Suburb Overview
Mooloolaba is a coastal suburb in Queensland, Australia, with a population of approximately 8,202, making it a smaller community. Located approximately 88 km from the Brisbane CBD, Mooloolaba is a coastal area in Queensland. The median household income is $78,312 per year.
Location
Key Indicators
Postcode
4557
Postcode for Mooloolaba, from a community postcode dataset cross-checked against Australia Post. A postcode may cover multiple suburbs.
Australia Post Postcode Finder →
Population
8,202
Usual resident population at the most recent census.
Median weekly rent
$695/wk
Median weekly rent — as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld) (CC BY 4.0).
Median household income
$78,312
Annual median household income (before tax) across all households.
Distance to CBD
88 km
Straight-line distance from the suburb centroid to the nearest capital city CBD. Actual driving distance will be longer.
Housing
Median monthly mortgage
$1,762/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 Mooloolaba
- Regional location about 88 km from Brisbane.
- Several schools in the area (around 2), attractive for families.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) within easy reach.
- Reasonable transport access — car-friendly with some public transport options.
- Beach lifestyle with coastal walks and outdoor recreation on the doorstep.
Who Mooloolaba Suits
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Rent sits within an affordable share of local incomes, supporting tenant demand.
- Local parks and reserves (around 3) add to liveability.
- Solid transport links into employment hubs.
Cons
- Long distance to the CBD (88 km) — plan for commute time or local employment.
- Traffic can build during peak hours, especially on arterial roads.
Investment Insight
Mooloolaba's population of 8,202 sits 50% above the Queensland suburb median of 5,474, giving it a wider tenant and buyer catchment than the average QLD locality. Household income of $78,312/year is 13% below the Queensland median of $90,298, typically translating into lower entry prices and a tenant base more sensitive to rent increases. Median rent of $695/week (as at Mar 2026, Residential Tenancies Authority (Qld)) equates to roughly $3,012/month — about 171% of the $1,762/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. Mooloolaba is 88 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 27% of household income — a dated but useful sanity check on tenant affordability.
Mooloolaba vs Queensland Median
How Mooloolaba stacks up against the median of all Queensland suburbs in our dataset. Positive values mean Mooloolaba sits above the state median; negative means below.
| Metric | Mooloolaba | QLD median | Δ vs state |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 8,202 | 5,474 | +50% |
| Median household income | $78,312/yr | $90,298/yr | -13% |
| Median rent (weekly, 2021 Census) | $400 | $385 | +4% |
| Median mortgage (monthly, 2021 Census) | $1,762 | $1,733 | +2% |
| Distance to CBD | 88 km | 62 km | +42% |
| Separate houses | 31% | 77% | -46pp |
Investor Checklist
Pre-inspection briefing for Mooloolaba — every item is derived from public datasets, with full citations in our data sources page.
- Market depth: 8,202 residents — 150% of the QLD suburb median (5,474).
- Purchasing power: median household income $78,312/year (-13% vs Queensland suburb median of $90,298).
- Cash-flow coverage (2021 Census): $400/week rent (≈ $1,733/month) covered ~98% of the $1,762/month median mortgage at the 2021 Census — verify against current rents and rates.
- CBD access: 88 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 ~$176/month extra for a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise on top of the $1,762/month median repayment.
- Tenant rent burden: 27% of the median household income is spent on rent — within normal range.
Investment Strategy
Moderate buy-and-hold potential: Mooloolaba's 8,202-person market and $78,312 median household income work for investors who are selective on street location and property quality rather than counting on a suburb-wide rerating.
Strong rental coverage at the 2021 Census: $400/week (~$1,733/month) covered 98% of the $1,762/month median mortgage, a shortfall of just $29/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 $1,762/month median mortgage in Mooloolaba means a 1-percentage-point RBA rate rise could add roughly $176/month to repayments, reducing buyer borrowing capacity and cooling prices.
- Commute distance: at 88 km from the nearest CBD, Mooloolaba 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 Mooloolaba 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 Mooloolaba regardless of local market conditions.
- Market cycle risk: property markets are cyclical, so stress-test your projections in Mooloolaba with a 10–15% price pullback scenario before committing capital — returns to date are not a guarantee of future performance.
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Start your first-home journey →2026 Outlook
Capital-growth expectations for Mooloolaba are modest for 2026 — incomes 13% below the QLD median of $90,298 suggest gains will lag headline metro markets. At the 2021 Census, rental coverage ran at ~98% of the typical mortgage ($1,733/month rent vs $1,762/month repayment), keeping cash flow in positive or near-neutral territory. Verify against current rents and rates. Overall investor sentiment for Mooloolaba is balanced 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 Mooloolaba a good suburb for investment?
Whether Mooloolaba suits you depends on your strategy, but the fundamentals are concrete: a population of 8,202, a median household income of $78,312/year and median weekly rent of $400. 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 Mooloolaba?
The main demand drivers in Mooloolaba are a median household income of $78,312/year, a dwelling mix that is 31% separate houses. Together these shape both owner-occupier and tenant demand.
What is the population of Mooloolaba?
Mooloolaba has a usual resident population of approximately 8,202, 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 Mooloolaba from the Brisbane CBD?
Mooloolaba sits 88 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 Mooloolaba?
The most recent census recorded a median weekly rent of $400 in Mooloolaba, equating to approximately $20,800/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 Mooloolaba?
The median monthly mortgage repayment in Mooloolaba is $1,762, or approximately $21,144/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 Mooloolaba cash-flow positive for investors?
A median weekly rent of $400 works out to $1,733/month, covering 98% of the median mortgage repayment of $1,762/month. That leaves a $29/month shortfall (around $348/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 Mooloolaba?
The main risks are interest-rate sensitivity on the $1,762 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 Mooloolaba 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.