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ABS 2021 Census · Updated 21 May 2026
Emerald is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 14,904, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 657 km from the Brisbane CBD, Emerald is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $114,504 per year.
Strong household incomes in Emerald underpin solid property demand. Seaside positioning attracts both owner-occupiers and holiday rental demand.
Official Australia Post postcode for Emerald. 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 Emerald on My School →Estimated 6 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 14,904 residents, Emerald is one of Queensland's more populous suburbs — roughly 2.7× 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. Median household income of $114,504/year runs 27% above the Queensland suburb median of $90,298, indicating strong purchasing power and the type of demographic profile that tends to sustain premium property prices through market cycles. Rent of $300/week (79% coverage of the $1,647/month median mortgage) leaves a gap of roughly $347/month that a typical investor bridges with negative gearing, depreciation and capital growth. Emerald is 657 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
This suburb can suit investors targeting renter demand driven by lifestyle. Insurance, climate risk, and seasonal rental patterns all warrant a close look. Local rents consume roughly 14% of household income — a useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
How Emerald stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Emerald sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Emerald | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 14,904 | 5,474 | +172% |
| Median household income | $114,504/yr | $90,298/yr | +27% |
| Median rent (weekly) | $300 | $385 | -22% |
| Median mortgage (monthly) | $1,647 | $1,733 | -5% |
| Distance to CBD | 657 km | 62 km | +960% |
| Separate houses | 67% | 77% | -10pp |
Pre-inspection briefing for Emerald — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
Solid buy-and-hold profile: a population of 14,904 and household income close to the QLD median ($114,504 vs $90,298) give the market enough depth for patient capital growth without the premium entry price of inner suburbs.
Moderate rental coverage: rent of $300/week covers 79% of a $1,647/month mortgage, leaving a $347/month gap that an investor bridges with equity, depreciation and tax benefits.
Only 67% 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.
Run the numbers on a Emerald property
Scenario comparison, cash flow analysis, tax modelling, and PDF export — all in one place.
Create free account →Property values in Emerald should track the wider Queensland market through 2026, with the $114,504/year median household income (27% above the $90,298 state median) keeping the suburb firmly mid-pack. Rental coverage runs at ~79% of the typical mortgage ($1,300/month rent vs $1,647/month repayment), leaving a manageable top-up for most investors. The EquitySight investment score of 66/100 places Emerald in the upper-middle tier of Australian suburbs we profile, and overall investor sentiment is balanced heading into the second half of 2026.
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Emerald scores 66/100 on our EquitySight investment framework — a good rating. That score is driven by a population of 14,904, median household income of $114,504/year and median weekly rent of $300. 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 Emerald are an above-state-median household income of $114,504/year, a dwelling mix that is 67% separate houses, roughly 4 schools and 6 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.
Emerald has a usual resident population of approximately 14,904, 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.
Emerald sits 657 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.
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $300 in Emerald, equating to approximately $15,600/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 Emerald is $1,647, or approximately $19,764/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 $300 works out to $1,300/month, covering 79% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,647/month. That leaves a $347/month shortfall (around $4,164/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 $1,647 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.