Upper Coomera
Population grew 130.1% over the decade to 27,180 residents, more than doubling in ten years and outpacing every established Brisbane and Gold Coast peer. The Coomera corridor between the M1 and the hinterland is the engine: aggressive 2000s-2020s family-estate land releases pushed median age down to 33, seven years below the national figure. Where Surfers Paradise trades on tourist density and Southport on Gold Coast CBD adjacency, Upper Coomera is a four-bedroom mortgage belt of 80.9% separate houses, with 66.3% of dwellings carrying four or more bedrooms and household income at the 74.6th percentile nationally. The forecast adds another 1,073 persons annually at +4.41%, driven by 337 net internal migrants and 273 overseas arrivals each year. SEIFA sits at decile 5 across all four indices, neither prestige nor disadvantage, a working-family middle.
Population
27,180
Median Age
33.0
Household IncomeiMedian weekly household income (ABS Census)
$1,991/wk
DAs (12 months)iDevelopment Applications lodged in the past year
0
Median House
$556K
Estimated from rent (2025)
The buyer profile here is unambiguous: families chasing space and yard at a Gold Coast price tier well below Surfers Paradise or Southport CBD. House stock is 80.9% separate dwellings versus 0.3% apartments, and 66.3% carry four or more bedrooms, comfortably above national family-suburb norms. Average monthly mortgage repayments run $1,939, suggesting house values broadly in the $700,000-$850,000 band at typical 80% LVRs (mortgage payment x 12 / 0.05 framework). That tracks Caboolture's $1,561 mortgage cost trajectory closely, both Brisbane-Gold Coast growth corridors at similar working-family entry tiers. Mortgage-to-income sits at 22.5%, well below the 30% stress threshold and below most metro Sydney and Melbourne family belts. The trade-off is concentration risk: 48.6% of households carry a mortgage versus 16.5% owned outright, so any rate cycle hits the suburb harder than established markets.
For Buyers
The buyer profile here is unambiguous: families chasing space and yard at a Gold Coast price tier well below Surfers Paradise or Southport CBD. House stock is 80.9% separate dwellings versus 0.3% apartments, and 66.3% carry four or more bedrooms, comfortably above national family-suburb norms. Average monthly mortgage repayments run $1,939, suggesting house values broadly in the $700,000-$850,000 band at typical 80% LVRs (mortgage payment x 12 / 0.05 framework). That tracks Caboolture's $1,561 mortgage cost trajectory closely, both Brisbane-Gold Coast growth corridors at similar working-family entry tiers. Mortgage-to-income sits at 22.5%, well below the 30% stress threshold and below most metro Sydney and Melbourne family belts. The trade-off is concentration risk: 48.6% of households carry a mortgage versus 16.5% owned outright, so any rate cycle hits the suburb harder than established markets.
For Investors
Yield mechanics favour holding rather than flipping. Weekly rent at $450 against entry costs in the family detached band gives gross yields broadly in the 4.5-5.5% range, materially ahead of Surfers Paradise apartment yields where strata costs erode net return. The 3.6% vacancy rate runs above the sub-2% benchmark of tight Brisbane metro, signalling that supply expansion through the Coomera Town Centre and surrounding estates is keeping pace with demand rather than running short. Renter share at 34.9% sits just below the national average, so the tenant pool is broad but not dominant, a contrast to Surfers Paradise's investor-led 60%+ rental composition. Migration drives the demand engine: 610 net annual arrivals (337 internal + 273 overseas) plus the +4.41% population forecast underwrite steady absorption. Recent rent growth of 21.6% provides cashflow tailwind, though real income has declined 4.2% over the same window, capping further upward pressure.
Schools in Upper Coomera iICSEA: school advantage index. 1000 = national avg, higher = more advantaged
Coomera Anglican College
Prep-12 · 1595 students
Assisi Catholic College
Prep-12 · 1516 students
Highland Reserve State School
Prep-6 · 899 students
Coomera Springs State School
Prep-6 · 654 students
Upper Coomera State College
Prep-12 · 1682 students
Demographics
Median age 33 sits seven years below the national figure, the youngest profile among the larger Gold Coast suburbs and a function of new-estate family formation rather than student or beach-renter inflows. Overseas-born share is 30.1%, 8.5 percentage points above the national 21.6%, but ancestry still tilts heavily Anglo-Celtic: 11,083 English, 2,419 Scottish, 2,283 Irish. The migrant signal shows in language: Mandarin (145 speakers), Punjabi (115), Korean (80), and Afrikaans (68) lead the non-English roster, reflecting professional and trades migration into the SE Queensland growth corridor rather than the established China-tier inflows seen in Sydney. University attainment runs 23.2%, sitting 6.9 percentage points below the national average, and household composition skews family-led with 11,638 couples-with-children families against 4,177 couples without. Average household size at 3.1 persons sits 0.6 above the national benchmark.
Age Distribution
Bedrooms
Dwelling Structure
80.9%
Houses
18.3%
Townhouse
0.3%
Apartment
Tenure
The dwelling profile is characteristically outer-corridor family belt: 80.9% separate houses, 18.3% semi-detached or townhouse, and just 0.3% apartments, the inverse of Surfers Paradise's high-rise composition. Tenure splits 16.5% owned outright, 48.6% mortgaged, and 34.9% rented, with the mortgage share running roughly 13 percentage points above the national average, a signature mortgage-belt configuration. Bedrooms tell the family story bluntly: 66.3% have four or more, 29.2% have three, and only 0.8% are studios or one-bedroom. Affordability sits in workable territory with mortgage-to-income at 22.5% and rent-to-income at 22.6%, both comfortably below the 30% stress threshold. The decade trajectory shows affordability worsening modestly from 52.3% in 2011 to 54.0% in 2021, an unusually stable pattern compared to most Gold Coast corridor pockets where pressure climbed sharply.
Mortgage / mo
$1,939
Rent / wk
$450
HH Size
3.1
Personal Income / wk
$821
Vacancy Ratei% of dwellings unoccupied on Census night (ABS 2021)
3.6%
Unoccupied
312
Rent / IncomeiMedian rent as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
22.6%
Mortgage / IncomeiMedian mortgage as % of household income. Over 30% = housing stress
22.5%
Community Profile
Languages Spoken at Home
Ancestry
Household Composition
17.9%
Couples, no children
23,380
Total families
Economy & Employment
Healthcare leads employment at 18.6% of workers (1,599 jobs), running well above the national 13% baseline and reflecting Gold Coast University Hospital catchment plus Coomera-area aged care expansion. Construction follows at 13.7% (1,176 workers), unsurprising given the +130.1% decade population gain and ongoing Coomera Town Centre rollout. Education at 11.4% (977), retail at 8.0%, and manufacturing at 6.4% complete the top five, a profile heavier on services and lighter on professional sectors than Brisbane inner-ring suburbs. Occupation mix runs Professionals 2,113, Community/Personal 1,782, Clerical/Admin 1,707, Managers 1,521, Labourers 1,492, a more balanced spread than Caboolture's labourer-led profile. SEIFA sits at decile 5 across IRSD, IRSAD, IEO, with IER slightly higher at decile 6, placing the suburb squarely in the middle of Australian economic ranking. Unemployment at 6.3% runs above the national 4.3% baseline, and participation at 63.1% lags the national norm.
Unemployment
4.1%
Labour Force
14,292
Unemployed
582
Quarterly Trend
Source: SALM Dec-25
Socio-Economic Indexes (SEIFA)iABS index ranking suburbs from 1 (most disadvantaged) to 10 (most advantaged)
Full-time
65.2%
Part-time
28.5%
Participation
63.1%
Employed
12,055
Occupations
Top Industries
University
23.2%
Postgraduate
4.9%
Born Overseas
30.1%
Dwellings
8,378
Transport to Work
Car dependency is near-total: 91.9% drive to work, just 1.4% take public transport, and 1.1% walk or cycle, a mobility profile typical of new-estate Gold Coast NW corridor and consistent with Truganina and other interstate growth-corridor peers. The school slate is anchored by Coomera Anglican College (ICSEA 1084, 1,595 students, Independent Combined) and Assisi Catholic College (ICSEA 1055, 1,516 students), both ranking above the 1000 national mean. Government primaries Highland Reserve State School (ICSEA 1026, 899 students) and Coomera Springs State School (ICSEA 999, 654 students) cluster around average, while Upper Coomera State College (ICSEA 964, 1,682 enrolled) sits below national mean, consistent with broader catchment SEIFA decile 5 patterns. Volunteering at 10.2% trails the national 14% benchmark, reflecting the time-pressured young-family demographic. M1 corridor access frames the trade-off: larger lots and lower entry pricing than Buderim's Sunshine Coast hinterland prestige, paid for in 30 to 50 minute commute times to Brisbane CBD or Surfers Paradise.
Drive
91.9%
Public Transport
1.4%
Walk / Cycle
1.1%
Work from Home
N/A
Population Forecast
+4.41%/yr
(+1,073 people/yr)
High GrowthForecast trend places Upper Coomera at +4.41% annual population growth (1,073 persons/year) through 2031, taking population from 24,313 in 2025 to 30,947 by 2031 on the medium scenario. That sustains the +130.1% decade pace already booked, the highest growth profile among compared Gold Coast and Brisbane peers. Driver split runs 337 internal migrants annually against 273 overseas, so internal flow leads as the primary engine, a Sydney-Melbourne-flight-to-Queensland pattern rather than offshore-led inflow. Trajectory shifts show the young-adult share falling 3.2 percentage points while senior share rose 2.0pp, marking the suburb as a maturing family belt rather than the perpetual student churn of central Gold Coast. Gentrification scores zero with stage flagged 'New development', meaning the suburb is still in build-out mode rather than repositioning. Rent growth of 21.6% over the recent cycle plus real income contraction of -4.2% means tenants are absorbing more of the pressure than owner-occupiers.
Historical + Forecast
Hamilton-Perry + Holt smoothing on ERP 2001-2025
Age Cohort Forecast
Primary Driver
Internal Migration
Net Overseas / yr
+273
Net Internal / yr
+337
Gentrification Signal
New development
National Ranking iPercentile rank among ~15,000 AU suburbs. 90% = higher than 90% of suburbs
How Upper Coomera compares to ~15,000 Australian suburbs
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Upper Coomera a good suburb to live in?
Upper Coomera suits young families prioritising space and yard over amenity density. 80.9% of homes are separate houses, 66.3% have four or more bedrooms, and median age runs 33 (seven years below the national figure). Household income sits at the 74.6th percentile nationally, and SEIFA sits at decile 5 across all indices, a middle-Australia working-family catchment.
What is the median house price in Upper Coomera?
Public median price data isn't available in our QLD brief, but average monthly mortgage repayments of $1,939 imply house values broadly in the $700,000-$850,000 range at typical 80% LVR. Weekly rent runs $450, mortgage-to-income at 22.5% sits below the 30% stress threshold, and the suburb tracks above Caboolture's $1,561 mortgage cost but below Surfers Paradise apartment averages.
What schools are in Upper Coomera?
Five major schools serve the suburb. Top ICSEA scores: Coomera Anglican College (1084, 1,595 students, Independent), Assisi Catholic College (1055, 1,516, Catholic), Highland Reserve State School (1026, 899, Government primary). Coomera Springs State School ranks at ICSEA 999 and Upper Coomera State College at 964, both below the 1000 national mean.
Is Upper Coomera safe?
Suburb-level Queensland Police crime data isn't available in our brief for direct comparison. Indirect indicators suggest moderate risk: SEIFA disadvantage (IRSD) decile 5 places Upper Coomera in the middle of national disadvantage rankings, with rent-to-income at 22.6% and mortgage-to-income at 22.5% both below the 30% stress threshold, reducing acute hardship pressure.
Is Upper Coomera good for property investment?
Renter share is 34.9% and rent has grown 21.6% recently, supporting yield at $450/week. Vacancy at 3.6% sits above the tight sub-2% Brisbane metro benchmark, signalling Coomera-area supply is keeping pace with demand. Migration adds 610 persons net annually (337 internal + 273 overseas), and forecast growth of +4.41% per year underwrites steady absorption.
How is Upper Coomera's population changing?
Population has grown 130.1% over the past decade to 27,180 residents, more than doubling in ten years and the strongest growth profile among Gold Coast suburbs in our corpus. Forecast adds 1,073 persons annually through 2031 (+4.41%), reaching 30,947 by 2031. Internal migration drives 337 of that, overseas 273. Young share fell 3.2pp while senior share rose 2.0pp.
What is the main industry in Upper Coomera?
Healthcare and social assistance employs 18.6% of workers (1,599 jobs), running above the national 13% share and reflecting Gold Coast University Hospital catchment. Construction follows at 13.7% (1,176 workers), supported by ongoing Coomera Town Centre and estate rollout. Education at 11.4% rounds out the top three sectors.
What languages are spoken in Upper Coomera?
Overseas-born share runs 30.1%, 8.5 percentage points above the national 21.6%. Top non-English languages are Mandarin (145 speakers), Punjabi (115), Korean (80), and Afrikaans (68), reflecting professional and trades migration into the SE Queensland growth corridor. English-ancestry remains dominant at 11,083 residents, ahead of Scottish (2,419) and Irish (2,283).
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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