Preston sits 137 km from Brisbane CBD in Queensland, around 1 hour 50 minutes by car. Census data records 644 residents with a median age of 40 and a median household income of $128,544 per year. On socioeconomic measures it sits in the top 20% nationally. Population grew 4.9% from 2016 to 2021. The 2021 Census recorded a median rent of $420 per week and a median monthly mortgage of $2,167. The area shows high crime risk and no recorded bushfire exposure. Walkability is low.
Is Preston a good suburb?
Preston scores a B (54/100) on SuburbScan's Liveability grade — strong on community, weaker on transit and safety.
Car-dependent
Walkability 0/100 · 136.6 km · 111 min drive to Brisbane
Median available
Median $1.6M
High crime risk
Fire 0/100 · Crime 73/100
Very advantaged
SEIFA decile 10/10 · median age 40 · 644 residents
Liveability Rating
54 / 100 · Ranked #429 in QLDEach bar is Preston'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 Preston?
Local knowledge beats any dataset. Rate it and see what other residents think.
Our score
54 / 100
From schools, safety and socio-economic data — not opinion.
Residents say
…
Median House Price
Public listings dataPreston's house market is moving higher: the median sale price reached $1.6 million, roughly 12% above where it sat a year earlier.
Houses
$1,600,000
92% above its 4 neighbours (median $832,500)
Based on 11 recorded sales in the last 24 months.
Typically sold in 62 days — median across 8 sales that recorded a listing period
Land
$1,600,000
Based on only 5 sales — small sample, take as indicative.
Currently for Sale
Last 6 monthsHouses in Preston are currently listed at around $1.05 million on average. Based on 4 houses listed in the past six months.
$1.05M
4 houses listed in the last 6 months.
4 of the suburb's 208 dwellings (1.9%) were listed for sale in the last 6 months.
Rental Market
Rental affordability
June quarter 202591 Unaffordable · the average rental household in this region would pay about 33% of its income on the median rent in postcode 4352.
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.
Is Preston safe? Crime statistics
2025Crime in Preston sits in the high band, with 20 incidents recorded in 2025 — up roughly 82% on the prior year.
20 offences
81.8% since 2024Crime Trend
Serious Road Crashes
2020–20242 crashes
where someone was killed or admitted to hospital
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.
Schools
Walkability
Preston is very car-dependent on foot — at 0/100, nearly all errands require a car.
We hold no public transport timetable data for this area, so public transport is not rated here and the score is spread across the remaining components. It is not counted as zero.
NBN connectivity
The internet access technology available across NBN premises in Preston.
- Full-fibre (FTTP) share
- 33%
- Premises covered
- 238
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
Toowoomba: 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 4 small areas inside this suburb and averages them into the single decile above. They fall into 3 different deciles — a narrow range, so the average describes the suburb closely.
Preston is home to 644 residents, with a median age of 40, broadly in line with the national figure. Median household income runs at $129,000 a year, with unemployment at 1.8%.
2021 Census · change since 2016
Population
644
Median Age
40
Median Household Income
$128,544/yr
Census Median Rent
$420/wk
Census Median Mortgage
$2,167/mo
Avg Household Size
3.1
Median Personal Income
$56,524/yr
Unemployment Rate
1.8%
Unoccupied Dwellings
6.7%
Total Dwellings
208
Owner-Occupier Rate
96.0%
Houses
98.1%
Rental Stress
17.0%
Mortgage Stress
20.2%
Work From Home
16.1%
Dwelling Types
Property Ownership
Demographics
- Born in Australia
- 83.5%
- English Spoken at Home
- 92.5%
- Employment Rate
- 72%
- Completed Year 12
- 48.9%
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.
13 residents (2.0%) 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.
Languages Spoken at Home
Top languages other than English, as a share of all residents.
Age Distribution
Family & Household Composition
Commute to Work
Education
Cars per Dwelling
Council Rates
Households face an average residential rates bill of $1,618 a year through Toowoomba based on 2025 figures.
Building Approvals: Toowoomba
In the year to August 2026, 1,513 new dwellings were approved across Toowoomba. That mix is 1,098 houses and 415 units. Approvals are down 24.6% on the same period a year earlier.
New Homes Planned
New homes planned in this suburb: 2 to 10 homes
- No timeframe set 2 to 10 homes
Land the Queensland Government's residential land supply study identifies for future housing (2 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 Western Wakka Wakka People.
Under Queensland's Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003 the Aboriginal party for an area follows native title. No native title claim is currently registered here, so the last registered claimant remains the Aboriginal party.
Air Quality
CLEANPM2.5 averaged 2.4 µg/m³ in 2025 — below the WHO 2021 annual guideline (5 µg/m³).
PM10 averaged 3.8 µg/m³. Days over the limit in 2025: PM10 0.
From the Rangeville (Toowoomba, South West Queensland) monitoring station, 7.2 km away.
Climate & Setting
from Cambooya Post Office, 12.0 kmModerate rainfall.
- Elevation
- 572 m
- above sea level, at the suburb centre
- Near high-voltage lines
- 16.2% of addresses
- 47 within 100 m of an overhead line of 110 kV or more
- Annual rainfall
- 643 mm
- 55 rainy days
- Summer max (Jan)
- —
- Winter min (Jul)
- —
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.
EV adoption
In postcode 4352, 181 of 30,100 registered light vehicles are battery-electric on 31 January 2025. A further 2.3% (689 vehicles) are hybrid or plug-in hybrid, taking the non-petrol, non-diesel share to 2.9%.
Rooftop solar
In postcode 4352, 9,311 rooftop-solar systems totalling 64.7 MW have been installed since 2001, against 11,047 dwellings recorded in the 2021 Census. 597 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
10 mortgage brokers are registered in postcode 4352.
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 $1,600,000 this is $850,000 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 Garth Hamilton Liberal National Party of Queensland
| Year | Winner | 2PP ALP | 2PP LNP | Swing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Garth Hamilton | 36.6% | 63.4% | +0.8 |
| 2022 | Garth Hamilton | 35.8% | 64.2% | -6.3 |
| 2019 | John Mcveigh | 29.5% | 70.5% | +5.2 |
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 Pat Weir Liberal National Party of Queensland
Next state election: 28 October 2028.
| Year | Winner | Won with |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Pat Weir LNP | 73.6% |
| 2020 | Pat Weir LNP | 69.2% |
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 Preston?
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 644 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.
Nearby suburbs
Kearneys Spring QLD 4350
Middle Ridge QLD 4350
Hodgson Vale QLD 4352
Top Camp QLD 4350
Ramsay QLD 4358
Upper Flagstone QLD 4344
Compare Preston to another suburb
Side-by-side stats for any other QLD suburb — type a name and pick one.
Or jump straight to a nearby comparison:
Common questions about Preston
Is Preston a safe place to live?
Recorded crime in Preston is high (73/100, 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 Preston?
Preston has no recorded bushfire history. These are suburb-wide figures; check the address, as flood and bushfire exposure change street by street.
Is Preston a good place to live?
Preston has a SuburbScan Liveability grade of B (54/100), 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 Preston?
Preston, QLD had a population of 644 at the 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics census.
What is the postcode for Preston, QLD?
The postcode for Preston, QLD is 4352.
How far is Preston from Brisbane?
Preston is 137 km from Brisbane CBD by road, about 111 minutes by car in normal traffic. Distance is the most-direct driving route, not straight-line.
What is the median household income in Preston?
At the 2021 ABS Census, median household income in Preston was $128,544 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 Preston?
There are too few current rental listings in Preston for a reliable median. At the 2021 ABS Census the median weekly rent was $420, across all dwelling types.
What is the median age in Preston?
The median age of residents in Preston was 40 at the 2021 ABS Census.
What is the air quality in Preston?
The nearest government air-quality monitoring station to Preston (Rangeville (Toowoomba, South West Queensland)) recorded a 2025 annual mean PM2.5 of 2.4 µg/m³ and PM10 of 3.8 µg/m³. That puts Preston below the WHO annual guideline of 5 µg/m³.
What is the weather like in Preston?
At the nearest Bureau of Meteorology station to Preston, Cambooya Post Office (12 km away), 643 mm of rain a year over 55 rainy days over 2006-2026.
Is the First Home Owner Grant available in Preston?
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 Preston belong to?
Preston sits within the Toowoomba local government area. Council rates, planning approvals, and waste collection fall under this LGA.
How much are council rates in Preston?
The average residential rates bill through Toowoomba is $1,618 a year (2025). Every suburb in this LGA shares the same schedule — individual bills vary with land value.
How much is being built near Preston?
Across Toowoomba, 1,513 new residential dwellings were approved in the year to August 2026 (source: ABS Building Approvals). That's down 24.6% 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 Preston in?
Preston sits within the federal Division of Groom, currently held by Garth Hamilton (Liberal National Party of Queensland).
Search another suburb or address
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
- NBN connectivity · Dec 2025
- Crime · 2025
- Road crashes · 2020–2024
- Air quality · 2025
- Climate · 2006–2026
- Socio-economic (SEIFA) · 2021
- EV adoption · Jan 2025
- First Home Owner Grant · Sep 2026
- Federal electorate · 2025
- 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.