North Lakes
Carved out of bushland by Stockland in 1996 and still being filled in, North Lakes packs 23,030 residents into 11.73 sqkm of cul-de-sac estates wrapped around Westfield, IKEA, Costco and a Bunnings precinct that draws shoppers from across Brisbane's north. Population is up 53.1% in a decade and median age sits at 35, five years below the national figure, yet the suburb has no train station and 88.2% of commuters drive. Household income ranks in the 79th percentile nationally and 60.5% of dwellings carry four or more bedrooms, marking it as a detached-house mortgage belt rather than a transit-oriented growth corridor.
Population
23,030
Median Age
35.0
Household IncomeiMedian weekly household income (ABS Census)
$2,092/wk
DAs (12 months)iDevelopment Applications lodged in the past year
42
Median House
$535K
Estimated from rent (2025)
Buyers here are signing up for a four-bedroom-and-double-garage lifestyle: 84.9% of stock is separate house, 60.5% has four or more bedrooms, and only 3.1% is apartment, so anyone wanting an inner-city dwelling profile will be disappointed. QLD private-sale data is patchy and no reliable median is published, but the typical mortgage repayment of $1,950 per month against a $2,092 household weekly income gives a mortgage-to-income ratio of 21.5%, comfortably below the 30% stress line and lower than most established Brisbane middle-ring suburbs. 43.1% of households are paying off a loan compared with 18.2% owned outright, so the suburb skews younger and more leveraged than the Brisbane average.
For Buyers
Buyers here are signing up for a four-bedroom-and-double-garage lifestyle: 84.9% of stock is separate house, 60.5% has four or more bedrooms, and only 3.1% is apartment, so anyone wanting an inner-city dwelling profile will be disappointed. QLD private-sale data is patchy and no reliable median is published, but the typical mortgage repayment of $1,950 per month against a $2,092 household weekly income gives a mortgage-to-income ratio of 21.5%, comfortably below the 30% stress line and lower than most established Brisbane middle-ring suburbs. 43.1% of households are paying off a loan compared with 18.2% owned outright, so the suburb skews younger and more leveraged than the Brisbane average.
For Investors
Rental fundamentals are tight without being spectacular: 38.7% of dwellings are tenanted, the median weekly rent is $420, and vacancy sits at 3.9%, slightly above the sub-2% squeeze gripping inner Brisbane but well under a healthy 5% market. Forecast population growth of 3.12% annually (765 extra people per year) is driven almost entirely by overseas migration of 416 net arrivals per year, while internal migration runs at minus 281, suggesting locals are cashing out to the regions while new arrivals replace them. Development is steady rather than hot at 38 applications in 12 months, mostly retail and operational works rather than greenfield housing, so investors should expect rental demand to outrun supply growth.
Development Activity
Total DAs
82
Last 12 Months
42
YoY ChangeiYear-over-year change in DA lodgements
+44.8%
Avg DA CostiAverage estimated cost per DA in the past year
N/A
Monthly DA Lodgements
DA Categories
Schools in North Lakes iICSEA: school advantage index. 1000 = national avg, higher = more advantaged
The Lakes College
Prep-12 · 1169 students
North Lakes State College
Prep-12 · 2407 students
Bounty Boulevard State School
Prep-6 · 1134 students
Demographics
North Lakes is younger and more migrant-driven than its master-planned look suggests. Median age of 35 sits 5.0 years below the national median, 35.7% of residents were born overseas (14.1 percentage points above the national average) and 33.5% hold a university degree, 3.4 points above the country. English (8,723), Scottish (2,177) and Irish (1,961) ancestries dominate, but the top non-English languages tell a more recent migration story: Punjabi (185 speakers), Mandarin (168) and Afrikaans (151) lead the list. Households average 2.9 people compared with 2.5 nationally, with 10,126 couple-with-children families against 3,927 couples without, confirming the family-belt identity.
Age Distribution
Bedrooms
Dwelling Structure
84.9%
Houses
12.0%
Townhouse
3.1%
Apartment
Tenure
The stock is uniform by Brisbane standards: 84.9% separate house, 12.0% semi-detached townhouse and only 3.1% apartment, with 60.5% of all dwellings carrying four or more bedrooms versus a national share around 30%. Tenure splits 43.1% mortgaged, 18.2% owned outright and 38.7% rented, so the outright-owner share is well below the Brisbane average of roughly 30%, reflecting how recent the suburb's build-out has been. No reliable median sale price publishes for QLD private transactions here, but rent of $420 per week and a mortgage payment of $1,950 per month against weekly household income of $2,092 yield rent-to-income of 20.1% and mortgage-to-income of 21.5%, both below the 30% stress threshold.
Mortgage / mo
$1,950
Rent / wk
$420
HH Size
2.9
Personal Income / wk
$885
Vacancy Ratei% of dwellings unoccupied on Census night (ABS 2021)
3.9%
Unoccupied
311
Rent / IncomeiMedian rent as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
20.1%
Mortgage / IncomeiMedian mortgage as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
21.5%
Community Profile
Languages Spoken at Home
Ancestry
Household Composition
19.7%
Couples, no children
19,952
Total families
Economy & Employment
Healthcare and social assistance dominates local employment at 21.0% (1,689 workers), nearly double the national share, anchored by the new Moreton Bay teaching hospital ecosystem and the Westfield medical precinct. Education (10.7%), retail (8.4%, lifted by IKEA, Costco and Westfield) and professional services (8.3%) round out the base, with construction at 7.7% reflecting ongoing build-out. SEIFA IER (economic resources) sits in decile 8 nationally and IRSAD in decile 7, both above the Greater Brisbane average, while full-time employment runs at 66.8% and unemployment at 5.9%. Professionals (2,514) and managers (1,477) are the two largest occupation groups, signalling the white-collar tilt typical of a planned community rather than a tradie suburb.
Unemployment
4.1%
Labour Force
14,923
Unemployed
612
Quarterly Trend
Source: SALM Dec-25
Socio-Economic Indexes (SEIFA)iABS index ranking suburbs from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (most advantaged)
Full-time
66.8%
Part-time
27.3%
Participation
64.1%
Employed
10,580
Occupations
Top Industries
University
33.5%
Postgraduate
7.9%
Born Overseas
35.7%
Dwellings
7,651
Transport to Work
The trade-off here is retail abundance against transit poverty: residents have IKEA, Costco, Westfield North Lakes, Bunnings and the Lakes precinct on their doorstep, but no train station, which is why 88.2% drive to work and only 3.9% take public transport. Schools are a strength: The Lakes College (Independent, ICSEA 1125, 1,169 enrolment) and North Lakes State College (Government, ICSEA 1018, 2,407 students) both score above the 1000 national average, and Bounty Boulevard State School (1,134 students, ICSEA 1011) covers primary catchment. Crime data is not published at suburb level by QPS, but the IRSAD decile of 7 places the area in the top 30% nationally for socio-economic advantage, a reasonable proxy for safety expectations.
Drive
88.2%
Public Transport
3.9%
Walk / Cycle
1.8%
Work from Home
N/A
Population Forecast
+3.12%/yr
(+765 people/yr)
EstablishedNorth Lakes added more than 60% to its population since 2011 and the trend is still running: medium-series projections take the suburb from 24,527 in 2025 to 30,827 by 2031, an annual 3.12% expansion versus a national rate near 1.3%. The driver is no longer young families buying the first estate releases but rather overseas migration, with 416 net international arrivals per year against an internal outflow of 281. Gentrification scoring registers at 30 out of 100 (early signs), real incomes are down 6.7% over a decade, and the working-age share has dipped 5.4 points while seniors gained 3.7 points, all consistent with an aging-trajectory tag rather than a youth-renewal trajectory.
Historical + Forecast
Hamilton-Perry + Holt smoothing on ERP 2001-2025
Age Cohort Forecast
Primary Driver
Overseas Migration
Net Overseas / yr
+416
Net Internal / yr
-281
Gentrification Signal
Early signs
Population +60% since 2011, Net internal outflow -281/yr, Strong overseas inflow +416/yr
National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs
How North Lakes compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is North Lakes a good suburb to live in?
For families wanting a four-bedroom detached home (60.5% of stock) within walking distance of Westfield, IKEA and Costco, North Lakes scores well: household income sits in the 79th national percentile, SEIFA IRSAD decile 7 places it in the top 30% for advantage, and three schools all post ICSEA above the 1000 national benchmark. The catch is car dependence, with 88.2% driving and only 3.9% on public transport.
What is the median house price in North Lakes?
Queensland private sale data is not reliably published at suburb level, so no firm median publishes for North Lakes. The best affordability proxies are the median monthly mortgage of $1,950 and median weekly rent of $420, giving a mortgage-to-income ratio of 21.5% against weekly household income of $2,092, both comfortably below the 30% stress line.
What schools are in North Lakes?
Three named schools serve the suburb: The Lakes College (Independent combined, ICSEA 1125, 1,169 enrolment), North Lakes State College (Government combined, ICSEA 1018, 2,407 students) and Bounty Boulevard State School (Government primary, ICSEA 1011, 1,134 students). All three score above the 1000 national ICSEA benchmark, with The Lakes College sitting 125 points higher.
Is North Lakes safe?
Queensland Police does not publish crime rates at the suburb level, so a direct rate cannot be quoted. SEIFA IRSAD decile 7 places North Lakes in the top 30% of Australian areas for socio-economic advantage and IER decile 8 in the top 20% for economic resources, both correlates of lower property crime than the QLD average.
Is North Lakes good for property investment?
The suburb shows 38.7% renting share, 3.9% vacancy and a $420 median weekly rent, all pointing to consistent demand without a supply shortage. Population is forecast to grow 3.12% annually (765 extra people per year), well above the 1.3% national trend, with 416 overseas arrivals per year underpinning rental demand even as internal migration runs at minus 281.
How is North Lakes's population changing?
Population grew 53.1% over the decade to 2025 and medium-series projections take the suburb from 24,527 in 2025 to 30,827 by 2031, an annual 3.12% expansion. The composition is also shifting: working-age share is down 5.4 points and senior share up 3.7 points, while the suburb's primary growth driver has flipped from internal migration to overseas migration at 416 arrivals per year.
What languages are spoken in North Lakes?
English is dominant, with 35.7% of residents born overseas (14.1 percentage points above the national average). The top non-English languages spoken at home are Punjabi (185 speakers), Mandarin (168), Afrikaans (151), Hindi (114) and Korean (95), pointing to recent South Asian and South African migration on top of the British-ancestry base of 8,723 English and 2,177 Scottish identifiers.
How much development is happening in North Lakes?
Moreton Bay Regional Council logged 38 development applications in the past 12 months, a moderate volume reflecting that most greenfield Stockland release stages have been built out. Recent lodgements skew toward operational works, advertising devices and warehouse changes rather than new detached subdivisions, suggesting the suburb is moving into a retail and commercial infill phase rather than the housing-rollout phase of 2010 to 2020.
How to read these comparisons
Phrases like "above the national average" reference the unweighted median across Australian suburbs with more than 1,000 residents, not population-weighted national figures. Suburb-level medians are more useful for ranking suburbs against each other; ABS census headlines are population-weighted (so dominated by Sydney and Melbourne) and can read very differently.
Current baseline (refreshed 2026-05-10): median age 40, university-educated 30.1%, born overseas 21.6%, average household size 2.5 people.
Data sources: ABS 2021 Census (demographics, income, tenure), state Valuer-General (house prices), Department of Jobs SALM (unemployment), ACARA (school ICSEA), state Crime Statistics agencies (offences), council DA portals (development applications). Population forecasts use a Hamilton-Perry cohort model calibrated to ABS ERP.
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