000
109% above its 3 neighbours (median $1,030,000)
Based on 145 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 44 days — median across 86 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 1 bed 21 sales $980K
- 2 bed 62 sales $1.6M
- 3 bed 57 sales $3.1M
Houses
$2,185,000
21% above its 4 neighbours (median $1,800,000)
Based on 117 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 36 days — median across 79 sales that recorded a listing period
By bedrooms
- 3 bed 34 sales $1.82M
- 4 bed 55 sales $2.2M
- 5 bed 19 sales $3.38M
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Noosa Heads are currently listed at around $2.6 million on average. Based on 35 houses listed in the past six months.
Houses
$2.6M
35 houses listed in the last 6 months.
Units
$1.62M
34 units listed in the last 6 months.
69 of the suburb's 1,994 dwellings (3.5%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Advertised rents · last 6 monthsHouses in Noosa Heads rent for around $1,500 a week on average, based on 33 houses listed for rent in the past six months.
Houses
$1,500/wk
7% above its 3 neighbours (median $1,400/wk)
33 houses advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
Units
$850/wk
17 units advertised for rent in the last 6 months.
50 rentals advertised against an estimated 498 rented homes (10.0%) in the last 6 months.
Rent agreed on new leases
Jul–Sep 2026- 3-bed houses
- $1,100/wk
- 15 bonds
- +36% since 2021
- 2-bed units
- $895/wk
- 16 bonds
- +38% since 2021
Median weekly rent on bonds lodged for new tenancies. Change since 2021 compares the median of the first four quarters with the last four. Asking rents above come from advertised listings.
Rental affordability
June quarter 202561 Severely unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 49% of its income on the median rent in postcode 4567.
SGS Rental Affordability Index: a score of 100 means rent takes 30% of income, the usual housing-stress line; lower scores are less affordable. "Region" is the capital city or the rest of the state.
Gross rental yield
Indicative$1,500/week ($78,000 a year) on a $2.6 million median
$850/week ($44,000 a year) on a $1.62 million median
Gross yield — before strata, rates, management, insurance and vacancy. Calculated from median advertised rents and median asking prices over the last 6 months. How we calculate.
Short-Stay Rentals
692 active Airbnb listings: 670 whole homes and 22 rooms. Whole homes are about 21.0% of the suburb's homes.
Airbnb only, as at Jun 2026; other platforms are not included. Active means reviewed in the past 12 months. The share is against private dwellings at the 2021 Census.
Is Noosa Heads safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Noosa Heads sits in the high band, with 117 incidents recorded in 2025 — down about 6% on the prior year.
117 offences
5.6% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2020–202430 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
Where they happened
Crashes are counted where they happened, so a main road through the suburb carries people passing through; this is not a measure of risk to residents. Roads are listed with 3 or more serious crashes.
Coastal Erosion
Shoreline Change Summary
1988–2025Nearest Eroding Coastline
- Distance
- 1.5 km
- Rate
- -0.02 m/yr
- Net Movement
- -1.1 m
- Certainty
- likely rocky coastline
Data Quality
Schools
Walkability
Noosa Heads is very walkable on foot — at 78/100, most daily errands can be done on foot. Within the suburb there are 2 supermarkets, 16 parks and 33 cafes to anchor that walking radius.
Public transport
Weekday and weekend service frequency across every stop inside Noosa Heads.
- Peak (7-9am + 5-7pm)
- 112.0 arrivals/hr
- Off-peak weekday
- 89.7 arrivals/hr
- Saturday
- 93.8 arrivals/hr
- Median peak wait
- 0 min
- Span of service
- 18.3 hours
Scheduled service only, based on the 21 October 2026 timetable. Reliability (delays, cancellations) not measured.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Noosa Heads.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 28%
- Premises covered
- 5,449
NBN Co fixed-line and fixed-wireless premises, as at 30 December 2025. Higher-quality technologies (full fibre) score above copper, wireless, and satellite. Actual speeds depend on your plan.
Amenities
Noosa: council population
The three add up to the change above. These are council-wide figures from the ABS, not figures for this suburb alone — this suburb's own population is in the census section above.
Socio-economic profile
The ABS scores 13 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 6 different deciles — a wide range, so parts of this suburb rank well above the average and parts well below it.
Noosa Heads is home to about 5,100 residents, with a median age of 54 — noticeably older than the national figure of 38. Median household income runs at $96,000 a year, with unemployment at 3.8%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
5,120
Median Age
54
Median Household Income
$95,836/yr
Census Median Rent
$550/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,167/mo
Avg Household Size
2.3
Median Personal Income
$47,268/yr
Unemployment Rate
3.8%
Unoccupied Dwellings
60.2%
Total Dwellings
1,994
Owner-Occupier Rate
75.0%
Houses
71.7%
Rental Stress
29.8%
Mortgage Stress
27.1%
Work From Home
32.5%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
22 rented from a state or territory housing authority and 0 from a community housing provider, as a share of the 483 rented dwellings above — not of all dwellings.
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 65.6%
- English Spoken at Home
- 86.1%
- Employment Rate
- 48.8%
- Completed Year 12
- 54.2%
Occupations
Religion
Country of Birth (overseas)
Largest overseas birthplaces, as a share of all residents.
When They Arrived
Share of all residents by the year they arrived in Australia. Periods cover different numbers of years, so compare the shape rather than the bar widths.
303 residents (5.9%) arrived since 2016. Australia’s borders were closed to most arrivals from March 2020, so the last two years of that period are much smaller than the ones before them — nationally 260,799 people arrived in 2019 against 28,521 in 2021.
Where New Residents Came From
Where residents aged five and over lived five years before the 2021 Census, for those who lived somewhere else.
16.3% of residents (813) lived in a capital city five years earlier, most of them in Melbourne (285).
Top places newcomers came from, as a share of the 4,979 residents aged five and over. Areas are ABS statistical regions. Small counts are approximate: the ABS adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
4% of employed residents work in a capital's city centre (91 of 2,184).
City centre: the ABS area around each capital's CBD, such as Sydney Inner City or Perth City (which takes in Subiaco and Leederville). 2021 Census place of work.
Local Jobs
People who work in this suburb against employed people who live here, 2021 Census.
About 4,535 people work here; 2,184 employed residents live here.
A jobs hub: 2.1 jobs for every working resident. At least 52% of the people who work here must live elsewhere.
Counts are by place of work and place of usual residence. The ABS counts jobs in zones; where a zone spans several places, its jobs are shared out by land use. The ABS also adjusts every figure slightly to protect privacy.
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,614 a year through Noosa based on 2025 figures.
Building Approvals: Noosa
In the year to August 2026, 239 new dwellings were approved across Noosa. That mix is 142 houses and 97 units. Approvals are down 8.7% on the same period a year earlier.
New Homes Planned
New homes planned in this suburb: 114 to 240 homes
- Within 2 years 6 to 20 homes
- In 2 to 5 years 108 to 220 homes
Land the Queensland Government's residential land supply study identifies for future housing (4 parcels), by when it expects lots to be registered. Yields are published in ranges, so these are too.
Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
The Aboriginal party for this area is Kabi Kabi First Nation Traditional Owners Native Title Claim Group.
Under Queensland's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 the Aboriginal party for an area follows native title. A native title claim over this area is registered with the Federal Court.
Setting
- Elevation
- 29 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Distance to the ocean
- 1.4 km
- 1.5 km to a named beach
Elevation is the ground at the suburb centre, from Geoscience Australia's National Digital Elevation Model. Approximate — it reads high in dense built-up areas. It is a measure of height above sea level and not an indicator of flood risk, which depends on height above nearby waterways.
Industrial Emissions Nearby
1 facility within 5 km- 1.8 kmSewerage and Drainage ServicesTop reported: Total Nitrogen · Total Phosphorus · Ammonia (total)
EV adoption
In postcode 4567, 256 of 10,681 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 3.3% (354 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 5.7%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 4567, 3,128 rooftop-solar systems totalling 22.7 MW have been installed since 2001, against 6,749 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 237 went up in the last year.
Counts every system certified since 2001, so a roof re-fitted with a newer system is counted twice, and small commercial systems are included alongside houses — useful for comparing postcodes, not an estimate of how many homes have working panels today.
2026 covers part of the year only, to 2026-07.
First Home Owner Grant
FY2026-27$30,000 for new homes priced up to $750,000.
$30,000 for contracts signed on or after 20 November 2023, with no end date. IT DID NOT REVERT TO $15,000: the tier was due to end 30 June 2026 and the 2026-27 Queensland Budget (23 June 2026) continued it for contracts signed from 1 July 2026. This file carried a "due to revert" note until 2026-09-18 — it was never true, and a note predicting a change is not the same as a change. Cap is "less than $750,000" including land and contract variations — less than, not up to. New homes only: "There are no home owner grants for established homes."
Mortgage repayments
11 mortgage brokers are registered in this suburb, 12 across postcode 4567.
Transfer duty at the owner-occupier rate, and it excludes first home buyer concessions — those can cut it substantially or remove it entirely. Excludes legal, inspection and lender fees. Check with Queensland Revenue Office
The First Home Owner Grant applies to newly built homes only, so it isn't available on an established purchase. A first home buyer building or buying new under $750,000 may qualify for $30,000 — see what qualifies with Queensland Revenue Office.
At $2,150,000 this is $1,400,000 above the $750,000 First Home Owner Grant cap. A first home buyer may qualify for $30,000 on a newly built home — check eligibility with Queensland Revenue Office.
A deposit under 20% usually attracts Lenders Mortgage Insurance, which this doesn't include.
Principal and interest over 30 years, fixed rate. Excludes fees, offset, redraw and LMI. Default rate is the median comparison rate across 1788 advertised products as at 2026-10-27 — indicative only, and not an offer. Your rate depends on the lender, your deposit and your circumstances. Not financial advice.
Federal Electorate
Currently held by Llew O'Brien Liberal National Party of Queensland
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Llew O'Brien | 42.4% | 57.6% | +3.7 |
| 2022 | Llew O'Brien | 38.7% | 61.3% | -1.8 |
| 2019 | Llew O'Brien | 36.9% | 63.1% | +5.0 |
Results are per division — federal electoral boundaries are redrawn periodically, so the history reflects this division's past, not necessarily the exact suburb's voters across time.
State Electorate
Currently held by Sandy Bolton Independent
Next state election: 28 October 2028.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sandy Bolton IND | 58.5% |
| 2020 | Sandy Bolton IND | 65.8% |
Results are per district. Districts were last redrawn in 2017, so results from before then describe the district of that name, not necessarily this suburb's voters. Results: Electoral Commission of Queensland.
Looking at a specific address in Noosa Heads?
Every figure above is a suburb average, and an average smooths over the difference between a street of family homes and a block of flats. Look up one address and you get the census for the few hundred people around it, its own nearest schools and stops, and what the state has mapped for that block.
- The census for a few hundred neighbours, not all 5,120 residents
- Nearest and zoned schools, with the walk from that door
- Flood, bushfire and noise mapping, where the state publishes it
Free to look up. Subscribers see every section in full — $29/month.
Featured in
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- #4 in Sunshine Coast suburbs where the most homes are owned outright
- #4 in Sunshine Coast suburbs that suit young professionals
- #5 in Sunshine Coast's most educated suburbs
- #6 in Sunshine Coast suburbs where seniors live
- #7 in Sunshine Coast suburbs with the most parkland nearby
- #7 in Sunshine Coast suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city
- #8 in Best Sunshine Coast suburbs to rent in
- #9 in Sportiest Sunshine Coast suburbs
- #11 in Sunshine Coast suburbs with the most apartments
- #11 in Sunshine Coast suburbs with the best public transport
- #12 in Queensland suburbs where the most residents moved from a capital city
- #12 in Sunshine Coast's highest-income suburbs
- #14 in Most walkable suburbs in Sunshine Coast
- #15 in Sunshine Coast suburbs where 2-bedroom unit rents rose most
Nearby suburbs
Compare Noosa Heads to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other QLD suburb — type a name and pick one.
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Common questions about Noosa Heads
Is Noosa Heads a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Noosa Heads is high (76/100, ranked against other QLD suburbs on offences per resident). Offences against shops, venues and visitors are divided by the people who live here, so suburbs with large daytime or visitor populations rank higher than living there may feel.
What natural hazards affect Noosa Heads?
Noosa Heads has a high recorded bushfire history (73/100, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history). These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Noosa Heads a good place to live?
Noosa Heads has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (52/100), ranked against other QLD suburbs on school quality (25%), safety (25%), SEIFA socio-economic advantage (25%), walkability (15%) and CBD access (10%). Whether it suits you depends on what you weigh — each of those is on this page.
What is the population of Noosa Heads?
Noosa Heads, QLD had a population of 5,120 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Noosa Heads, QLD?
The postcode for Noosa Heads, QLD is 4567.
How far is Noosa Heads from Brisbane?
Noosa Heads is 138 km from Brisbane CBD by road, about 109 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Noosa Heads?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Noosa Heads was $95,836 a year. It is the most recent suburb-level income figure until 2026 Census results are released in 2027.
What is the median weekly rent in Noosa Heads?
The median advertised rent in Noosa Heads is $1,500 a week for houses (33 listings) and $850 a week for units (17 listings), from rental listings over the last six months.
What is the median age in Noosa Heads?
The median age of residents in Noosa Heads was 54 at the 2021 ABS Census.
Is Noosa Heads at risk of bushfire?
Noosa Heads has a high recorded bushfire history (73/100). The score comes from Geoscience Australia's historical bushfire boundaries, with planned burns excluded: the area of recorded fires touching the suburb relative to its size, ranked against every Australian suburb with any fire history. It records where fire has burned, not a bushfire-prone land designation, which your council's planning scheme sets.
Is Noosa Heads walkable?
Noosa Heads scores 78/100 on the SuburbScan Walkability Score, making it very walkable. The score is a weighted average of public transport, schools, parks, supermarkets, GPs, pharmacies, childcare, and hospitals within walking distance.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Noosa Heads?
First-home buyers in QLD may be eligible for $30,000 towards new homes with a purchase price up to $750,000. The grant is administered by Queensland Revenue Office; confirm current eligibility before signing a contract — state rules and amounts can change.
What council does Noosa Heads belong to?
Noosa Heads sits within the Noosa local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Noosa Heads?
The average residential rates bill through Noosa is $1,614 a year (2025). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Noosa Heads?
Across Noosa, 239 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 8.7% on the same period a year earlier. These are LGA-level totals — every suburb in the council shares the same figure.
Which federal electorate is Noosa Heads in?
Noosa Heads sits within the federal Division of Wide Bay, currently held by Llew O'Brien (Liberal National Party of Queensland).
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Data freshness
- Census · 2021
- Median sale prices · Oct 2026
- For-sale & rental market · Oct 2026
- Council rates · FY 2025–26
- Building approvals · Aug 2026
- Schools · 2025
- Public transport · Oct 2026
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2025
- Road crashes · 2020–2024
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- Short-stay rentals · Jun 2026
- State electorate · 2024
- Amenities · Sep 2026
- Health & emergency facilities · Sep 2026
- Industrial emissions (NPI) · 2024/2025
- Coastal erosion · 1988–2025
- Aircraft noise · 2024
Vintages show when each source's data is from. See all data sources.
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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.