ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Bracken Ridge is a well-established middle-ring suburb of Brisbane, Australia, with a population of approximately 17,488, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 17 km from the Brisbane CBD, Bracken Ridge is a middle ring area in Queensland. The median household income is $102,544 per year.
Strong household incomes in Bracken Ridge underpin solid property demand.
Official Australia Post postcode for Bracken Ridge. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Weekly median rent for occupied homes. Live rental data integration coming soon.
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Estimated 4 schools within or near this suburb.
Find schools near Bracken Ridge on My School →Estimated 7 parks and green spaces near this suburb.
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
With 17,488 residents, Bracken Ridge is one of Queensland's more populous suburbs — roughly 3.2× the state median of 5,474 — giving it a deep buyer and tenant pool that typically supports higher transaction volumes and shorter average days on market. Households here earn $102,544/year on average — 14% above the QLD suburb median of $90,298 — a modest premium that supports resilient owner-occupier demand. Median weekly rent of $410 equates to $1,777/month — about 99% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,800/month — meaning rental income covers most of a typical owner's repayment and this is a genuine cash-flow suburb before tax benefits. 17 km from Brisbane places Bracken Ridge in the middle commuter belt, close enough for daily trips by car or rail but at a materially lower price point than inner suburbs.
Middle-ring locations like this one historically reward patient holders — focus on homes near catchment-zone schools and major transport. Local rents consume roughly 21% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Bracken Ridge stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Bracken Ridge sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Bracken Ridge | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 17,488 | 5,474 | +219% |
| Median household income | $102,544/yr | $90,298/yr | +14% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $410 | $385 | +6% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,800 | $1,733 | +4% |
| Distance to CBD | 17 km | 62 km | -73% |
| Separate houses | 85% | 77% | +8pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Bracken Ridge — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 17,488 and household income close to the QLD median ($102,544 vs $90,298) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Strong rental coverage: $410/week (~$1,777/month) covers 99% of the $1,800/month median mortgage repayment, so the shortfall sits at just $23/month. Investors targeting positive cash flow should shortlist this suburb.
With 85% houses in a 17,488-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Run the numbers on a Bracken Ridge property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Property values in Bracken Ridge should track the wider Queensland market through 2026, with the $102,544/year median household income (14% above the $90,298 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. Rental coverage runs at ~99% of the typical mortgage ($1,777/month rent vs $1,800/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. The EquitySight investment score of 72/100 places Bracken Ridge in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is constructive heading into the second half of 2026.
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Bracken Ridge scores 72/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 17,488, median household income of $102,544/year and median weekly rent of $410. Whether it fits your portfolio depends on whether you are targeting cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — all three are scored with suburb-specific numbers elsewhere on this page.
The main demand drivers in Bracken Ridge are proximity to Brisbane (17 km), an above-state-median household income of $102,544/year, a dwelling mix that is 85% separate houses, roughly 4 schools and 7 parks within the catchment. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand and are the factors we weight most heavily in the suburb's investment score.
Bracken Ridge has a usual resident population of approximately 17,488, compared with a Queensland suburb median of 5,474 — placing it in the upper half of the state's suburbs by size. Population is the clearest proxy for market depth: more residents mean more transactions and typically a shorter average days-on-market on resale.
Bracken Ridge sits 17 km straight-line from the Brisbane CBD. This is comfortable commuter territory, with reasonable rail and road access to the city.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $410 in Bracken Ridge, equating to approximately $21,320/year in gross rental income (state median $385/week). Market rents have typically drifted above the recorded figure — verify against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Bracken Ridge is $1,800, or approximately $21,600/year (vs $1,733/month state median). Stress-test your own borrowing at rates 1–2 percentage points above today's to make sure you can still service the loan through an RBA tightening cycle.
A median weekly rent of $410 works out to $1,777/month, covering 99% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,800/month. That leaves a $23/month shortfall (around $276/year before tax benefits), so a typical owner-occupier-priced property here is negatively geared. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,800 median mortgage, the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
Every number on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census of Population and Housing, Australia Post postcode reference data, and OpenStreetMap amenity tiles. The investment score, strategy verdicts, and comparison table are computed deterministically from those inputs — no opinion, no estimation. See our full methodology and the data sources and licences for the formulas we use.