Beaudesert

Schools in Beaudesert iICSEA: school advantage index. 1000 = national avg, higher = more advantaged

Demographics

The median age of 44 is 4.0 years above the national figure, and the trajectory is aging: the senior share rose 6.0 points while the young-resident share fell 3.2 points. Overseas-born residents are just 12.5%, which is 9.1 points below national, marking this as a strongly Anglo-leaning population led by English (2,915), Irish (800), Scottish (704) and German (539) ancestry. University qualifications reach only 13.2%, 16.9 points below national, consistent with a workforce skewed toward trades and services rather than knowledge sectors. Average household size is 2.3, which is 0.2 below national, and couples with children (1,582) slightly outnumber couples without (1,406), keeping a family character despite the older median age.

Tenure is unusually rental-heavy for a country town: 45.7% rent, 30.3% own outright and just 24.0% carry a mortgage. Outright owners outnumbering mortgage holders points to long-held, debt-free ownership among older residents rather than a churn of new buyers. The stock is overwhelmingly detached at 79.8% with apartments near zero at 0.3%, so almost all supply is standalone housing on land. Three-bedroom homes lead at 42.7% and four-plus at 36.3%, leaving little compact stock. Against the $396,000 median, mortgage-to-income at 31.4% exceeds the stress threshold while rent-to-income sits at 29.1%, and both being elevated despite low prices reflects how modest local incomes are, sitting in the 16.1st percentile nationally.

Community Profile

Economy & Employment

The workforce concentrates in service and trade sectors rather than professional ones: Healthcare leads at 18.3% (242 workers), Construction follows at 13.1% (173) and Education at 12.3% (163), with Retail at 8.0% and Public Administration at 7.6%. By occupation, Labourers (404) and Community/Personal Service workers (346) dominate, well ahead of Professionals (253), which matches the decile 1 IEO score for education and occupation. Unemployment runs high at 8.6%, above national, and participation is low at 42.5% because 2,343 residents are not in the labour force, a function of the older age profile. The IER resources score reaches decile 3, higher than the decile 1 IRSAD, because outright home ownership lifts household assets even where incomes are low.

Transport to Work

Beaudesert is built for cars: 89.5% of commuters drive, only 0.5% use public transport and 3.5% walk or cycle, far below metropolitan suburbs and a direct result of its 43.62 km2 rural footprint at 154.8 people per km2. The suburb scores decile 1 on IRSAD and decile 2 on IRSD, the lower disadvantage tiers nationally, and 11.8% of residents (726 people) need daily assistance, above what younger suburbs report, reflecting the median age of 44. No schools are recorded inside the suburb boundary in this dataset, so families rely on facilities in the wider Scenic Rim, though Healthcare being the top employer at 18.3% points to solid local service infrastructure for an inland town.

Population Forecast

Beaudesert is classified established but growing through migration, with the surrounding region expanding about 1.56% a year, roughly 260 people annually. The population has risen 18.5% over the decade and gentrification signals now read active, scoring 50, driven by net internal migration of 384 a year against just 52 from overseas. Medium forecasts lift the regional population from about 16,575 in 2026 toward 17,876 by 2031, a steady upward path rather than a boom. Rents have grown 19.2% and real incomes only 5.6%, so affordability pressure is building even as the suburb stays cheaper than Brisbane. Affordability still improved from 55.8% in 2011 to 51.2% in 2021, leaving room before it matches metropolitan strain.

National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs

How Beaudesert compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs

Frequently Asked Questions