Suburb overview
Burleigh Heads is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 10,572, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 81 km from the Brisbane CBD, Burleigh Heads is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $88,452 per year.
Location
Key indicators
Postcode
4220
Postcode for Burleigh Heads, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
10,572
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$950/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (CC BY 4.0).
Distance to CBD
81 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$2,058/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
31% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why people like living in Burleigh Heads
- Regional location about 81 km from Brisbane.
- Beach lifestyle with coastal walks and outdoor recreation on the doorstep.
Who Burleigh Heads suits
Pros and cons
Pros
- Coastal lifestyle attracts renters and owner-occupiers alike.
- Established infrastructure and existing community base.
Cons
- Median mortgage sits above the Queensland state median — entry costs are stretched.
- Long distance to the CBD (81 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
Investment insight
Burleigh Heads's population of 10,572 sits 93% above the Queensland suburb median of 5,474, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average QLD locality. At $88,452/year, household income in Burleigh Heads is within 2% of the Queensland median ($90,298), placing the suburb firmly in the state's mainstream demographic band. Median rent of $950/week (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)) equates to roughly $4,117/month — about 200% of the $2,058/month median mortgage repayment recorded at the 2021 Census. On those figures rental income covers most or all of the recorded repayment, but repayments on new loans have risen with interest rates since 2021, so re-run the coverage at today's rates before treating this as a cash-flow suburb. Burleigh Heads is 81 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand. Only 31% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% state median), so this is a unit-heavy market where body-corporate decisions and strata supply meaningfully shape investor returns.
Investment tip
Coastal markets benefit from lifestyle appeal but require a buffer for higher insurance and occasional weather-driven vacancies. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 28% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Burleigh Heads vs Queensland median
How Burleigh Heads stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Burleigh Heads sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Burleigh Heads | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 10,572 | 5,474 | +93% |
| Median household income | $88,452/yr | $90,298/yr | -2% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $480 | $385 | +25% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $2,058 | $1,733 | +19% |
| Distance to CBD | 81 km | 62 km | +31% |
| Separate houses | 31% | 77% | -46pp |
Investor checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Burleigh Heads — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 10,572 residents — 193% of the QLD suburb median (5,474).
- Purchasing power: median household income $88,452/year (-2% vs Queensland suburb median of $90,298).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $480/week rent (≈ $2,080/month) covered ~101% of the $2,058/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 81 km straight-line from Brisbane (state suburb median 62 km).
- Dwelling mix: 31% separate houses — unit-heavy market (vs 77% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$206/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $2,058/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 28% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment strategy
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 10,572 and household income close to the QLD median ($88,452 vs $90,298) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $480/week (~$2,080/month) covered 101% of the $2,058/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $0/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
Only 31% of dwellings are separate houses (vs 77% QLD median) — this is a unit and townhouse market, where cosmetic flips struggle against body-corporate restrictions, thinner after-reno uplift and competing new supply.
Risk factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $2,058/month median mortgage in Burleigh Heads means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $206/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Commute distance: at 81 km from the nearest CBD, Burleigh Heads depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- Strata exposure: only 31% of dwellings in Burleigh Heads are separate houses, so most investment stock is apartments or townhouses subject to body-corporate fees, sinking-fund levies and competing supply from new developments.
- Regulatory risk: changes to Australian tax settings (negative gearing, CGT discount, foreign-buyer surcharges, land-tax thresholds) could reshape after-tax returns in Burleigh Heads regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Burleigh Heads with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
Run the numbers on a Burleigh Heads property
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Start your journey near Burleigh Heads →2026 outlook
Property values in Burleigh Heads should track the wider Queensland market through 2026, with the $88,452/year median household income (close to the $90,298 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~101% of the typical mortgage ($2,080/month rent vs $2,058/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Burleigh Heads is balanced heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Queensland median.
Frequently asked questions
Is Burleigh Heads a good suburb for investment?
Whether Burleigh Heads suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 10,572, a median household income of $88,452/year and median weekly rent of $480. Weigh those against your goal — cash flow, capital growth, or a value-add renovation — each of which we break down with suburb-specific ABS numbers elsewhere on this page.
What drives property demand in Burleigh Heads?
The main demand drivers in Burleigh Heads are a median household income of $88,452/year, a dwelling mix that is 31% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Burleigh Heads?
Burleigh Heads has a usual resident population of approximately 10,572, 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.
How far is Burleigh Heads from the Brisbane CBD?
Burleigh Heads sits 81 km straight-line from the Brisbane CBD. This is a regional market where CBD distance is only indicative — local industry diversity and commute alternatives matter more.
What is the median rent in Burleigh Heads?
The median weekly rent in Burleigh Heads is $950 (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)), equating to approximately $49,400/year in gross rental income. Confirm against current listings on realestate.com.au and Domain before making an offer.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Burleigh Heads?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Burleigh Heads is $2,058, or approximately $24,696/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.
Is Burleigh Heads cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $480 works out to $2,080/month, covering 101% of the median mortgage repayment of $2,058/month. That means rent exceeds the median repayment by roughly $22/month, so on these numbers Burleigh Heads leans cash-flow-positive before accounting for strata, council rates, insurance and maintenance. Actual cash flow depends on your deposit, loan terms, ownership costs and marginal tax rate — run the full numbers in our rental yield calculator.
What are the main risks of investing in Burleigh Heads?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $2,058 median mortgage, a unit-heavy dwelling mix (31% houses) where body-corporate costs and apartment supply affect resale, the broader Queensland market cycle. Each of these is covered in the Risk Factors section above with suburb-specific numbers rather than generic warnings.
How we built this Burleigh Heads profile
The population figure on this page comes from the ABS 2021 Census. The postcode comes from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. The dwelling mix is from the ABS 2021 Census. The median household income is the ABS 2021 Census median weekly household income, annualised. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage figures are 2021 figures and are labelled as such wherever they appear — they are five years old and have moved substantially since. The current median weekly rent in Key indicators is a genuine recent figure from Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (Mar 2026), published under a Creative Commons licence and dated on the page. We do not publish an investment score or school/park counts for this suburb. See our methodology and data sources for exactly what's measured and what's estimated.