Suburb Overview
Kirkwood is a regional centre in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 2,513, making it a boutique locality. Located approximately 435 km from the Brisbane CBD, Kirkwood is a regional area in Queensland. The median household income is $120,276 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
4680
Postcode for Kirkwood, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
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Population
2,513
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$560/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (CC BY 4.0).
Median household income
$120,276
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
435 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,777/mo
Monthly median mortgage repayment for households currently paying off a mortgage.
Home type
89% houses
Proportion of separate houses versus units, townhouses, and other home types. Useful for investors assessing rental demand mix.
Why People Like Living in Kirkwood
- Regional location about 435 km from Brisbane.
- Predominantly separate houses (89%) — suburban lifestyle with more land.
- Country-town feel with lower density and slower pace of life.
Who Kirkwood Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Lower purchase prices and more land for the money.
- Established infrastructure and existing community base.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (435 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Transport options are limited — car dependency is likely.
- Fewer schools inside the suburb itself — verify catchments for neighbouring areas.
Investment Insight
Kirkwood is a smaller community of 2,513 — about 46% of the Queensland suburb median (5,474) — so investors should factor in the narrower buyer pool and longer average time-on-market. Median household income of $120,276/year runs 33% 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. Median rent of $560/week (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)) equates to roughly $2,427/month — about 137% of the $1,777/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. Kirkwood is 435 km from Brisbane, so the local market tracks regional employment and lifestyle drivers more than CBD-driven commuter demand.
Investment Tip
This suburb suits yield-focused investors who are comfortable with lower liquidity. Employment concentration and local population trends matter more here than in metro markets. At the 2021 Census, local rents consumed roughly 15% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Kirkwood vs Queensland Median
How Kirkwood stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Kirkwood sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Kirkwood | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 2,513 | 5,474 | -54% |
| Median household income | $120,276/yr | $90,298/yr | +33% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $350 | $385 | -9% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,777 | $1,733 | +3% |
| Distance to CBD | 435 km | 62 km | +602% |
| Separate houses | 89% | 77% | +12pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Kirkwood — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 2,513 residents — 46% of the QLD suburb median (5,474).
- Purchasing power: median household income $120,276/year (+33% vs Queensland suburb median of $90,298).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $350/week rent (≈ $1,517/month) covered ~85% of the $1,777/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 435 km straight-line from Brisbane (state suburb median 62 km).
- Dwelling mix: 89% separate houses — house-dominant market (vs 77% state median).
- Rate stress-test: budget ~$178/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,777/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 15% of the median household income is spent on rent — comfortably affordable.
Investment Strategy
Limited buy-and-hold upside: a small population of 2,513 means liquidity is thin and capital growth tends to lag the wider Queensland market over full cycles.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $350/week (~$1,517/month) covered 85% of the $1,777/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $260/month. Both rents and repayments have moved since 2021 — verify current figures, though this suburb has historically leaned cash-flow-friendly.
With 89% houses in a 2,513-person market, renovation margins depend on individual street and aspect rather than any suburb-wide story — do comparable-sales analysis before committing capital.
Risk Factors
- Interest-rate sensitivity: the $1,777/month median mortgage in Kirkwood means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $178/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Premium-pricing risk: incomes 33% above the Queensland median ($120,276 vs $90,298) correlate with elevated purchase prices and compressed gross yields — enter only with a clear capital-growth thesis and a comfortable deposit.
- Liquidity risk: with 2,513 residents, Kirkwood has a thinner pool of buyers and tenants than larger suburbs. Expect longer days-on-market on resale and budget for potential vacancy gaps between tenancies.
- Commute distance: at 435 km from the nearest CBD, Kirkwood depends on local employment rather than city-driven commuter demand, which amplifies the market's sensitivity to regional industry slowdowns.
- House-dominant stock: 89% of dwellings are separate houses, so value is concentrated in land — weather events, insurance repricing and land-tax changes hit investors here more directly than in a unit-heavy suburb.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Kirkwood are modest for 2026 — incomes 33% above the QLD median of $90,298 and a population of 2,513 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~85% of the typical mortgage ($1,517/month rent vs $1,777/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Kirkwood is cautious heading into the second half of 2026, based on its income, rent and mortgage profile relative to the Queensland median.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Is Kirkwood a good suburb for investment?
Whether Kirkwood suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 2,513, a median household income of $120,276/year and median weekly rent of $350. 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 Kirkwood?
The main demand drivers in Kirkwood are an above-state-median household income of $120,276/year, a dwelling mix that is 89% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Kirkwood?
Kirkwood has a usual resident population of approximately 2,513, compared with a Queensland suburb median of 5,474 — placing it in the lower 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 Kirkwood from the Brisbane CBD?
Kirkwood sits 435 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 Kirkwood?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $350 in Kirkwood, equating to approximately $18,200/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.
What is the typical mortgage repayment in Kirkwood?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Kirkwood is $1,777, or approximately $21,324/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 Kirkwood cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $350 works out to $1,517/month, covering 85% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,777/month. That leaves a $260/month shortfall (around $3,120/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.
What are the main risks of investing in Kirkwood?
The main risks are a thin buyer pool (2,513 residents), interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,777 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.
How we built this Kirkwood profile
The population, postcode, median household income, and dwelling mix on this page are real figures from the ABS 2021 Census (income is the ABS median weekly household income annualised) and Australia Post. Distance to the CBD is calculated from the suburb's ABS centroid. The Census median rent and mortgage repayment are 2021 figures and are clearly 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 — it is dated on the page and is separate from the older Census rent. 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.